A fundraising campaign for a
transgender girl who received violent threats has raised nearly
$21,000 for the family to relocate.
The child's mother, Brandy Rose, told
local outlets that her 12-year-old daughter Maddie has been using the
staff bathroom at school since another student falsely accused her of
peeping under a bathroom stall two years ago. Last week, as Maddie
started middle school, she was unable to find the staff bathroom and
used the “girls bathroom one single time,” Rose
told KXII.
Parents complained in a private
Facebook group.
“Heads up parents of 5th
thru 7th grade girls,” Jamie Crenshaw wrote on the
Achille ISD Parent Group. “The transgender is already using the
girls bathroom. We have been told how the school has gone above and
beyond to make sure he has his own restroom yet he is still using the
girls. … This is the same kid that got [in] trouble as soon as he
transferred two years ago for looking over the stalls in the girls
bathroom. Enough is enough.”
“If he wants to be female, make him
female,” one member wrote. “A good sharp knife will do the
trick.”
Other comments included members
referring to Maddie as a “thing,” “it” and “maggot.”
Fearing protests, the public school in
Achille, Oklahoma closed for two days. Instead, a silent protest in
support of the girl was held outside the school. Roughly 20 people
wore red and duck taped their mouths as they huddled together in the
rain.
A
GoFundMe campaign launched on Thursday has raised nearly $21,000
to help the family relocate, exceeding the page's original $15,000
goal.
“We actually moved here from Sherman
[Texas] hoping to have a fresh start for Maddie,” Brandy Rose said,
“because she was severely bullied there, and taunted to commit
suicide,and assaulted in the bathroom. Unfortunately, her fresh
start did not last long.”
She added that the family hopes to move
to Houston, Texas.
“We have family in Houston that have
been wanting us to move to them for years, but it has just never been
a financial possibility,” Rose said. “We actually tried a few
years ago, but it all just fell apart, and was a mess. If we had the
financial means to actually move, and get set up there, close to our
family, and in a city that has so many more resources for Maddie, it
would literally be life changing!”