By Alexander Wilson-
Fulton High School in Knoxville is in the spotlight on may social media forums, following the suspension of a trans woman who was being deadnamed by her classmates, and the classmate who defended her.
The incident was filmed and shown on TikTok by Willum Watson, a classmate of the unnamed trans student, but doesn’t necessarily tell the whole story of the background that led to the problem.
The video which ahs received nearly 20,000 comments in response to Watson’s obvious distress about the situation, does not feature her animated response to the bullying complained about, but many feel there could be justification for suspending her even for an overreaction to that kind of bullying.
The school has declined to comment about the incident, but a member of staff spoken to on phone by The Eye Of Media.Com anonymously said: ”matters got tense in the classroom and every suspension always considers everything that occurred. There are standards of behaviour expected from every student, and there can be consequences for falling severely short of those standards”.
Bullying of transgender students in U.S schools is rife, with a tendency for disputes to sometimes boil over into harsh verbal exchanges that sometimes get physical.
In the TikTok video documenting his experience, Willum claims to have been suspended by the school for standing up against bullies who deadnamed his peer. The hysterical student films a cop attending the scene, while narrating the incident. Expressing disgust at her suspension, he says: “I’m being suspended right now at Fulton High School in Knox County, in Knoxville, Tennessee,” Willum says, “because I stuck up for a trans woman.”
He continues: “I stuck up for a trans woman, and she has the frigging police… she has the f*****g police outside, are you serious? She has the f*****g police outside because I’m asking her, ‘Why am I getting suspended?’”
Willum asks: “Why is this happening, why are we facing repercussions because she also put the trans woman that was being deadnamed and bullied in the hallways in RLC, which is an alternative for in-school suspension?”
In the video, which shows Willum’s face with a mask pulled down while he talks, he asks again: “Are you serious right now?
William Watson Image:Tiktok
“They’re just allowing it, and they’re acting like it’s normal?” he says, visibly distressed. “The bullies are not facing any repercussions, but we are?
“We are facing repercussions right now because I stood up for what I believe in. And you know what, I’m not ashamed,” Willum says. “She has two f*****g police officers and I’m a Black man, this is too f*****g sick.”
At this point, another police officer enters the hallway, causing Willum to become concerned. While Willum is locked in a classroom, the student who faced transphobic bullying was still in the hallway.
“She said I was being ‘threatening’, I was being ‘combative’, Willum is heard saying. “I was not being combative at all, I was just asking her a series of questions about what was going on and why I was facing punishment for sticking up for somebody who was getting bullied.
“She said I was using profanity – OK, so what, what are you gonna do about the actual bullies that were making fun of her in the hallway and humiliating her and [inaudible] her whole existence in front of everybody when class change was happening? What is going to happen to them? Oh, nothing?
“I’m being suspended right now at Fulton High School in Knox County, in Knoxville, Tennessee,” Willum says, “because I stuck up for a trans woman.”
He continues: “I stuck up for a trans woman, and she has the frigging police… she has the f*****g police outside, are you serious? She has the f*****g police outside because I’m asking her, ‘Why am I getting suspended?’”
Willum asks: “Why is this happening, why are we facing repercussions because she also put the trans woman that was being deadnamed and bullied in the hallways in RLC, which is an alternative for in-school suspension?”
“Are you serious right now?
“They’re just allowing it, and they’re acting like it’s normal?” he says, visibly distressed. “The bullies are not facing any repercussions, but we are?
“We are facing repercussions right now because I stood up for what I believe in. And you know what, I’m not ashamed,” Willum says. “She has two f*****g police officers and I’m a Black man, this is too f*****g sick.”
Willum’s recorded distress at his suspension has attracted enormous support online, the video gathering 290,000 likes on TikTok within a ouple of days of its posting.