(L-R) Elaine Kelsey, Lior Onaly-Kelsey, Caitlin Mitchell and Lior’s grandmother.Photo:Courtesy of Caitlin Mitchell
Courtesy of Caitlin Mitchell
An Oregon non-binary teenager won a lawsuit against their school district for its failure to prevent bullying towards them, according to multiple reports.
A federal jury in Eugene, Oregon, found earlier this month that Greater Albany Public Schools discriminated against Lior Onaly-Kelsey, now 15, when they were in elementary school,The Washington Postreported.
Lior began attending Oak Grove Elementary School in 2015 at the second grade. The following school year, Lior started to identify themselves as non-binary, per thePost.
They told ABC affiliateKEZIthat they experienced harassment and bullying: “A student had threatened to pull my pants down and show the world who I truly was,” Lior said. “People called me the F-slur, they told me I was the devil spawn."
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Lior eventually tried an online school in the Greater Albany Public Schools district and later obtained an emergency transfer to another district so that Lior could complete the 5th grade, Kelsey told thePost.
Speaking with KEZI, the mother recalled a conversation she had with Lior during a drive home: “We were driving in the car and they said to me, ‘Mom, you’re a great mom. My family loves me, but what’s happening at school — I just see that nobody in the world will accept somebody like me.’ I remember very clearly I was in a spot where I couldn’t pull off the road and I was just trying to keep them from jumping out of the car.”
In 2020, Lior filed a lawsuit against Greater Albany Public Schools, accusing district employees of knowing about the “hostile educational environment” that Lior was in but not addressing it, per thePost.
During their time in elementary school, Lior, who testified in court, said they were misgendered and prevented from taking part in activities in addition to being bullied. They told thePost: “I was talking about how this had brought me to the verge of suicide so many times. And how no kid should have to go home and the first thing they think about was, ‘How can I end it?’”
OnSept. 25,the jury ruled in favor of Lior and awarded them$317,353, according to a news release from Lior’s legal representatives. The court found that both Greater Albany Public Schools and former Oak Elementary School principal Jerrie Matuszak violated the U.S. Constitution, Title IX and Oregon law,Oregon Public Broadcastingreported.
In a statement shared with PEOPLE Thursday, Caitlin Mitchell, an attorney representing Lior wrote: “I hope that this verdict will send a message to school districts across the country that they must follow this country’s laws prohibiting gender-based discrimination and protect all students from harassment and bullying.”
Superintendent Andy Gardner — who began working for the district in July 2022 — addressed the case in a statement emailed to PEOPLE:
Greater Albany Public Schools strives to provide a stellar education to all students. The events related to the dispute began in 2017 and since then we have focused on aligning our district’s beliefs and values of supporting our diverse students with policies and procedures. Beginning in 2019, administrators started working on a Strategic Plan rooted in equity. We engaged community members, parents, administrators, and staff to create our new Strategic Plan, which was completed last year.
In 2021, our district created a new Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion department and we recently hired a new executive director to lead the team. Our EDI team is currently working through updates to our bias incident response policies and procedures so incidents are addressed early.
Lastly, our district is leaning on the Oregon Department of Education’s Supporting Gender Expansion Students guidance which was released just this January. This guidance helps our staff understand how best to support our LGBTQ+ students and create classroom environments in which all students may thrive.
A spokesperson for the district said “no members of our current School Board were serving in 2017.”
source: people.com
