Tag: transgender youth

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Client Spotlight: Remembering Kyler Prescott

Katharine Prescott, holds a photo of her late son Kyler Prescott, in the memorial garden they created in his memory at thir home in Vista, California September 21, 2016.

Anyone who met Kyler Prescott knew that he was special. A gifted artist, pianist, and poet, Kyler expressed his creativity through every aspect of his life. He worked hard perfecting his passions and loved to spend any additional free time advocating for animal justice and LGBTQ rights.

Kyler Prescott came out as transgender at age 13 and in May 2015, after enduring transphobic bullying and discrimination by peers and others, the Vista, CA teenager died by suicide. He was only 14 years old.

A month prior to his death, Katharine Prescott, Kyler’s mother, took Kyler to Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego for suicidal ideation and for treatment of self-inflicted injuries. The hospital was aware that Kyler was a transgender boy and Katharine made clear to the hospital staff that her son must be treated as male. But during his stay, hospital staff repeatedly addressed Kyler as a girl. As a result, he continued to get worse and instead of treating him, Rady hospital discharged him early, before his medical hold even expired. Five weeks later, Kyler was gone.

On September 26, 2016, Kyler’s mother, Katharine Prescott, filed a lawsuit against Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego for discriminating against her son, misgendering him, and for claiming expertise in the care of transgender patients. After NCLR won two important rulings, Rady settled the case with Kyler’s mom in September 2019.

“When my son was in despair, I entrusted Rady Children’s Hospital with his safety and well-being,” said Katharine Prescott. “Hospitals are supposed to be safe places that help people when they’re in need. Instead of recovering at the hospital, Kyler got worse because staff continued to traumatize him by repeatedly treating him as a girl and ignoring his serious health issues. It’s painful to speak out, but I want to make sure no other parent or child ever has to go through this again.”

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NCLR Files Amicus Brief in Support of Gavin Grimm

M, a 15-year-old transgender girl, living in rural Virginia and former NCLR client pictured here with her mother Amy.

On November 25, 2019, the National Center for Lesbian Rights filed an amicus brief in the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in support of Gavin Grimm, a transgender student who was mistreated in school because he is transgender. Representing a coalition of organizations that work with families raising transgender youth, the brief tells the stories of families raising transgender children in states within the Fourth Circuit (Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina) and around the country. Through their triumphs and challenges, these families help humanize the experiences of transgender youth and underscoring the importance of transgender children being able to go to school in an environment that is safe, welcoming, and does not treat them differently because of who they are.

For example, take M, a 15-year-old transgender girl, living in rural Virginia and former NCLR client (pictured above with her mother Amy).

After allowing M to use the girls’ restroom for a few weeks at the beginning of fourth grade, M’s school gave in to pressure from a few vocal parents and insisted that M use either the boys’ restroom or a single-user restroom. The school refused to see how harmful this policy was until they saw the potentially deadly consequences it could have. At the beginning of eighth grade, M’s school initiated a lockdown drill to prepare students for responding to an active-shooter situation. M was in physical education at the time and all the students were instructed to barricade themselves in their respective locker rooms, except for M. Her teachers initially instructed her to sit on the bleachers alone. Recognizing the potential danger that placed her in, they moved her to just outside the girls’ locker room and then, finally, allowed her to sit on the inside of the door to the girls’ locker room, still apart from her peers who were hiding deep inside the locker room.

The public outrage from that incident, combined with her mother’s tireless advocacy and behind-the-scenes support from NCLR, resulted in the school district changing its policies and treating M as a girl in all respects. Since the change in policy, M’s confidence has soared. She is a leader within the school community and able to be her full self at school.

The brief also offers the Court unique insights into other aspects of the lives of these families that are often not talked about from their struggles to reconcile their religious and political beliefs with their unconditional love for their child, coping with the loss of family and friends over the parent’s decision to support their child, or the painstaking process of parents setting aside their worries and anxieties to allow their child to flourish. Breathing life into the statistics about transgender youth, the brief demonstrates why courts across the country have consistently held that federal anti-discrimination law protects transgender youth from discrimination: any other interpretation would undermine the spirit and purpose of those laws, leaving vulnerable youth without the legal protection they need to fulfill their potential.

NCLR co-counseled with Cooley LLP and the Transgender Law Center to prepare and file this brief. We represented the following organizations: PFLAG, INC., Trans Youth Equality Foundation, Gender Spectrum, Gender Diversity, Campaign for Southern Equality, He She Ze and We, Side by Side, and Gender Benders.

If you would like to read the brief, click here.

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In Virginia, a Victory for Youth

By Liz Seaton
NCLR State Policy Director

Yesterday, the Virginia Board of Juvenile Justice voted 5-1 to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation in the juvenile correctional facilities over which it has broad oversight.  Eight percent of boys and 23 percent of girls in juvenile detention identify their sexuality as other than heterosexual, so this is an important step forward to protect their rights.

This is the second time that the Board has voted this way over the advice of Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who argues that no one other than the legislature has the power to designate protected classes, including for purposes of administrative agency non-discrimination policies.  Cuccinelli has made it his business to do everything he can to block steps towards equality under the law for LGBT people, and to roll back even minimal protective policies where they have existed, such as at state colleges and universities in the Commonwealth.

