A “non-binary” Oregon teenager has won $300,000 in a discrimination lawsuit against the Greater Albany Public School District.
The student, Lior Onlay-Kelsey, accused the school of not doing enough to stop other students from bullying them.
It is unclear if the student is a biological male or female. The name Lior is historically male and has Hebrew roots, but is growing in popularity for females.
Onlay-Kelsey, who is now 15, alleged that the bullying began when they were 10.
“In fourth and fifth grade I had, had conversation with my mother and my mother said she was reporting this to school administrators,” the student said, according to a report from local station KTVZ.
The student’s mother claims that her child’s health began to decline due to the school’s inaction on the bullying.
“At first, I was optimistic. I thought the school would do something about it and then when that didn’t happen and continue to happen over and over again and continue to go on, that’s when it got really scary because their mental health was deteriorating,” Onlay-Kelsey’s mother told the station.
The mother claims that since nothing was being done to stop it, she filed an emergency request to transfer schools and immediately filed the lawsuit.
A jury ruled that the principal had discriminated against Onlay-Kelsey by not stopping the bullies and awarded the cash.
The Greater Albany Public School District has released a statement saying, “Our district is leaning on the Oregon Department of Education’s Supporting Gender expansion students’ guidance which was released just this January.”
“This guidance helps our staff understand how best to support our LGBTQ+ students and create classroom environments in which all students may thrive.”