The family of a 13-year-old transgender student is demanding justice after she was attacked by a classmate at her middle school in Vancouver.
Lindsey Smith told Fox 12 that a male student began verbally her verbally before violently attacking her.
"He punched me in the face, right here and right here," Lindsey said pointing at where she had been hit. "My nose was bleeding. I was holding my nose. The principal told me to ignore it and try not to let it ruin my day."
Leslie Goodnight is the aunty of Smith and has taken to Facebook to demand action from McLoughlin Middle School.
“My 13 year old niece is mtf transgender. She is the victim of hate crimes every day in her middle school,” the post reads. “My sister has gone to the principal on numerous occasions with complaints of not only students seeking out and harassing my niece, but the teachers as well!
“They will call her by her birth name and call her a boy in front of the entire class!! She asks them to please not do that and they tell her they won't stop! The principal has been no help.”
The post shows a photo of Lindsey's bruised face and says that the school did not call police or suspend the student because security cameras did not sufficiently capture the incident.
Hoping to transfer schools, Lindsey says she’s sick of being targeted because of her gender identity.
"Some people don't accept me and talk about me, they just talk about me," she says. "People are born differently. If people were born the same there would be no point in living."
Goodnight has since updated her Facebook post saying that: ”The administration at the middle school has put the male student on emergency expulsion. An officer has written a report and is turning the case over to the DA.
“I am requesting that all calls into the school and all posts/tweets to the principal, please stop. We are being heard!"
