Transgender student is, essentially, run out of town

A transgender student has been suspended from school in Fulton, Mississippi. I grew up in Queens, a big part of an even bigger city, and if a transgender teen came into my public high school in the late ’80s, people would have definitely turned to stare. Some would have wondered what that freaky kid was doing. Some would have made fun of him. Some might have threatened him (but more likely, they would have just been threatened by him). But certainly someone in the school would have accepted him. It probably wouldn’t have been the guys on the football team — but no one went to their games anyway.

I am not sure what Juin Baize’s mother expected — taking her transgender son to a small town in Mississippi ^[1]. Maybe tolerance? Maybe a respect for how others choose to live their lives? Maybe the ability to send her son to school so he can get an education? Come on, mom, seriously, your son doesn’t deserve any of that stuff. He is clearly a freak child with issues — and he needs to be somewhere for “special” kids. Somewhere that people like him go. And that certainly isn’t Fulton, Mississippi.

It’s not clear if Juin had worn a mini-skirt that was too short, or if maybe his (feminine) t-shirt was filled with threatening gang colors? Or worse, a swastika? Or (gasp) maybe there was an image of a black person?

Come-the-fuck-on! Whatever happened to teaching our youth tolerance? And how can we teach our youth tolerance if the adults don’t have any? If Juin dressed like a boy and pretended to be someone he is not, how is that better for him? Oh right… this isn’t about him. This is about him conforming to society. Not just any society, but conforming to society in Fulton.

So many people are intimidated into being the person others expect them to be, at every age. Juin scares the hell out of people because he is being who he wants to be. Whether you agree with his lifestyle or not, he deserves respect for being strong enough to be true to himself and to live how he feels most comfortable. He should be commended — not, essentially, run out of town.