Mother of a trans student reports a case of transphobia at the Professor Gabriel Ortiz State School, in the east zone of São Paulo
The librarian Angelica Evangelista contacted the website iG Queer to report a case of transphobia against her daughter, a 17-year-old trans girl, who faced prejudice for months in the school environment.
It all started in February of this year when Sarah, the fictitious name for Angélica’s daughter, assumed her gender identity at the school where she studies, Escola Estadual Professor Gabriel Ortiz, in Penha, east of São Paulo.
Angélica, who always supported her daughter, was determined to ensure that her daughter felt safe and respected in the school environment. But despite her efforts, the young woman faced a series of challenges following her gender identity.
In one of the cases, the Portuguese teacher refused to address the student by her feminine pronoun and called her by her registered name, exposing Sarah to embarrassment in the classroom.
In addition to the teacher, the teenager faced hostility from her classmates, some of whom did not accept her gender identity and challenged her when she used the women’s bathroom.
Sarah also heard offensive comments such as “become a man” or “stop being a fagot”, affecting the student’s mental health.
With the persistence of transphobic comments, in March Angélica went to the school to talk to the management and stated that the complaints were registered incompletely by the pedagogical coordinator, called Patrícia, who stated that it was not necessary to detail the entire situation.
In April, the librarian returned to the school to talk to the principal, Dalila Viana, who revealed that she was not aware of the previous complaints, which left Angélica “in disbelief” and, this time, she insisted on having a record of the complaints.
Although issues with other students and the girls’ bathroom had been resolved, the Portuguese teacher continued to speak transphobically and the school seemed reluctant to take significant action.
Angélica said that the school offered shallow answers like “we need time to guide teachers” It is “your daughter needs to be strong” and, according to her, the school management showed no interest in Sarah’s rights being respected.
In June, the situation worsened, as Sarah began to self-mutilate, the psychological pressure and transphobia she suffered at school led the young woman to a study of deep suffering and, that month, she did not go to school for the entire month. .
“My daughter was in such a difficult situation that she resorted to self-harm. It broke my heart,” said Angélica.
As a result of these episodes, Sarah, who also worked part-time, was fired from her job and admitted to a psychiatric clinic due to her poor mental health.
Sarah was admitted to hospital at the end of July and continues to be treated to this day.
“In the midst of these events, I sent an email to the school management with a copy to the education management”, informed Angélica, who was surprised to discover that her daughter’s enrollment had been canceled due to school dropout.
According to Law No. 7,819/2023, public schools must notify the guardianship council of student absences exceeding 30% of monthly classes, which was not done at any time, according to Angélica.
“My daughter did not drop out of school, she was pushed to marginalization, to drop out of school, by the management, the pedagogical coordination and the teacher and today she is in a psychiatric clinic for the simple fact of being a trans girl”he said.
“When I went to register my daughter again and asked to be assisted by the management or coordination, they promptly refused”, revealed.
“The management didn’t respect her and now they don’t know if she will be able to finish her third year of high school because she ‘dropped out of school’”continued Angélica.
“For an institution that in months was unable to fulfill its duties and commitments in relation to a young trans woman, it seems to me that it was very easy for them to choose to cancel her enrollment after 15 working days of absence”, completed.
Angélica also said that the director stated that “the State provides material for these agendas (LGBTQIAP+), but these agendas could not happen ‘out of turn’”;
“When I asked when the time would be, she didn’t know how to answer,” she declared.
After the librarian demanded that Sarah not miss the school year, the school presented a solution to the student’s case, allowing her to do her schoolwork while she was hospitalized.
However, Angélica stated that the school took a long time to make this decision: “If the school had told me that my daughter would have to do hospital homework, even in the first half of September, I would have believed that they were trying to respect my daughter’s rights, but the school only responded after a month and a week. ”.
“It took 37 days for the school and the education board to know what to respond to a simple case of a student being removed. And it was this same school that took 15 days, exactly 15 working days, to comply with the carelessness of canceling my daughter’s enrollment”, finished.
The Professor Gabriel Ortiz State School was contacted by iG Queer, but did not comment on the case.
Source: Maxima
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