Because we cannot teach kindness and empathy at school ...

Oh no, that is so heartbreaking.    The details are a bit sketchy at the moment, I hope that charges are laid against the person/s who assaulted Nex. I am stunned that the school not only failed to call for medical help, they also suspended the victim! WTF?

I hope that every single adult that failed that poor child virus in hell and gets what is coming to them.

And I hope the girls in the bathroom also face harsh reality and penalties.

May they rest in peace.

Who was this child hurting? Whose life was being affected by the choices they made? I guarantee it was absolutely nobody, and yet somehow people thought they had a right to judge them, and hurt them, because they were "different". This breaks my heart. Sometimes I hate people so much.

Love what you said. Nex was hurting absolutely no one! 😢

The only kids we need to worry about are the ones being raised by hateful, vile, anti (fill in the blank) "adults".

The ones being bombarded with hateful messages by MAGA idiots, their parents, social media influencer, etc.

Even with proper laws in place and proper supportive measures, kids who are not white, straight, Christian will continue to be harmed and killed.

This nation needs a whole lot of healing and it starts at home with how the adults talk.

It’s exactly this that makes me fervently hope that a certain pea here never reproduced. 

That poor child in Oklahoma. 

This makes me sick to my stomach. My brother's son is trans. They moved to Oregon from St Louis because they no longer felt it was safe to raise their son in that community. The political discourse made things like this feel possible, perhaps even likely, there.

ETA: Make no mistake, things like this could happen here too. Maybe less likely, but I’m sure the rhetoric of recent years has stirred up hate everywhere.

So heartbreaking.

While there is still far far too much hate, I do think things have changed for the better. Just looking at my own family… though my trans nephew’s family felt they needed to move because of the climate where they lived, he was still out and was mostly accepted by classmates.

One of my son’s best friends is trans - they were friends before and after their transition and it’s just a nonissue to DS and others. He hasn’t experienced any bullying, according to DS. Meanwhile, my brother, who is gay, was not out until after college because the climate in our liberal, Pacific Northwest, affluent suburb in the 1980s was virulently unaccepting of anyone who wasn’t straight. The schools and cities were very similar demographically but separated by about four decades and the attitudes toward LGBTQIA+ issues and people are completely different.

Progress has definitely been made. Unfortunately it hasn’t been universal.

I have a nephew who was born my niece. So this really hurts my heart. I know when they came out to our family, they were really worried about everyone's reactions. I am so proud of my family. They know that they are loved and respected still. If someone outside of the family said anything negative to them, they might be hurt, but they know they have their family's love and support. My sister said for the most part, they are accepted.

I cannot fathom a child having to endure abuse from a place they trusted and should be safe - school. I really hope those girls AND their parents are brought to justice. Not sure how old they are, but I'm thinking old enough to know right from wrong, and still chose to act wrongly and criminally. And should be treated as adults who act wrongly and criminally.

Agreed

But I still see far more acceptance and love than hate in my son’s generation and we’re still ahead of where we were when we were kids. But we have to fight this regression tooth and nail.