Lawsuit: Mississippi school forced ‘pathetic dyke’ to use the boys’ bathroom

[Playinghardball]

civil rights organization filed a lawsuit on Tuesday after a Mississippi school district refused to change its policies that allegedly resulted in a lesbian student being bullied for months.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) said on Tuesday that it had met with Mississippi’s Moss Point School District in March to ask officials to change policies because Destin Holmes had been bullied to the point of attempting suicide.

“We are disappointed that the district fails to see the serious harm its deliberate inaction causes its students,” SPLC staff attorney Anjali Nair said on Tuesday. “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.”

According to the lawsuit, the anti-LGBT comments started after Holmes enrolled at Magnolia Junior High in 2011. The complaint said that teachers would call her a “he/she” and she was forced to use the boys’ restroom. Students regularly referred to her as “dyke,” “lesbo” and “dyke-ass freak.”

After meeting with Holmes’ father in March 2012, Assistant Principal LaJuna Payton brought the student in for a talk and called her a “pathetic fool,” and said, “I don’t want a dyke in this school.”

Holmes’ father later met with the principal again and realized that the school’s hostility gave him no choice but to homeschool his daughter.

“We’re asking that the district to create policies and procedures that will hold the district accountable for responding and investigating reports of harassment. We’re also seeking financial relief for Destin and her family for the harm that she suffered,” Nair told WLOX.

More and see the video at: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/18/lawsuit-mississippi-school-forced-pathetic-dyke-to-use-the-boys-bathroom/

[Ed Suspicious]

1. Poor, poor girl. How can people be so hurtful to others especially when they're at such a fragile

age? My heart aches for her.

[pacalo]

6. Those are my feelings, also.

[TwilightGardener]

2. WTF is wrong with people? I've seen this personally, with my own kids (though

not to this extent): there are teachers and administrators who are only too eager to join in to bullying, because they either can't hide their own dislike for that student or they're still emotionally stuck in high school themselves.

[MineralMan]

3. That Principal should be summarily dismissed and forced

to pay any damages awarded by a lawsuit personally. Instead, the school district will end up paying, and the children who attend those schools will suffer from that. The Principal should be the one to bear the cost of her bigotry, I believe. Insofar as the school district is responsible, the members of the school board should bear financial responsibility, as well. Let them pay for their bigotry out of their own pockets.

[uponit7771]

13. +1, it's not the principles money so why should he give a damn

[avebury]

18. It sounds like the students are also

part of the problem so I would not have a problem with the school district being forced to make a huge financial payout.

It makes you wonder if it would be possible to bring RICO charges against the school (Principal/Teachers) and students for working together to deny this student her civil rights through terrorism (they forced her father to home school her for her safety). Why stop at just going after the school? The father should go after everyone involved including the students and their parents. (Just in case the students try to cite an affluenza line of defense).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racketeer_Influenced_and_Corrupt_Organizations_Act

[FrodosPet]

21. Did you realize most of the students are poor and African American?

Looks like most of the staff is as well.

Pushing this too hard might not go so well around the country. Perhaps it would be more helpful to reach out and highlight the common struggle shared by African Americans and LGBT individuals?

[AlinPA]

4. Religious crazies.

[Mr Dixon]

20. SMH

agreed

[Nika]

5. Her and her parents should sue the school ...

... for tolerating and exacerbating the bullyiny she was subjected to. This should never be tolerated.

[FrodosPet]

25. Just please don't hurt all the kids in the process

This is not a school district full of spoiled rich kids. Ethan Couch did NOT go to this school. It is a poor district, with over 69% of the kids eligible for free school lunch.

So the district is sued into destitution. Will the State of Mississippi take over and replace the shortfall, so that these poor children have something of an education?

[MadrasT]

7. Kick for exposure. This is horrifying.

That poor girl. Glad the SPLC is on it and that it seems like her parents are supportive.

[Decaffeinated]

8. Personal politics aside... Hard to believe they thought that could last...

[Aerows]

9. Oh Fuck, not my state again

I thought we were in the clear after Florida, Kansas and Arizona did shitty things. I guess our state just HAS to be in the running for "shitty things the USA can do" every year. Wouldn't want our state to get behind on doing shitty things .

Why this state has to be so homophobic is beyond me. We have some lovely gay people here, and I'm not even including myself because I'm an ass.

[ucrdem]

15. It's not just your state.

It's happening in small-town California too. Horrifying stuff. Thought we'd gotten waaay past this but I guess Bush-Cheney turned the clock back further than we thought.

Anyway I hope the family can stick it out until their daughter is old enough to head to college or just to get the heck out of their. Hattiesburg would be a big improvement if they can figure out how to get her there. Going by what a friend says who's lived there several years.

[arely staircase]

10. even here in backwoods East Texas that would have resulted in the administrator's dismissal

At least in the district I teach.

[uponit7771]

12. I would not be surprised if these people call themselves "christian" there's something behind their

... lack of humanity

[Kurovski]

14. Where else do such attitudes come but from the" hand of God"?

Who but the deranged would otherwise feel openly justified with such depths of cruelty toward a child?

[FrodosPet]

16. About the Moss Point School District

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moss_Point_School_District

The Moss Point School District is a public school district based in Moss Point, Mississippi (USA).

In addition to Moss Point, the district also serves the communities of Escatawpa and Helena.

Demographics
2006-07 school year

There were a total of 3,216 students enrolled in the Moss Point School District during the 2006-2007 school year. The gender makeup of the district was 49% female and 51% male. The racial makeup of the district was 71.49% African American, 26.68% White, 1.34% Hispanic, 0.44% Asian, and 0.06% Native American. 69.5% of the district's students were eligible to receive free lunch.

Moss Point High School has had foreign exchange students every school year for several years now.

--------------------------------------------

Fortunately, the assistant principal mentioned does not appear to be working there any more

http://www.mosspointschools.org/2013-01-17-21-38-17/mms-staff

[idwiyo]

17. k&r for exposure. How is it not a hate crime?

[gollygee]

19. How horrible!

My God, people can be horrible.

[ck4829]

22. Did these people think they were cool when they bullied a child? Did they think this was OK?

[Solly Mack]

23. LaJuna Payton is now the Principal at the elementary school.

http://mosspointschools.org/schools

http://www.mosspointschools.org/2013-01-17-21-38-20/mpkpe-staff?view=employee&id=262

http://mosspointschools.org/schools/mpkpe

ETA:

and this site list her as the Alternative Learning Center Principal.

http://www.gceic.org/_counties/default.cfm?ThisCounty=30&ThisDistrict=11

[FrodosPet]

24. Crap

I was hoping this district would have been smart enough to bounce her bigoted ass out on the street.

Now she can infect even younger children with her hatred and backwardness.

[shenmue]

26. Awful