The Black and White

by Galilea Gonzalez

Pilgrim High School is one that prides itself on its diversity of students from different backgrounds and experiences. From having this diversity, one has the ability to learn from people who have an entirely different angle on life. All people move through the world differently, and that’s something beautiful. Nationally, there’s been a recent push against the celebration of the diversity of humanity. Schools across the country have been the battleground of this recent push. One small minority that has been a center of debate is transgender students, who are talked about so often but seldom talked to. 

Trans students can often have a school experience that differs from their cisgender counterparts. It’s important to take into consideration their unique struggles so that we can strive to make the school a better place for everyone. Transgender is a term that describes someone who identifies as a gender that differs from their sex assigned at birth. Cisgender describes someone who identifies with the gender of their sex assigned at birth. Both of these terms have been around for decades and are considered acceptable ways to describe these differences among people. 

Oftentimes trans students have difficulties with feeling included among their peers, having their identity respected, accessing restroom facilities, and feeling generally safe. Data from the CDC’s 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Study shows that 40.1% of transgender students reported facing some form of bullying, which is close to double compared to the 20.3% of cisgender girls and more than double compared to the 14.8% of cisgender boys. But even though statistically transgender students are more likely to face bullying, many of them are able to find the strength to rise above it. One of these students is Jules Velazquez, an 18-year-old trans girl who is a senior at Pilgrim High School. Throughout our interview she described her difficulties with the judgment of her peers but also how she moves past it. “People look down at it here. But the more people hate, the more I wanted to express. I’m not going to sit there and listen to other people and what they have to say because then I’d just be wasting my life. The hatred is what keeps me going.” She responded when asked how being transgender has affected her high school experience. 

On the other hand, other transgender students have found that Pilgrim’s environment is more accepting compared to other schools, like Elijah Garcia, a 16-year-old trans boy who began going to Pilgrim at the beginning of this school year. Compared to his past experiences at his last high high school he attended, he feels more welcomed here at Pilgrim., “The people here are just a lot more accepting overall. A lot of people in other school systems get bullied out of their transition. The constant bullying and berating pushes people in the closet, but me personally, seeing that makes me sad because I could never give up my hope.” When asked about how his identity shaped his school experience. he stated, “I have lots of privilege because I’m cis-passing. It’s made the transition easier, especially with, like, moving back to the school system after being here and then not being here. There’s a lot of people who knew me from elementary school who now have no idea who I am because I moved away and am now a guy.”

The term cis passing means a transgender person who is not visibly trans and can blend in as the gender they identify as. Oftentimes being perceived as cisgender by society can make their day-to-day lives easier and avoid the bullying and harassment that other trans people may experience.

 Although Pilgrim has a zero-tolerance bullying code, it can be difficult to enforce. If a situation goes unreported or if there is retaliation against the perpetrator that makes the situation no longer one-sided. Mr. Gibbons, the principal of Pilgrim, expressed how difficult it can be, “The hardest part is that bullying is something repeated and one-sided, while a lot of times someone says something mean to someone else because of a bad day or something,” and when asked about the school’s policies toward bullying, he responded, ‘“I’ve been in a bunch of different high schools, and they all deal with it differently because of the adults getting the information. We try to be transparent and follow the trail so it can be stopped immediately.”

Besides bullying, another problem that trans students may face that their cisgender counterparts don’t is accessibility to bathrooms. One student expressed how the only bathroom she can use is the nurse’s. “The bathrooms aren’t very accessible to me because I was kicked out; sometimes I have to walk down the whole school for five minutes just to get to the bathroom,” she stated when asked about her ability to access the restrooms. “Other kids take at most a two minute walk, and then I get in trouble when I take longer than the other students.”

It is important to mention that she was banned from the bathroom after having a fight with another student, who, during the interview, she claimed had repeatedly provoked her. 

One trans male student interviewed stated he does use the boys bathroom, but in some ways being trans makes it more difficult: “I don’t see many trans guys here using the bathroom. I have to add more gruff to my voice because they’re teenage boys and it can get wild.”

 Other trans students may choose to use the nurses bathroom out of fear of being put into an uncomfortable or unsafe situation where they are judged and harassed.

Mr. Gibbons explained these issues are handled on a more individual basis. “Every individual is different; if a student has other things that come into play where it’s a danger to themselves or to someone else, or they violate other school rules while in bathrooms. We’re trying to protect that student and help them learn how to make different decisions. So they may be required to use other bathrooms so we can have an eye on them.” 

Although trans students may have additional challenges, compared to other schools, Pilgrim High School’s environment seems better. There is much progress to be made in ensuring a positive school experience for everyone, but for the complex issue that this is, it is handled appropriately by the school administration.