A student at Maine South High School in Park Ridge is calling for better LGBTQ sensitivity training for local teachers after peers harassed her for authoring an article about transgender issues for the school paper. Anna Rangos, 17, addressed the District 207 school board May 3, demanding a safer harassment-free environment for all students.
In February, Rangos, a junior, had an article published in the school paper about transgender issues in attempt to broaden other students' horizons. That day in her English class, Rangos said her classmates criticized her and the article, and one student called the transgender lifestyle "disgusting and unnatural." Reduced to tears, Rangos went home early from school. After facing bullying and harassment in the subsequent days, she ended up missing three more days of school.
Rangos said she has always been a victim of verbal bullying in school after coming out as a lesbian in 7th grade, but this harassment was particularly harsh. She had spent a lot of time working on her piece for the paper and the attack was sudden and fierce.
"That day was so hard because people had so much hate toward something they didn't understand," she said.
The teacher was not in the room at the time, but contacted the school deans afterward and expressed her disappointment to the class. However, Rangos said the relaxed way in which the administration handled the situation and failed to impose consequences highlighted a need for the faculty to be better equipped in situations of verbal harassment.
An active member of her school's gay-straight alliance ( GSA ) , Rangos and her GSA sponsor, Jennifer Sarashinsky, brainstormed ways to effectively approach the administration with a solution. As a member of the About Face Youth Theatre troupe, Rangos decided to speak to the principal about bringing in About Face to do LGBTQ sensitivity training with faculty and possibly students. Sarashinsky said she believes this might happen prior to next school year.
But Rangos said she is still bothered by the fact that no punishment was given to the particular students that made the scathing comments.
"I felt isolated and alone and hurt that the administration wouldn't do anything to protect its students," Rangos said.
The lack of immediate action prompted Rangos to approach the school board last week. With help from the Illinois Safe School Alliance ( ISSA ) , an organization that promotes healthy school environments for Illinois LGBTQ youth, Rangos came prepared to deliver a message that the school board has a responsibility to uphold.
"I wanted them to know that the harassment needs to stop because it damaged my self-esteem and it could potentially damage others' self-esteem," she said. "I think it's their job to protect their students and make school a safe place for every student."
David Fischer, program associate for ISSA, said the organization helped to provide Rangos with resources for all school board members and recruited local PFLAG members to show their support, but foremost commends Rangos for standing up and making a statement.
"She's an incredible activist," Fischer said. "She's very well-spoken and not afraid to do what it takes."
Sarashinsky echoed those sentiments.
" [ Rangos ] always wants to be the type of person who gets things done—to make a change or have an impact," she said. "From day one that was what she wanted to do."
Sarashinsky said that arming teachers with the information, resources and skills to handle difficult situations like these is the first step toward improving the school environment.
"I think that a lot of our teachers are not sure of the best way to handle many harassment situations," she said. "They are uncomfortable—it's always difficult to think about what is the best thing to do. The more resources people have and more info people have, the better they're going to be able to respond."
Rangos is waiting for a response from the school board before deciding what her next move might be. She said that she hopes one day that the student who calls another a "faggot" will receive an equal or greater punishment than the student who currently gets a Saturday detention for using a cell phone in school.
Windy City Times left a message for Maine South Principal David Claypool but had not received a response as of the press deadline.
