What you are about to read is real.
It is insane, but it’s real.
From Casey Parks’ article at oregonlive.com:
The Gresham-Barlow School District has agreed to pay $60,000 and make sweeping changes across its nearly two dozen campuses after a transgender elementary school teacher complained of more than a year of harassment from coworkers.
Leo Soell, a fifth-grade teacher at Hall Elementary School, came out as transgender last spring after surviving breast cancer.
The harassment started soon after, Soell said in a complaint submitted to district officials, and continued even after the school hosted an hourlong training on transgender issues.
Soell identifies as neither male nor female and uses the pronoun they instead of he or she. But, Soell wrote, coworkers continuously called Soell “she,” “lady” or “Miss Soell.” Someone smeared Vaseline on Soell’s cabinets, the complaint said, and another yelled insults in the school hallway. Others conspired to prevent Soell from using the school’s lone gender-neutral bathroom, the complaint said.
A district investigation, which officials have declined to release, found no proof of harassment.
Are these people out of their mind?
A fifth grade teacher who came out (or just decided to present him/herself as – who know?) transgender accuses someone – no one specific of harassmnet. The school district found no evidence that any of the harassment ever took place.
But here’s $60,000 anyway, Mr., Mrs. Ms. or whatever the new term is Soell. And we apologize for everything that either did or did not happen.
And for this – which, again, may or may not have even happened, the school district agreed to make “sweeping changes” throughout its two dozen campuses.
WHAT changes? For WHO? Leo Soell?
What if he or she decides the changes aren’t sweeping enough? Is there another $60,000 in the budget for that?
If the Gresham-Barlow School District’s mission was to create anger and resentment toward itself…and, virtually guaranteed – toward transgender people, you can bet it has been successful.
Does that count as a “sweeping change”?
