Public school parent files suit over alleged beating by trans student illegally using girls’ bathroom

A public school parent is filing suit against an Oklahoma school district, alleging her 15-year-old daughter was attacked and severely beaten by a 17-year-old transgender student in a school bathroom.

The police report from the incident indicates that the accused, who was born male but identifies as a female, assaulted multiple girls in an attack last October, said local KOKH TV News.

The assault by the student, who no longer attends Edmond Memorial High School in the  Edmond Public Schools District (EPSD), prompted a state investigation by Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters.

“This is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in the state of Oklahoma,” Walters said on Twitter.

He blamed the assault on “Woke ideology [that] endangers our kids.”

The lawsuit alleges the district knew the trans student was violating the law by using a bathroom that does not reflect the biological gender he was assigned at birth, according to the New York Post.

In May of last year, Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt signed into law legislation that requires students to use bathrooms that match the gender listed on their birth certificate.

EPSD claims they did not know the gender identity of the student who allegedly committed the assault, because the trans student was new to the district, said the New York Post.

But parent Theresa Gooden claims in the suit that the beating left her daughter with “severe physical and mental injuries, severe physical and mental pain and suffering, and severe emotional distress.”

The four-page lawsuit also alleges that the trans student had previously made threats of violence against Gooden’s daughter.

It also claims that prior to the assault, the trans student was removed from the school by Edmond Police and searched for weapons at the request of the school after threats were made against the plaintiff’s daughter.

However, the school never notified the parent about the incident, according to the lawsuit.

Under Oklahoma statute Title 70, 1-125 (g) “A parent or legal guardian of a student enrolled in and physically attending a public school district or public charter school shall have a cause of action against the public school district or public charter school for noncompliance with the provisions” that assign bathrooms by biological gender at birth.

The mother is asking for damages to exceed $75,000, plus court costs and attorney fees.

In a video sent to parents after the incident, Superintendent Dr. Angela Grunewald acknowledged that the bathroom laws were violated during the assault, but said that the attacker had been punished, according to the New York Post.