To the Queer Kids at South Side: Part 2

Letter 2.0 - originally written 10/09/2022

The school board meeting at South Side Area School District on Wednesday October 5, 2022 proved that this community overwhelmingly has nothing more than blatant hate towards LGBTQ+ people and fear-mongering to spread. There was no respect towards transgender people and their families & friends. There was booing when someone with different beliefs would speak, interruptions, yelling from the crowd, and the school board members showed blatant disregard for maintaining neutrality.

For hours, Mr. Daren Cusato sat as people erupted in booing and spreading false narratives. Mr. Cusato knew that the student he refused to accommodate was indeed transgender, and not an animal nor tree like these people sat and falsely declared. Starting a witch hunt against LGBTQ+ children is not the Jesus-like thing to do. Cusato very well could have gotten up and said the simple fact that he refused to call a student by he/him pronouns and never once was he asked to call someone a tree. If he and his entire family really are Christians, why did they not dispel that entire rumor that went on and on for hours and hours? “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

-Matthew 25:40

And as far as the school board and people claiming that this district is fair, equal, and respectful towards their students…

*Trigger warning ahead for topics such as traumatic brain injury, chronic illness, suicidal thoughts, etc.***

Let’s talk about how I suffered a severe traumatic brain injury inside the school due to a coach’s negligence and the same procedures for taking down volleyball poles are being used to this day. Let’s talk about how that same afternoon, a coach encouraged me to play sports the next day when I didn’t even know the date. Let’s talk about the school board member who then declared at a school board meeting after my TBI that I am “not as sick as I let on”; but has never had one conversation with me, been there for the 8+ surgeries I’ve had, all the medicines I’ve been on, and all that I’ve had to put on hold in my life because of that negligence. Let’s talk about how I was encouraged by a former administrator to sue the school district when my 504 plan was then blatantly, in word and in writing, disregarded for years by teachers, administrators and a guidance counselor. Let’s talk about how when I was being abused and had to be seen by a mental health facility, that same guidance counselor called me into his office and after I did indeed tell him that I was suicidal, he let me walk out of his office with nothing more than a “have a good day”. Let’s talk about how I know plenty of other students with 504 plans and IEPs that are treated horribly by students and teachers alike. Let’s talk about how my family had to fight tooth and nail against an ableist policy set forth by the school board that doesn’t allow students who achieved honors status to walk at graduation/have chords because of medically excused absences/504 plans. Let’s talk about how after I, and other fellow students were allowed to walk with honors despite our chronic illnesses, were almost denied this right yet again when a principal chose his own judgment over the board and tried that day to not let me walk with honors. Let’s talk about how that same administrator shamed me at my graduation because I was fighting against the racism and hatred that is so deeply rooted in this community. Let’s talk about how this school board says they do everything to protect students but in my time of K-12 at South Side, we never had one serious lock-down/intruder/shooting drill; and even worse, the board knows that not every major part of the school (including cafeteria) has emergency supplies such as Stop Bleed Kits and they have done nothing to change this.

I would like to thank the teachers and other staff that made my time at South Side bearable. To the staff who sat with me as I cried after surgeries and hospitalizations to make up work, to the staff who celebrated my achievements with me, to the staff who let me know that I was loved and supported even when it didn’t feel like it. I want to give a special shoutout to the staff who are never recognized by the board for their stupendous work & whom without, we would have no school: the food-service workers, the custodians and building-and-grounds employees, the special education teachers and aides, bus drivers, nurses, and anyone else who may need a “thank you”.

I would like to end this message the same way that I ended the first one. To the Queer kids and their families who are hurting very deeply right now, please know that so many of us are working publicly and behind-the-scenes to stand up for our rights. And when it feels like it’s just you fighting the whole world, know that I will never leave you standing alone.

-Makenna V (she/her/hers)