An eight-year-old Indian-origin transgender girl and her family have filed a discrimination lawsuit against a school in the US for alleged discrimination by the school authorities.
Simran* and her parents are suing Heritage Oak Private Education in California for allegedly forcing her to wear a boy’s uniform and not calling her by her chosen name.
It has been alleged that the school did not allow Simran, to dress as per her choice and use the girl’s bathroom. The lawsuit alleges that the school violated the California state law by discriminating against Simran based on her sex, reported.
The complaint said the school’s neglect of her gender preference led to her being bullied by other students.
Simran, who was designated male at birth told her parents she wanted to be a girl when she was four. Just before she turned seven, she insisted on being called a girl. Her parents then took her to a gender-focused therapist and allowed her to wear girl’s clothes.
She said wearing a boy’s clothes had “felt like a prison”.
The court complaint also alleges that the school advertised itself as a non-discriminatory institution.
Her parents say they put Nikki in Heritage Oak last year, she was in the process of transitioning and presented as a boy. They say they had informed the school authorities about what had been going on with Simran and asked the executive director of the school to treat her as a girl if that’s what she wanted.
Later, her parents, sensing that she would fully transition into a girl, requested the school to allow her to wear a girl’s uniform and use girl’s bathroom, the school authorities did not answer their demands except letting her grow long hair.
After the school’s December break, when Simran had fully transitioned and insisted on wearing a girl’s uniform on returning to school in January, the school insisted she wore a boy’s uniform. She was given access to the staff bathroom but wasn’t allowed to use the bathroom her female classmates were using.
According to the complaint, the school said it was a “conservative institution” and Simran’s demands would disturb the balance there.
Her parents withdrew Simran from the school in February and her mother was forced to quit her teaching job to home-school her.
The lawsuit alleged that Simran experienced social isolation. The girls would not play with her because she had to dress like a boy, and she found the boys’ games too rough. Boys would bully the youngster, calling her “a loser”, it said. It also claims that the school prevented teachers from protecting her from bullying and harassment.
The school did not comment on the case but school’s parents' group said the institution had met demands of transgender students before. It said in a statement that Simran’s case was different.
It said the school had hired a consultant to discuss accommodations with the family, but they rejected the accommodations, the statement said.
“In light of the Trump administration’s inaction on taking a stand against discrimination against trans individuals... this is a terribly important case,” Simran's attorney Mark Rosenbaum said.
In February, the Trump administration reversed the federal guidelines instructing schools to allow students to use the bathroom corresponding with their gender identities which were issued by the previous Obama administration.
*Simran is not her real name
