French teenagers are protesting and paying homage to their transgender classmate who died by suicide in the aftermath of an altercation with school officials over her gender presentation.
The students of Fenelon High School in Lille as school started Friday, expressing their anger and distress at the suicide of their classmate Fouad.
17-year-old Fouad died by suicide after an altercation with school officials about her wearing a denim skirt after deciding to be open about her identity. There is a video that Fouad shared with friends online where the school official can be heard arguing that her identity is upsetting to others in the school.
After Fouad’s suicide, her classmates were further angered by the school’s use of male pronouns when announcing her death.
On french social media, many French teenagers are using the hashtag #JusticePourFouad, #JusticeforFouad to raise awareness of this awful case and calling on the Education Department to protect young people particularly, transgender students in their schools from this treatment.
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The French teenagers held a sit-in and a moment of silence outside the entrance to the Fenelon High School in Lille as school started Friday, expressing their anger and distress at Fouad’s suicide.
A classmate took to Twitter expressing their feelings, explaining: “Transphobia kills and it took away a friend of mine today. Fouad I’m so sorry for everything they did to you. I fought by your side and I will continue to fight for you. You were a wonderful person, so glad I had the chance to know you. Rest in peace, I swear to uphold your pronouns and your identity until the end It was so not what you deserved … my heart is really broken I can’t stop crying I love you very much.”
Fouad’s suicide adds numbers to what activists have described as the deadliest in recent years for the transgender and gender non-conforming community, figures released by Transrespect Versus Transphobia Worldwide show the shocking level of violence faced by trans people globally.
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