Around New England

Faculty Member Organizes Pro-Transgender Walkout By Students at Public School on Election Day

November 6, 2018

A high school chorus director organized a walkout of 93 students at a western Massachusetts high school on Tuesday morning – Election Day – to support transgender people.

A ballot question in Massachusetts, Question 3, asks voters whether they want to keep or end a state statute that allows transgender people access to public bathrooms and locker rooms meant for the biological sex they identify with, even if it doesn’t correspond to their biological sex.

“When we were younger, people told us to ‘become yourself’ and ‘be who you are.’ Then when you actually do become who you are, now, you are getting shamed for it,” one senior at Pioneer Valley Regional School in Northfield told the Greenfield Recorder.

The walkout lasted about 20 minutes.

“I’m so proud of all the staff and the students for making this happen,” said Jean Bacon, the school principal, according to the Greenfield Recorder.