Transgender teen who was made to wear bracelet so teachers could recognise him wins $800k settlement
"Winning this case was so empowering and made me feel like I can actually do something to help other trans youths live authentically."
A Wisconsin transgender student, who was forced to wear a bracelet by teachers so that they could recognise him, has won an $800,000 (£593,144) settlement.
Ash Whitaker, who was born as a girl, won the settlement nearly one-and-a-half years after filing it in 2016 against the Kenosha Unified School Board. In his legal suit, he claimed that the school had violated his civil rights by refusing to treat him as a boy and not letting him use boy's toilet and forcing him to wear wristbands singling him out from other students.
The 18-year-old had also said that the school authorities refer him as a girl despite repeatedly being told not to, the Daily Mail reported.
Expressing his happiness over the victory, Whitaker, who is now attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said: "I am deeply relieved that this long, traumatic part of my life is finally over and I can focus on my future and simply being a college student."
"Winning this case was so empowering and made me feel like I can actually do something to help other trans youths live authentically. My message to other trans kids is to respect themselves and accept themselves and love themselves.
"If someone's telling you that you don't deserve that, prove them wrong," the University freshman, who graduated Tremper High School in June 2017, said in a statement through his attorneys, the Kenosha News reported.
The settlement also challenges the district's petition filed to the US Supreme Court asking that it overturn a ruling which allowed Whitaker to use the boys' bathroom at the school.
Now, the school board has to withdraw that petition and allow the teen to use the men's restroom whenever he returns to the Kenosha Unified campus as an "alumnus or community member", the Daily Mail reported.
"This settlement sends the clear message to all school districts that discriminating against transgender students is against the law and harms students who simply want to go to school," Whitaker's lawyer Joseph Wardenski told the Kenosha News.
Meanwhile, it was reported that the whole money received in compensation would not go to Whitaker. The district attorney said that $650,000 of the settlement will go towards attorney fees and the teen would receive the balanced amount.
However, this is not the first time Whitaker has fought for his rights. He had come to light earlier also when he publicly challenged his school's decision to stop him from running for prom king. The district had to change the decision after 7,000 people along with him signed an online petition and 70 students at his school staged a sit-in to support him.