Gay teen was bullied, hospitalized and ignored by school teachers | Photo by Ian Esponosa/Unsplash
A gay student is suing his school after teachers ignored him as he was being attacked by bullies.
Guadalupe Paredes, 19, has said the school were ‘deliberately indifferent’ to his daily torment.
One official even allegedly told his mother Parades brought it on himself by ‘acting gay and telling other students he was gay’.
Gay student attacked by bullies
The 19-year-old has named the Kenosha Unified School District, and five administrators as defendants. Kenosha is in Wisconsin, US.
In fifth grade, when he was around 10 years old, he was hospitalized for psychiatric treatment over the abuse he suffered at school.
The lawsuit says the assistant principal at Edward Bain School of Language and Art changed when Parades came out in fourth grade.
He says the principal told him to bring concerns to him because the assistant principal, Ron Sandoval, ‘did not feel comfortable with [Parades’] kind’.
The anxiety of returning to school each day got worse, vomiting on Sunday nights.
Teachers told gay teen to ‘avoid’ the harassers
When his mother spoke to administrators, they suggested Parades just ‘avoid’ the harassers.
He then started hiding from and sometimes missing classes to avoid contact.
In sixth grade, he moved to a different school. Many of his harassers followed.
One told him in a restroom he should kill himself.
Despite his mother complaining to school officials, there is no written record of any investigation.
‘Kill yourself’
And that was when a school official told Parades that he brought the trouble onto himself by ‘acting gay and telling other students he was gay’.
Harborside school officials at one point decided the teen and his main bully should work together on a poster project or face a three-day suspension.
Parades couldn’t face spending time alone with the other student and chose to be suspended.
When he began Reuther Central High, he no longer reported bullying ‘because he believed it was hopeless’.
His grades declined. Later, he was hospitalized.
Lawsuit claims student was deprived of educational opportunities
The lawsuit brings claims under Title IX which bans discrimination based on sex in schools that receive federal funding.
The suit claims the harassment prevented Parades from receiving the educational opportunities offered by the district.
A Kenosha Unified School District official has declined to comment.
