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Angry Ohio Mom says her Transgender child being harassed

MARENGO --  The mother of a central Ohio transgender child is angered at people who have slammed her family's decision to support her elementary school age daughter. Emily LeVan told local Ohio station WBNS-TV that she wants social media harassment of her daughter to stop.

According to LeVan, she legally changed her daughter's name to Keat last week and posted it on Facebook, she noted her daughter was physically born a boy named Keaten but identifies female.

"I was celebrating it because it was a big step for us, and a couple of people took it upon themselves to berate me for it," she said. 

LeVan told WBNS-TV that some parents of Keat's classmates at Highland Elementary School in Morrow County, had written derogatory messages, including "I am terribly ticked that the parents are allowed to send their boy to school as a girl and put him in this embarrassing situation" and "This is child abuse!" 

Keat said that when she first transitioned last year, she was teased by her peers. 

The Highland Local Schools District Superintendent Bill Dodds confirms Keat's accounts of bullying and says they address it immediately and have a zero tolerance policy for that type of behavior. 

"It's disgusting," said Dodds, "we don't accept it and we won't accept it," he said. 

LeVan said that she is grateful that the school district has been very accepting of her daughter's gender identity and hopes with time the community will do the same.
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