A mother in Oklahoma has filed a lawsuit against Edmond Public Schools after her teenage daughter was allegedly severely beaten by a transgender student in the girls’ bathroom.
The incident, which took place at Edmond Memorial High School on October 26, 2022, allegedly involved a 15-year-old girl, referred to as “E.G.,” being severely beaten by a 17-year-old transgender student.
The lawsuit, filed last Thursday by Theresa Gooden, claims that the accused attacker, assigned male at birth, used the girls’ restroom in violation of a state law signed in May 2022. The law stipulates that public school students must use restrooms corresponding to the sex stated on their birth certificates.
Students who identify as transgender but choose not to comply with the policy are required by a law signed by Governor Kevin Stitt to use a “single-occupancy restroom or changing room.”
According to the legal document obtained by The New York Post, the incident left the young girl with “severe physical and mental injuries, severe physical and mental pain and suffering, and severe emotional distress.”
According to the lawsuit, the alleged attacker was removed from the school by police on October 21 after making threats toward E.G.
Gooden’s lawsuit argues that the school district failed to enforce the state law, exposing her daughter to the risk of harm by allowing a transgender student to use the girls’ restroom.
Gooden is suing the district for more than $75,000 in damages and reimbursement of her legal fees.
Daily Mail reported:
The suit also states that the transgender student ‘confided’ in her daughter that ‘he was in fact a male student that identified as a female.’
E.G. claims that she informed the assistant principal Maryjel Cochrane of the conversation, but court documents claim nothing was done.
The lawsuit states that the district was aware that the student was transgender at the time of the attack in October but had done nothing about it.
The school claims they were not aware, as the pupil had only enrolled at the school a few days prior to the incident.
In a statement, the school previously said that the pupil was enrolled as a female as parents are not required to present birth certificates when starting.
Read more here.
