MOSS POINT, Miss. — The Southern Poverty Law Center ( SPLC ) filed a federal lawsuit today to stop pervasive anti-LGBT bullying and harassment committed by students — and even faculty members and administrators — within the schools of Mississippi's Moss Point School District.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Destin Holmes, a district student who endured such severe harassment she was eventually driven out of the school. She temporarily left the district in March 2012 to be homeschooled after the then-principal at Magnolia Junior High School called her a "pathetic fool" and told her, "I don't want a dyke in this school."
The SPLC demanded in March that the district take immediate action to end the bullying and harassment. The demand came after an investigation found that district students, faculty and administrators have targeted lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender ( LGBT ) students because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation and nonconformity to gender stereotypes. An agreeable resolution that would protect and preserve the rights of students like Destin was not reached. A copy of the complaint is available at http://sp.lc/1dklnkf.
"We are disappointed that the district fails to see the serious harm its deliberate inaction causes its students," said Anjali Nair, SPLC staff attorney. "District officials who are entrusted with the safety and education of all students not only ignored, dismissed and even blamed victims for the abusive behavior of faculty and other students, they also participated in discriminatory acts."
During her time at Magnolia Junior High School, students and district staff called Destin slurs such as "it," "freak" and "he-she." Destin heard such insults as many as 20 times a day. One teacher denied Destin access to the girls' restroom. Another teacher even refused to allow her to participate in a classroom activity where teams were divided by gender because Destin — according to the teacher — was an "in-between it."
The lawsuit describes how Destin and other students perceived as LGBT were subjected to anti-LGBT slurs on a daily basis and were physically threatened or attacked by peers. While many of these abuses occurred in front of teachers or were reported to school officials, school personnel did little to stop the abuse.
The harassment took a severe toll on Destin. Even after she threatened suicide, school officials failed to take appropriate action. When a social worker providing mental health services for Destin met with the then-principal about the need to stop the harassment, the principal said he wouldn't follow the social worker's suggestions because "when you are in my school, you follow my lead since I allow you to be here."
Destin left Magnolia Junior High School in March 2012 after the meeting wherein her then-principal told her "I don't want a dyke in this school." She was home-schooled until it became too much of a financial burden for her family. After returning to the district as a student at the Moss Point High School, Destin continued to face similar harassment.
At Moss Point High School, a teacher refused to refer to Destin with feminine pronouns and in front of the class addressed her with male pronouns instead.
"I deserve to go to a school where students, and especially the teachers, don't call me names," she said. "The district should have protected me and made sure I was learning, like the rest of the kids. Instead, the students, teachers and even principal, called me names. It shouldn't have happened to me, and it shouldn't happen to anyone else."
The lawsuit, which asserts the district has violated Destin's rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution and Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, also describes anti-LGBT bullying encountered by other district students. These incidents include a transgender student who was attacked and ridiculed, as well as a gay male student assaulted by students because he was open about his orientation.
The lawsuit was filed in the Southern District of Mississippi, Gulfport Division. For more information on this case, visithttp://sp.lc/19tSdk4 .
