Christine Hallquist supports bullied transgender Oklahoma 7th grader
Christine Hallquist (Christine for Vermont)
The first transgender candidate for governor Christine Hallquist has publicly supported an Oklahoma 7th grader who was bullied by parents at school, for being trans.
The Vermont gubernatorial nominee spoke out about the vicious threats made against 12-year-old Maddie.
Hallquist told ABC News “I am seriously troubled by the news of fellow parents threatening to harm a child – there’s no excuse for this and I hope that my campaign for governor of Vermont will raise awareness of the justice that we must pursue in all marginalized communities.”
“My heart goes out to this young woman and her family,” Hallquist added.
The 7th grader had been facing a barrage of abuse from parents who launched an attack on her using the female bathroom.
Messages had come to light in a Facebook group for parents of students, who referred to the 12-year-old girl as “it,” “this thing,” “half baked maggot” and “the transgender,” and threatened to use a “good sharp knife” to slice her genitals.
The abuse led police to shutting down schools for two days in Achille, Oklahoma in order to investigate and contain the problem.
Hallquist could become the first ever trans Governor in November (christine hallquist/facebook)
But according to Associated Press on August 16 officials closed another school, which was for deaf students, after it received a threatening phone call.
A spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services says officials believe Thursday’s threat to the Oklahoma School for the Deaf is linked to threats against a transgender student who attends another school that was shut down earlier this week over safety concerns.
Spokeswoman Jody Harlan says the call threatened “grave danger” against an employee. Students weren’t in session.
Officials for the school for the deaf believe a family member of the employee in question had made negative comments about Maddie on the Facebook post.
School for the Deaf, which is around 60 miles south of the 12-year-old’s school, called Sulphur police and the FBI.
Monday classes have been postponed.
After the threats Maddie’s mother Brandy Rose said the girl and her siblings had been sent to stay with relatives for a few days because of the fears of violence.
She said: “Even when Maddie returned home she was too scared to sleep alone, she slept with us.
“To see her be afraid really broke my heart because Maddie’s not afraid of stuff, she lets things roll off her shoulders.
“There’s a lot more love than hate and that seems to help her to be less fearful now, she’s excited to be back at school.”
LGBT activists laid the blame for the incident at the door of Republican leaders who have stoked fears about transgender people in bathrooms.
Ellen Kahn, Director of the HRC Foundation’s Children, Youth and Families Programs, said: “The hateful and violent rhetoric of these adults is despicable, disgusting and completely dehumanizing.
“No student should face threats of violence or harassment from anyone in their school community, let alone from their peers’ parents.
