BTL Staff
NEW JERSEY – Rachel Pepe has been banned from attending her own school unless she dressed as a boy. Her mother, Angela Peters, told Asbury Park Press that the school demanded she dress as a male, refused to call her any name other than that which is on her birth certificate and claimed the couldn't provide toilets for her.
"I said 'what about letting her go to the bathroom in the nurse's office?' [but they rejected the idea], Peters said.
Pepe has developed stress-related seizures, depression and panic attacks before being allowed to transition.
"[Rachel] was going to school last year as Brian… I am not sending her back as Brian because the depression will start again," Pepe's mother said. "She would get off the bus and just cry, and she would go to sleep for 17 to 20 hours and refuse to go back there."
The mother has attempted to find a private school that would be more accepting of the teenager and says the district refuses to provide money to accommodate her.
Middletown Schools Superintendent William O. George said he plans to meet with the family. "We as a district want to do everything we can as a district. Every child is different and their education and social and emotional well-being is my priority. We will work with them to find the appropriate placement," George said.
Michael Silverman of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund said the family would have a strong case of discrimination if they chose to pursue those legal avenues.
