'Humiliated': Mississippi girl 'forced to miss their graduation' after judge’s anti-trans decision

A transgender Mississippi girl missed her graduation Saturday after a U.S. district judge ruled school officials have the right to make her dress like a boy, Reuters reports.

Per NPR, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued the school district "Thursday on behalf of the student and her parents after Harrison Central principal Kelly Fuller and school district superintendent Mitchell King told L.B. that she must follow the boys' clothing rules," which include wearing "white shirts and black slacks."

Furthermore, according to Reuters, Harrison County School Board lawyer Wynn Clark "said in court papers that participating in a graduation was voluntary and not a constitutionally protected right."

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"Our client is being shamed and humiliated for explicitly discriminatory reasons, and her family is being denied a once-in-a-lifetime milestone in their daughter's life," Linda Morris, a staff attorney for the ACLU Women's Rights Project said, calling the ruling "as disappointing as it is absurd," according to NPR.

Reuters reports:

Mississippi lawmakers have introduced more than 30 bills this year seeking to limit rights of LGBTQ citizens. In 2021, Mississippi became the first U.S. state to ban transgender athletes from competing in women's and girl's sports, when Republican Governor Tate Reeves signed legislation.

Morris emphasized, "No one should be forced to miss their graduation because of their gender."

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Reuters' full report is available at this link. NPR's report is here.