"She felt right for the very first time," Isabella Burgos reads from her favorite book, "Be Who You Are!"
Assigned male at birth, the Winnipeg eight-year-old told her parents this past summer that she had felt like a girl in a boy's body for four years, and began her transition with the support of family and, initially, staff and students at Joseph Teres School.
In September, Isabella was waiting for her older brother when another student's mother yelled at her. "This lady walked up to me and told me I couldn't go to the girls' washroom," Isabella told CBC News.
Since then, her parents, Izzy and Dale Burgos, say their family has been bullied repeatedly by the unnamed woman. While Superintendent Kelly Barkman allegedly spoke to the adult bully, the Burgos family is frustrated by the lack of proactive response, and furthermore, by the school's supposed solution—Isabella has been asked to use the school's single gender-neutral restroom.
Officials from River East Transcona School Division, the Burgos family's district, sent the following statement to Global News last week: "As a reasonable accommodation as outlined by the Manitoba Human Rights Commission, identified trans-gendered [sic] students use the gender-neutral washroom in their school."
While gender-neutral washrooms are necessary, and a progressive option, transgender individuals should be able to use washrooms that correspond with their gender identity. As Bella's mom, Izzy Burgos, told CBC News, "It's just an eight-year-old girl. She just wants to use the washroom she identifies with; it's a human right."
Since Bella began her transition this summer, her parents worry that the isolation of her 'accommodation' will make the transition more challenging.
On Friday, Dale took to Twitter with the hashtag #Pink4Bella, expressing the family's appreciation for supportive classmates, who wore pink to school. While online communities have also rallied around Isabella and her family, Dale is not letting the issue go. He has contacted the Human Rights Commission about revising their 'accommodation,' the police with a harassment suit, and he wants the Rainbow Resource Centre (a not-for-profit group that advocates for gay, transgender, and other communities) to talk to the school division as well.
Isabella is 'happy' with the support she has received, but would also like to see more action. "Because a lot of people have been asking me questions and I just want the teachers to teach about transgender," she told CBC.
Fortunately, Isabella and her parents are standing up for themselves, but as Isabella's story demonstrates, LGBT students still face barriers to acceptance and understanding. Campaigns such as Spirit Day, National Coming Out Day, and the Day of Silence remain important campaigns that raise visibility for LGBT youth. October is both "Bullying Prevention Month" and "LGBT History Month" in the United States, and on October 16th, millions will wear purple for Spirit Day, taking a stand against bullying and showing support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth. GLAAD invites everyone to go purple on Spirit Day to show support for students like Isabella.