Article originally publsihed February 11, 2025 on nj.com

Link to Original Article by Briana Kudisch

The family of a transgender student is suing a Bergen County school board, alleging officials failed to protect her and other LGBTQ+ students from harassment and discrimination.

The girl and her parents filed a lawsuit in Bergen County Superior Court on Jan. 31 against the Demarest Board of Education, alleging she was subjected to sex and gender-based discrimination by other students for years.

The child was assigned the male gender at birth, but enrolled in school as a female student in the first grade, according to the lawsuit. She was allegedly bullied at school and on social media, called a “freak,” and taunted by other students for years while school officials did nothing.

The district’s superintendent did not respond to a request for comment. In a statement, an attorney for the school board denied the allegations.

The district “always investigates and takes appropriate remedial and disciplinary action against any student who harasses, intimidates or bullies a fellow student as is mandated by New Jersey law,” said Matthew J. Giacobbe, the school board’s attorney.

“The Demarest Board of Education and Administration refutes the specious allegations contained in the recently filed lawsuit and looks forward to vigorously defending itself based on the actual facts and evidence,” he said.

The family’s attorney said the facts in the lawsuit show the district failed to act.

“The lawsuit speaks for itself, and we believe the facts will demonstrate the serious failures that led to this filing,” said the family’s attorney, Ian M. Bryson. “Our priority is ensuring that all students, regardless of gender identity, are protected from harassment and discrimination.”

In September 2016, the girl enrolled as a female first grader at County Roads School, according to the lawsuit.

The girl’s parents asked the school counselor to talk to her after she transitioned from male to female, but the counselor instead called child protective services and lied to them, the lawsuit alleged.

In 2022, the girl was bullied by other students multiple times, the lawsuit said. School officials allegedly disregarded the incidents after the family reported them several times.

On the social media platform Snapchat, one student started a chain with her friends on which they called the girl “weird” and a “freak,” according to the lawsuit. Other students also called her names and pushed her in the school hallway, as well as on a school outing.

Students excluded the girl from their tables at lunchtime, forcing her to sit with teachers, the lawsuit alleged.

“At no time did Plaintiffs ever receive any investigation information, write up or report from the school regarding these incidents,” according to the lawsuit.

The bullying continued the next year and affected the girl’s schoolwork and mental health, the lawsuit alleged. In 2023, a student threw ice cream at her and called her a “freak.”

One student who stood up for the girl, and identifies as LGBTQ+, was disciplined by school officials, the lawsuit alleged.

According to the lawsuit, the other students’ isolation extended to the classroom, where girls wouldn’t let the transgender girl sit near them in the classroom, leading her to cry every day.

The middle school principal refused to help the girl, the lawsuit alleged.

In November 2023, the girl volunteered to keep score at an after-school volleyball game. Other students surrounded her and taunted her, and the principal did not help, the lawsuit alleged.

The next month, students made faces at the girl and pointed at her while laughing when she sang during a Christmas concert at the school, according to the lawsuit.

The girl was prescribed an antidepressant by her doctor due to the emotional distress she felt from the isolation and bullying at school, the lawsuit said.

Last spring, the girl attended a program for the transition to high school where two students allegedly screamed profanities at her in reference to body parts. Other students referenced the girl’s body parts at other times, the lawsuit alleged.

In June, a school official told the plaintiff and her family all of their harassment, intimidation and bullying complaints they filed were “unfounded,” according to the lawsuit.

The girl and her parents told the district’s superintendent they wanted to proceed further on their harassment and discrimination claims and he said he “didn’t care,” the lawsuit alleged.

The lawsuit is seeking punitive damages against the district.

“Other children who are either LGBTQ or perceived to be gay have been bullied in the school district and the school punishes them and not the bullies,” the lawsuit said.