At Central Bucks, transphobic slurs are common and adults are unwilling to intervene
Many faculty members refuse to defend LGBTQ students from the words, phrases, slurs, names, and ill-intent that other students throw their way.
We are two trans students in the Central Bucks School District, which the American Civil Liberties Union has alleged is a “toxic environment” for LGBTQ students. In our time at Central Bucks, both of us have endured homophobic or transphobic bullying from our peers.
This bullying and discrimination has impacted our ability to learn, and Central Bucks does nothing about it.
One of us — Leo — came out as transgender and changed his name at the beginning of his senior year at Central Bucks West last September. He emailed all of his teachers about his pronouns and name. However, throughout the entire school year, one teacher consistently misgendered him, while only occasionally correcting themself.
It is hard to learn in a classroom when your teacher misgenders you to all the students present.
When entering one of the very few gender-neutral bathrooms for students to use, Leo was called a “tranny” by a student passing by. That gender-neutral bathroom also frequently lacks toilet paper, paper towels, or both. Another student hurled a homophobic slur at Leo as he handed out flyers about a protest before school one morning.
Despite the challenges, Leo fights for acceptance of LGBTQ students through his work in the school’s Sexuality and Gender Alliance, and makes speeches at school board meetings, which he started doing after a community member spoke about transgender people raping women in bathrooms; he knew he needed to become a voice to counteract the hate.
At those school board meetings, Leo heard plenty of hate speech attacking the LGBTQ community. These meetings become tense and often hostile environments that are dominated by adults.
At one of these meetings in May 2022, Abram M. Lucabaugh, the superintendent, stated that for LGBTQ students, “a successful day is getting through the day and not being harassed, not being outed by someone. A successful day is getting through the hallway without somebody sending a slur their way, or trying to marginalize them. A really successful day, ironically, would be if a student hurled an insult or a slur their way and an adult stepped up and said, ‘No, we’re not doing that.’”
Unfortunately, that kind of support from adults in the community is rare.
This remark was made after Lucabaugh spoke about the meetings he had held with students, many of them part of gay-straight alliances at their schools.
But much has since changed. The superintendent now contradicts himself, claiming the Central Bucks School District does not have a toxic environment for its LGBTQ students.
Central Bucks South, for Ben, has unfortunately not been much better. Homophobic and transphobic phrases are commonplace, and often targeted at Ben. They came out as nonbinary in their sophomore year of high school in 2021. Fortunately, many of their teachers have made a real effort to get their pronouns right and use them correctly. Their lovely AP Spanish teacher even taught Ben’s class (with Ben’s permission) about the Spanish word for nonbinary and the gender-neutral pronouns and conjugations of gendered words. She will probably never realize what an impact that simple gesture had.
However, some faculty members do not try to integrate their pronouns into everyday language. These faculty often use strategies like, “I am just going to use your name so I don’t have to get your pronouns wrong,” which seems like an attempt to be inclusive at first glance but is really just a cop-out. Most transgender and nonbinary people would much rather someone make a mistake, correct themselves, and move on. (If someone with good, inclusive intentions makes a mistake, no big deal.)
Some faculty and most students at Central Bucks South, however, do not appear to have good intentions and rarely use Ben’s pronouns correctly. Even worse, many teachers witness students using the incorrect names and pronouns for transgender and nonbinary students — and do nothing about it.
Many faculty members refuse to defend their LGBTQ students from the words, phrases, slurs, names, and ill-intent that other students throw their way. As such, we know many LGBTQ students who often dread going to school.
Both of us know of LGBTQ students who have resorted to spending time in the guidance counselor’s and nurse’s offices to avoid bullies. Unfortunately, many LGBTQ students are bullied out of the district.
Even if individual adults are supportive, the district’s vague but threatening policies — like Policy 321 — have prompted many teachers and administrators to feel as though their hands are tied, fearing formal discipline or humiliation if they advocate for LGBTQ students. And as such, the most vulnerable students of the Central Bucks School District remain the least protected.
This Pride month, we urge all allies to support the ACLU’s efforts to make Central Bucks a safe environment for LGBTQ students to learn. Support queer students and uplift our voices. Push for policies that make schools safer and more welcoming for us, and elect school board members who will fight for LGBTQ rights.
Leo Burchell and Ben Busick are seniors in the Central Bucks School District.