Oregon students protest White House transgender bathroom directive, counter-protest also held

Students at a school in Oregon have expressed their opposition to the directive released by the Obama administration allowing transgender students to use restrooms according to their gender identity. Transgender supporters have, in response, lodged a counter-protest.

On Monday, students of the Hedrick Middle School in Medford skipped classes and held a protest outside the school. Along with some parents, they held placards to show their disagreement toward the policy -- something that males could take advantage of, thereby putting girls in danger.

"I feel like they were just using it more to their benefit of just kind of being perverts more rather than actually using it because they were uncomfortable with going into the bathroom of birth," student Grace Milligan told News 10.

During the protest, transgender Cadilina DeVille approached them and said that even while in sixth grade, she already felt uncomfortable going into the locker room during P.E. She flunked the subject because of the discomfort she felt, such as having to play shirts versus skins in basketball.

"Every day someone tries to hurt us or kill us," she told the students. "It's such a simple thing. I've lived my life as a woman for years. You're taking away our rights."

Milligan, in turn, said, "You're taking away ours. We just want to feel safe."

Hedrick Middle School has two gender-neutral bathrooms, one of the ways the school district tries to accommodate students who need physical, mental, and emotional support. The administrators said that they are reviewing the guidelines to see if there's work to be done in terms of their school policy, and where.

"We're having conversations with our administrators, with our school board," said Medford School District spokesperson Natalie Hurd. "And we're not going to rush this process."

The day after, a counter-protest was held in support of transgender rights. The protesters, about 30 students who were mostly from North Medford High School, stood in front of Hedrick Middle School to spread awareness on transgender rights.

"We need to get the word out that we are not here to hurt people, we are just here to use the bathroom that we feel most comfortable in," Hayley Browne, a senior at North Medford High School, said in a follow-up report by News 10.