News
Mississippi school faces lawsuit over bullied lesbian student
SPLC takes action for 17-year-old called an ‘in-between it’ by teacher
Destin Holmes (bottom) faced discrimination for being a lesbian at her school. She’s shown here with her grandmother, Jennifer Holmes. (Photo courtesy Southern Poverty Law Center).
A lesbian student at a Mississippi high school is taking action against her school district over harassment and discrimination she says she’s faced from students and administrators over her sexual orientation and appearance.
The Southern Poverty Law Center on Tuesday filed a lawsuit on behalf of Destin Holmes, a 17-year-old student at Moss Point High School, seeking a resolution to put in place a new policy to protect gender nonconforming students like her from bullying and discrimination.
During a conference call with reporters on Tuesday, Holmes said she endured harsh torments over her sexual orientation and preference to wear a baseball cap over more traditionally female attire.
“When I was in middle school, the teachers and students called me an ‘it,'” Holmes said. “I’m not an ‘it.’ I am a person, a teenager, a human being. Just because I prefer to date the same gender, wear hats or non-girly … clothes doesn’t mean I should be isolated and made fun of because of it.”
Anjali Nair, staff attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center, said the harassment against Destin was pervasive from both students and administrators at the school, where she heard insults as many as 20 times a day and one teacher denied her access to the girl’s restroom.
“Another teacher even refused to allow her to participate in a classroom activity where teams were divided by gender because Destin, according to the teacher, was an ‘in-between it,'” Nair said.
Nair said Destin was eventually driven out of Magnolia Junior High after the then-principle called her a “pathetic fool” and told Destin, “I don’t want a dyke in this school.”
“At a time when families and communities across the country are trying to teach children the consequences of bullying, it is tragic that the Moss Point school district chooses to ignore those lessons,” Nair said.
Nair said her organization attempted to reach a resolution with the school district in March, writing a demand letter to the school seeking change through administrative means, but those efforts were unsuccessful.
Also on the conference call with reporters was Jennifer Holmes, Destin’s grandmother, who also lives in Moss Point and said the school has been reluctant to make changes after requests from her and Destin’s father.
“For the past two years, we’ve tried everything we could with the school, but they did little or nothing,” Holmes said. “In some ways, administrators made the situation worse for Destin. We had to pull her out of school eventually, despite having numerous meetings and conversations with the administrators.”
The 21-page complaint sues the Moss Point School District on the basis of Title IX of the Education Amendment of 1972, which prohibits schools from discriminating on the basis of gender, and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The complaint seeks damages for Destin, an injunction barring the school from allowing discrimination against Destin and other students like her and the implementation of new polices to foster a more inclusive environment.
Although SPLC is asking the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi to take action, Nair said the school on its own can still take “concrete action” to rectify the situation.
“This can stem from trainings that are provided to school students, district and staff to address the rights of LGBT students and the rights of students to be free from discrimination on the basis of their gender,” Nair said. “This can include policies and practices that are implemented within the district so that district administrators know the proper steps to take in investigating and responding to reports of harassment.”
In a joint statement provided on Tuesday to the Washington Blade, Moss Point School Board President Clifton Magee and Superintendent Maggie Griffin said the district hasn’t been served yet with the lawsuit and cannot speak to the claims because they’re a matter of litigation.
“Protecting our students from acts of bullying, harassment, intimidation and threats by any individual is our highest priority,” Magee and Griffin said. “The district has in place policies and procedures to ensure that our students are free from discrimination and bullying. We, as most districts across the nation, try to ensure that students in our schools are safe and secure.”
For Destin, the goal of achieving a resolution with her school district is about ensuring a safe place to learn for herself and others facing discrimination because of gender non-conformity.
“I wish I could go to school without being afraid to be who I am,” Destin said. “I’m a human being and I should be treated that way. I’m here to take a stand and speak up for myself and for others who are not in a position to do so. I don’t want anyone to go through what I’ve been through.”
District of Columbia
Mayor Bowser signs bill requiring insurers to cover PrEP
‘This is a win in the fight against HIV/AIDS’
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on March 20 signed a bill approved by the D.C. Council that requires health insurance companies to cover the costs of HIV prevention or PrEP drugs for D.C. residents at risk for HIV infection.
