A school assistant principal has been suspended after he allegedly bullied transgender student Michael Critchfield (pictured) in the bathroom. Photo / ACLU
A school assistant principal has been suspended after he allegedly bullied transgender student Michael Critchfield (pictured) in the bathroom. Photo / ACLU
A school assistant principal has been suspended after he allegedly bullied a transgender student in the bathroom.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, assistant principal Lee Livengood followed 15-year-old transgender student Michael Critchfield into the boys' toilet, harassing him and telling him "you freak me out".
But the abuse continued.
According to Critchfield, the school's band was preparing to take an afterschool bus trip to watch a performance at West Virginia University. Critchfield said he went to the bathroom and checked to see if anyone was standing at a urinal before he went into a stall.
A school assistant principal has been suspended after he allegedly bullied transgender student Michael Critchfield (pictured) in the bathroom. Photo / ACLU
Livengood then opened the bathroom door and asked if any students were in the stall. Critchfield replied, and when he left the stall, Livengood was standing in the bathroom doorway and blocked Critchfield from leaving.
Critchfield recalled Livengood repeatedly yelling, "Why are you in here? You shouldn't be in here."
Critchfield replied it was his legal right to use that bathroom. Livengood then became aggressive, telling the student to "come out here and use the urinal" to prove he was a boy.
The teacher also allegedly refused to use correct pronouns when speaking to Michael.
Lee Livengood, the assistant principal of Liberty High School in West Virginia. Photo / harcoboe.net
After the assistant principal agreed to let Michael leave, the student began "crying uncontrollably" and was consoled outside the bathroom by a parent.
Critchfield said school "should feel like a safe place. Kids like me should never have to go through anything like this. At the end of the day all I wanted was to feel welcome".
"Mr Livengood's behaviour in the bathroom that day was terrifying and no student deserves that kind of treatment.
"I'm telling my story so that high school doesn't have to be a scary place for kids like me."
According to the ACLU, school administrators have refused to call the student "Michael," used his birth name over the intercom during school announcements, and told him he couldn't use the boys' room, despite reminders from the family.
Transgender teen Michael Critchfield has suffered anxiety and embarrassment after Livengood bullied him. Photo / ACLU
Critchfield's mother, Caroline Critchfield, said the incident infuriated her.
"As a parent, that is my child that you are talking to," she said.
"His job was to provide safety, to protect my son while he was in school. Not bully. Not badger. Not to humiliate. Not to tear someone down. Not cause phobia. Not cause discrimination against him. What is this teaching our students?"
The assistant principal disputed some of Critchfield's claims.
On Tuesday Livengood was suspended with pay until the end of the semester - amounting to just four days.
