Video of a high-school student brutally assaulting a transgender classmate has gone viral on social media.
However, the school superintendent in Alpine, Texas, says the attacker won't face discipline because the incident occurred off-campus and on a weekend.
The victim told CBS 7 the attack “came out of nowhere” one recent Sunday on the football field at Saul Ross University in Alpine, when he was approached by three classmates. The attacker cursed at the victim before becoming violent, throwing numerous punches before wrestling him to the ground, then continuing to pummel him in the head. The other two classmates stood nearby laughing, with one apparently filming the incident on a cell phone.
“He said it was because he didn't like me, and he didn't like who I was, that I just pissed him off,” the victim said.
The victim and his attacker are both students at Alpine High School. Superintendent Becky McCutchen said while the school district would never condone such violence, the attacker likely won't face consequences unless police make an arrest.
“People need to understand this happened off campus and the school district, we've done everything we can to ensure the safety of all our students,” McCutchen said.
But the victim told CBS 7 the violent attack was “only the beginning.” Anti-trans bullying has continued at school, where he no longer feels safe.
“I had kids pretty much saying I deserve to be dead, and that he [the attacker] should have killed me,” the victim said. “It's definitely going to happen again.”
The victim's family reportedly plans to hire an attorney to file a lawsuit against the three students involved in the attack.
“All that bullying, it just needs to stop,” the victim's mother said. “They brush it to the side like nothing's going on, but something is going on. That's why all these kids are getting hurt. These kids are taking their own lives because of that.”
Equality Texas is encouraging people to show their support for the victim.
“Alpine ISD Superintendent McCutchen said that her hands were tied because the attack didn't take place on school property or during school hours,” Equality Texas wrote in an email Wednesday. “But we know that an inclusive school environment and enumerated anti-bullying policies can help set the tone for student behavior both inside and outside a school's doors. The school district can send a message to the community that anti-LGBTQ attitudes and actions will not be tolerated by them. You can send a message to Superintendent McCutchen and all members of the Alpine ISD School Board right now asking them to take steps to support their LGBTQ students and create a safer school environment.”
Texas has been a hotbed for anti-trans violence in recent years, which is hardly surprising given hateful rhetoric from GOP state leaders who have repeatedly attempted to pass an anti-trans “bathroom bill.”
On Super Tuesday, GOP primary voters in Texas will weigh in on a fear-mongering proposition that seeks to ban “chemical castration” and “genital mutilation” of minor children “given that Texas children as young as three (3) are being transitioned from their biological sex to the opposite sex,” according to a report from OutInSA.com.
Watch CBS 7's report on the attack below.