Like all legislation approved by the Council and signed by the mayor, the bill, called the PrEP D.C. Amendment Act, was sent to Capitol Hill for a required 30-day congressional review period before it takes effect as D.C. law.
Gay D.C. Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5) last year introduced the bill.
Insurance coverage for PrEP drugs has been provided through coverage standards included in the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. But AIDS advocacy organizations have called on states and D.C. to pass their own legislation requiring insurance coverage of PrEP as a safeguard in case federal policies are weakened or removed by the Trump administration, which has already reduced federal funding for HIV/AIDS-related programs.
Like legislation passed by other states, the PrEP D.C. Amendment Act requires insurers to cover all PrEP drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Studies have shown that PrEP drugs, which can be taken as pills or by injection just twice a year, are highly effective in preventing HIV infection.
“I think this is a win for our community,” Parker said after the D.C. Council voted unanimously to approve the bill on its first vote on the measure in February. “And this is a win in the fight against HIV/AIDS.”
Vice President JD Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, will visit Hungary next week.
An announcement the White House released on Thursday said the Vances will be in Budapest, the Hungarian capital, from April 7-8.
JD Vance “will hold bilateral meetings with” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The announcement further indicates the vice president “will also deliver remarks on the rich partnership between the United States and Hungary.”
The Vances will travel to Hungary less than a week before the country’s parliamentary elections take place on April 12.
Orbán, who has been in office since 2010, and his Fidesz-KDNP coalition government have faced widespread criticism over its anti-LGBTQ crackdown.
The Associated Press notes polls indicate Orbán is trailing Péter Magyar and his center-right Tisza party.
President Donald Trump removed Attorney General Pam Bondi from her post Thursday, following growing criticism over how she and the Department of Justice handled a range of issues, including matters related to sex offender and Trump ally Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump announced Bondi’s removal on Truth Social, where he also said Todd Blanche will serve as acting head of the Justice Department.
“Pam Bondi is a great American patriot and a loyal friend, who faithfully served as my attorney general over the past year,” Trump wrote on the platform. “Pam did a tremendous job overseeing a massive crackdown on crime across our country, with murders plummeting to their lowest level since 1900.”
Trump was seen as recently as Wednesday with the now-former attorney general at a Supreme Court hearing on citizenship.
The decision contrasts with Trump’s previous public praise of Bondi, the 87th U.S. attorney general and former 37th attorney general of Florida, who served in that role from 2011-2019 before joining the Trump-Vance administration. He has frequently lauded her loyalty and said he speaks with her often. Bondi was also one of president’s defense lawyers during his first impeachment trial.
Privately, however, Trump had grown frustrated that Bondi was not “moving quickly enough” to prosecute critics and political adversaries he wanted to face criminal charges, according to multiple sources. The New York Times reported that her inability to charge former FBI Director James B. Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James with any crimes is a large factor in the president’s choice to fire her from the government’s primary law enforcement agency.
The move comes as Trump has sought to minimize public turmoil within his administration, avoiding the perception of a revolving-door Cabinet that defined his first term.
Lee Zeldin, a former Republican congressman from New York who unsuccessfully ran for governor, has emerged as a leading contender to lead the Justice Department. He has been one of Trump’s most reliable allies.
“He’s our secret weapon,” Trump said of Zeldin in February during a White House event promoting the coal industry, adding, “He’s getting those approvals done in record-setting time.”
Bondi has also growing faced scrutiny from Congress.
The House Oversight Committee recently subpoenaed her to testify about the department’s handling of certain files, where she declined to answer key questions during a contentious House Judiciary Committee hearing in February.
The Tampa native has a long history of opposing LGBTQ rights through her roles in government. As Florida attorney general, she fought against the legalization of same-sex marriage, arguing it would cause “serious public harm,” pushing forward a legal battle that cost taxpayers nearly half a million dollars. She also asked the Florida Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling that found the state’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional.
More recently, Bondi established a “Title IX Special Investigations Team” within the Justice Department focused on restricting transgender women and girls from participating in women’s and girls’ sports teams and accessing facilities aligned with their gender identity. She also told Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to turn over the medical records of anyone under 19 who received gender-affirming care.
Her removal follows Trump’s decision last month to oust another controversial female Cabinet figure, Kristi Noem.
Mayor Bowser signs bill requiring insurers to cover PrEP
JD Vance to travel to Hungary next week
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