WYANDOTTE, Mich. — The federal government is supporting a Detroit-area teenager who accuses several schools of discriminating against him because he’s transgender.
In a court filing last week, the U.S. Justice Department urged a judge to deny a request to dismiss the lawsuit at an early stage. The government says the boy so far has stated a “plausible claim” under federal law.
The 14-year-old’s family filed a lawsuit last year in Detroit federal court. It describes a series of humiliating episodes in the Wyandotte, Van Buren and Dearborn Heights districts as well as at a charter school.
His mother sued in September, alleging that the schools not only failed to protect him from bullying by other students, but also outed him without his consent, telling his peers and their parents that he was born a girl.
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The teen’s mother also alleged that the schools forced him to use women’s bathrooms and insisted on calling him by his female birth name.
The schools are accused of being indifferent to the boy’s harassment by staff and other students. They deny the allegations.