South Carolina Girl Whose School Censored Pro-Trans Essay Says Teachers Now Ignore Her

A South Carolina schoolgirl whose essay in favor of transgender rights was censured by her school principal two years ago has said the teachers at the school now ignore her.

Rumeur, who is now 12 year old and in sixth grade, spoke to Rolling Stone's David S. Cohen along with her mother Hannah Robertson in an article published on Thursday. They reached out to Cohen following an article about their case.

The principal refused to include Rumeur's pro-trans paragraph in a collection of essays when she was in fourth grade and though her mother sued on her behalf, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled in favor of her school, Anderson Mill Elementary School in Spartanburg County School District #6.

Rumeur had previously been identified using her initials but she and her mother spoke to Rolling Stone about the motivation behind her essay and the fact they plan to appeal.

"I was thinking of my grandfather, who's gay, and my Auntie, who is transgender," Rumeur said of her essay.

"I know other LGBT people, too. Some people think my family is disgusting and gross, but they're normal human beings, just different in some ways. I wanted to write about that. I wanted everybody to hear about how other people are being treated.

"I wanted to write about this situation that's going on in the world, so everybody can know what's going on and fix it. People say things like 'being transgender is disgusting' and other mean things about people just living their life and trying to be free. It's so horrible how people think that," she said.

Hannah Robertson said the school "censored her completely. That's exactly what they did. They took her words out and wanted to plug in other words about bullying that completely miss the whole point."

The appeals court found that the school had the right to refuse to publish Rumeur's essay but when asked if they'll go all the way to the Supreme Court, Robertson said they would.

Rumeur said that being a part of the court case has been "stressful" and explained how some of her teachers are currently treating her.

"Some of the teachers ignore me, like I'm not there. It's like they don't like me because they don't agree with what I wrote about. I try to say hello to them, but they don't say anything. They act like I'm a ghost, not there," she said.

Robertson said there had been "threats" and the school had not been cooperative in their efforts to promote transgender rights. However, they intend to continue their fight.

"I do want to keep doing things for other people, keep speaking up, and helping other people out," Rumeur said.

Spartanburg School District #6 issued a statement to Newsweek through their attorneys. They disputed Hannah Robertson's claim, made in the Rolling Stone interview, that the school principal "said the school doesn't support lesbian, gay, and transgender people."

"The Principal did not say the anti-LGBTQ things attributed to her, and we are concerned that the parent continues to assert false and misleading statements," the district said.

"It was not the student's viewpoint or message that was the issue. The administration believed it was simply not a topic suitable for 4th grade consumption in a booklet made available to other students."

The school district said there was clear legal precedent showing they had the right to decide what content was too mature for fourth graders, not the students or their parents, and called the lawsuit "meritless."

"There is no merit to any claim of retaliation or even any complaints of retaliation since the case was decided by the District Court in 2019," they said.

"The District respects the constitutional rights of all students, but as two courts have now recognized, there is an appropriate time, place, and age at which topics of sexuality and gender identity are appropriate in a school environment and that decision is within the school's discretion."

Update 3/23/21, 7 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include a statement from Spartanburg School District #6.