BRAVE KIDS

Hero Transgender Teen Fights Back After School Bans Him From Prom

anais celini and nathaniel baezHow is it 2014 and some schools have still not received the memo that they can’t make up arbitrary gender rules about proms? This was a settled legal matter years ago, and many schools have gotten really good at including LGBT kids in prom planning… and yet somehow some principals are still messing it up.

The details of the latest case are a little unique: instead of barring a gay couple, the school is barring a heterosexual trans guy from attending with his girlfriend. And instead of happening in some conservative backwater state, it happened in New York.

Anais Celini and Nathaniel Baez are the couple in question, and Martin Luther High School in Queens is the school. It’s a little unclear exactly what the school said to them. According to Celini, “the school said to me that his transition is unconventional and it’s not what he feels beneficial to letting him come to prom.” Obviously, this is not a completely coherent sentence, but this kid’s been thrust into a huge spotlight to deal with an issue that she really should not have to face, so it’s understandable that she’s rambling a bit.

Anais and Nathaniel aren’t giving up on a prom: they’re saving up for a prom of their own, and a transitional housing center has offered to help host it. And they’ve certainly brought a lot of attention to the school, which is always step one in getting evil administrators to reverse their dumb decisions.

A lot of the news coverage about these two is focusing on the prom, but they were also kicked out of their homes by their families last year, which is kind of a bigger deal as life events go. Maybe someday, parents casting their own kids into homelessness will warrant more news coverage than who gets to wear a tuxedo and rent a limo.

H/t: HuffPo

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