Transgender Students Forced to Leave School Bus After Refusing to Move from ‘Boy’s Side’ to ‘Girl’s Side’ (Video)

Officials Now ‘Working With Bus Driver’

Two transgender high school students in South Glens Falls, New York were forced to leave their school bus on Friday after refusing to comply with the bus driver’s gender-segregated seating arrangement.

According to local newspaper The Post Star, Leo Washington, 16, and Aaren Layla Sweenor, 15, “identity as neither male nor female, or trans nonbinary.  They wanted to sit on the boys side.”

“Before he started the bus, [the bus driver] gave us this weird look and he told us to get to the girl’s side of the bus and we didn’t move because we felt more comfortable where we were sitting,” Washington told the outlet. “When we tried to explain it to him, he started yelling at us to move to the other side of the bus.”

“It made me so angry and so upset that we were being discriminated against over something as trivial as gender identity,” Washington continued, “because it’s who we are. We can’t change it. It honestly just was a smack in the face.”

The South Glens Falls Central School District released a statement detailing the September 20th altercation, though it advised that the students identify as male.

“After all students found a seat, the driver asked these students to move to the right side of the bus,” the statement read.  “The students politely refused and remained in their seats, with every right to do so. The driver then gave the students a choice of either moving or getting off of the school bus. Other students on the bus voiced their concerns about how this situation was being handled.”

The statement further advised that rather than move, the students exited the bus prior to its departure from the school parking lot. Within minutes, it read, Washington and Sweenor met with a school administrator, parents were immediately notified and they were able to take another bus home.

Some of the incident was caught on film:

“We do not tolerate any form of discrimination against our students,” Superintendent of Schools Michael Patton said. “All students need to feel safe and supported when they are in our classrooms, on our school property or riding in our school buses.”

Patton further advised that the school will “continue to work hard in creating a supportive learning environment that is safe and free of any form of discrimination,” noting that he hopes “this unfortunate event can be used as a learning experience for all.”

Officials are reportedly working with the bus driver “on how this situation could have been handled in a much more appropriate manner.” 

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