Students stage walkout in support of trans classmate.
Dozens of students at Temple High School, Texas walked out of class on Wednesday morning (September 29) in an act of solidarity after a transgender student claimed she recently had to change in a janitor’s room after being denied access to female facilities.
In a heart breaking Instagram post (on 22 September) Kendal Tinoco, 16, said: “Over the past few years I’ve been in transition, to be more specific I’ve been using the females restroom since the 7th grade.”
“Teachers and staff has had no issue with it until now, earlier this month I was told I couldn’t use the locker room because there were ‘actual girls’ in there”, she continued.
Tinoco went on to explain that on the day of making the social media post, she had encountered another similar incident at the school: “However today yet again my teacher mentioned I could not use the locker room because I am trans.”
Despite being able to provide all the documents proving her right to use the facilities, she was allegedly denied access and told ‘to change in a closet with a male dancer’, which she explained was out of her comfort zone.
One week later, her fellow classmates took action. Students at the school can be seen in a video (below) staging a protest through the halls, carrying Pride flags and signs.
Crowds can be heard chanting “trans lives matter,” whilst in one video, a teacher can be heard telling students, “Who cares, go to class.”
Students appeared to ignore teacher’s orders telling them to return to class. Akayla Shahan, a student at the school, said to KCEN: “I just wanted to help make a change. Do whatever I could.”
Tinoco told local news station 6 News: “Overall, I was really proud to see all of the people come together and stand for one another. Just support after support after support. It was really amazing.”
The Kids Are Alright.