The Board’s action is significant not just because more than 800 youth are detained in these facilities, many of whom are vulnerable and in need of protection, but because the Board has stepped up to assert through its actions that the Attorney General is simply wrong in his opinion.  Nothing in Virginia law prevents state agencies from adopting regulations and policies of non-discrimination.

NCLR and others made this same argument in a different context just a few months ago when we advocated for the Virginia Board of Social Services to adopt policies of non-discrimination in regulations governing child placement agencies. Cuccinelli, telling the Social Service Board that it did not have the authority to tell state-licensed agencies that they may not discriminate against children in need of parents and prospective parents who are willing to give them forever homes.  Despite the clear needs of children waiting for homes—and in light of the news that there are people willing to foster and adopt them—the Social Service Board members appear to have been cowed by Cuccinelli.

The next steps in Virginia?  Governor Bob McDonnell’s office says it is reviewing the Juvenile Justice Board’s actions.  On the child placement front, anti-LGBT groups hope to have state legislation introduced to enshrine the right of child placement agencies to discriminate in the state code.  If you, like me, are sighing in disgust, I will tell you that a bright ray of hope is available through the stalwart work of Equality Virginia.  Executive Director James Parrish is fighting back, explaining in a recent article exactly how Virginia law needs to change for the better.

At NCLR, we will do all we can to help Equality Virginia and other Virginians continue to seek equality under the law.  For the children who need safe care, for the kids who need forever homes, for our families to be able to love and protect each other, we need to help states and localities to fight bad measures and advance good ones. It’s time to make the Commonwealth of Virginia a safer and more just state for LGBT people.

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In Need of Respect: Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Youth Face Serious Abuse in Group Care Facilities

Being a teenager in the juvenile justice system is challenging for any young person,  but as Cyryna can attest, being transgender adds an additional layer of fear.

Cyryna, a transgender girl, experienced the dark reality that most people don’t talk about while being housed in a juvenile correction facility for boys, where she was the victim of verbal, physical, and sexual abuse by many of the boys she was housed with.

Some of her abuse was witnessed by, and sometimes encouraged by, the facility guards, who saw her gender identity as a choice rather than an expression of her true self. Not surprisingly, Cyryna (pronounced Serena) never filed an official grievance about the harassment she endured, fearing that the guards would not help her and that the abuse would only get worse. Ultimately, Cyryna was left feeling isolated and defenseless in a place that should have provided her safety.

Transgender youth across the country face significant challenges in their day-to-day lives. Those challenges are multiplied for transgender youth who are living out of their homes in group care settings. Unfortunately, many youth service providers do not know how to provide transgender youth with competent, affirming care. Too often, providers even view transgender youth with hostility.

The lack of information and misinformation about people who are transgender or gender non-conforming causes many people—including those who work directly with youth in schools, community groups, foster care, and the juvenile justice system— to discriminate against these young people and violate their rights.

In 2004, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and the Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP) began noticing an increasing volume of legal inquiries from transgender and gender non-conforming youth in foster care and juvenile justice facilities. One such inquiry came from Mariah, a transgender girl, who was arrested and sent to juvenile detention. While there, the facility staff tried to force her to look like a boy.  They ripped her long weave from her hair, forced her to get a boy’s haircut, broke off her nails, prohibited her from wearing makeup, took away her bra and underwear, and forced her to wear male underwear and clothing.

NCLR and SRLP have spoken with many other teens who have endured similar abuses. Captain, a gender non-conforming youth, lived in a girls group home and was repeatedly reprimanded for his short hair cut and style of dress. Even his mannerisms got him into trouble. The staff would tell him he wasn’t “talking like a lady” or that he was being “too gentlemanly” when he opened doors for girls. Rosco, a transgender boy, was placed in isolation when he was honest about his male gender identity. The staff also forced him to wear girl’s clothes and refused to accept his male gender identity.

To help these youth, NCLR and SRLP teamed up to develop a comprehensive report that gives facility administrators the information to make effective policy decisions and adopt best practices for the treatment of transgender and gender non-conforming youth in their care. The report, A Place of Respect: A Guide for Group Care Facilities Serving Transgender and Gender Non-conforming Youth  released today, March 17, 2011, helps facility staff understand the experiences and concerns of transgender and gender non-conforming youth and provides them the tools they need to create a safe and respectful space for all youth.

The report, which is the first of its kind, provides comprehensive solutions to problems that service providers may face, offering best practices that agencies can easily implement.  Additionally, it discusses the personal experiences of transgender youth, and provides information to help readers to better understand gender identity, gender non-conformity, and what it means to be transgender. The report also explains the legal requirements of each facility to treat transgender and gender non-conforming youth with respect and keep them safe.

Hopefully, through this report, and through the greater knowledge it provides for facility staff, youth like Cyryna, Captian, and Myrah will never have to endure such terrible and demeaning experiences, and they’ll be able to live their lives proudly and with respect.

Download the report now.