website link: https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/3ky94k/this-12-year-old-girl-was-driven-out-of-her-town-for-being-transgender
This 12-year-old girl is being driven out of her hometown for being transgender by Evan Mcmorris-Santoro
Maddison Kleeman Rose is a 12 year old girl in 7th grade who has just received a lot of (unwanted) attention for being transgendered. This incident happened when in Achille public school, Maddison decided to use the girls restroom. Coming from a previous school where they advised where to use the restroom, Maddison had no idea where to go other than the restroom that matches what she identifies with.
Once, however, parents found out she was transgendered they sent hate to the Maddie and her family. "enough is enough" one parent wrote on Facebook. The hate was crazy to the point the school decided to close for a couple of days. Protests were made to support Maddie and to hate on Maddie. This didn't help however, Achille, OK has a very small community where they're not open for change just yet. This has resulted in Maddie not being able to live a healthy life, so the Rose family decided to start a gofundme page where all the proceeds will go to them leaving Archille and live in a comfortable environment.
Analysis: I think this article shows a real limelight on how they're still transphobia and homophobia in 2018 (the woke era so to speak). Coming from someone who knows how close minded many people can be now a days in brings in a new light how people go the extra mile just to hurt people. The fact she was a young child who was so open to people being different and not letting such hurtful things get to her, shows how brave many have to be to deal with this type of controversy.
This actually takes me back to how many Pilgrims came to the Americas because they wanted to be open and practice their own religious beliefs. Maddie here is in a way doing the same thing, to be able to live open and comfortably she has to move away and leave to a new area where she might be able to find a home. Maddie at the end is an inspiration that you need to keep going, Maddie may not have found a place where she can be open and happy in Archille, OK but hopefully she can find a new place where she can be open and fine with herself.
but you know just what they say "Home is where the heart is"
This is a really important reminder of how although change is being made, we are still so far from equality. This article highlights how people in certain communities aren't even allowed to feel comfortable in their own bodies, and that's just heartbreaking. We are so lucky to be in an accepting environment at Booker T, and I wish that everywhere was like this. Fortunately, we have proven that it is possible to have a community that lets everyone express themselves, and hopefully that'll spread to other places as the years go on. Lastly, the comparison to the Pilgrims was on point, hopefully Maddie finds her safe haven.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the most disturbing part about the people who are opposing Maddie is that everything they say is protected by the first amendment for hate speech is not an exception. No matter how hurtful the words spewed at those in the transgender community, the speakers might be attacked by others who support the community, but they are fully within their rights and words hurt.- Fiona Graybill
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