On Friday, 14-year-old Kylie Perez was attacked at her high school in Newark and viciously beaten down.
“And the girl was like, ‘oh, there’s the tranny! Two punches, like right here, and i fell. And when i fell, I felt like everybody was coming towards me. Everybody,” Kylie, who is transgender, told Pix 11.
Kylie’s mother, Lillian Richards, said that Kylie has been particularly bullied since her transition in sixth grade from Justin to Kylie.
“They would call me gay, and faggot…so that’s what they usually say,” said Kylie.
“When I received the call, I just started crying, I just panicked,” said Richards.
While both Kylie and her mother reported the attack, and the police have classified the attack as being motivated by bias, Kylie and her mother noted that, as far as they are aware, the school has not done anything to raise awareness or fight bullying since the beating at East Side High School.
“When my daughter goes to school, I expect her to be safe in school,” Richards said.
“You can’t really change anybody, how they feel, whether they’re gay, lesbian, transgender, or anything… that’s their decision,” said Kylie.
The police since notified the Essex County Prosecutor’s office about the incident.
