AUTHOR’S NOTE:

HUGS!

The next day, about mid-morning, I am called to the front office and then straight into Ronnie’s office. I am, once again, surprised to find Mummy and Momma there—along with the school lawyers.

Ronnie asks me to take a seat and gets straight the point, “Paige, normally I wouldn’t include a student in these affairs, but, once again, I’m afraid you’re embroiled in this.” She looks at Momma who is on her phone—Momma looks up and nods.

Ronnie continues, “OK, Sheila, your lawyer is on her way—but, I want to go ahead and continue, if that’s alright. We can catch her up when she gets here?”

Momma nods.

Ronnie sighs and says, “Well, Jonathan Malloy’s parents have filed suit—we all knew that. It seems they have been able to get it moved into federal district court—so, at least for now, it isn’t a civil suit. Although, I’m not sure I’m happy about a constitutional suit, I AM told by our legal team that we have a good argument. Depending on how THAT goes will likely determine the extent of any civil suit.”

The lawyers around the room all nod in agreement.

Ronnie looks at me and says, “It will be up to you and your lawyers as to how they want to handle YOUR part in this, Paige, but I thought you should know—your Mom agreed. I and our lawyers think it would be good if you ARE a part of this.”

I look around the table and ask, “So, what does this mean?”

One of the lawyers says, “Well, it will basically come down to a question of whether the school, through the implementation of your experiment, violated anyone’s constitutional privacy rights. We will argue that there was informed consent in the case of the minors—and once the school was aware of the results, it had no choice but to inform the parents and act. Failure to act would have made the school liable for sexual discrimination under Title VII. That is oversimplified, but we think we can pull it off—depending on the judge.”

Momma looks at me and says, “Normally, this is another of those things that would take MONTHS—somehow, they got it moved into court under an emergency declaration. We go to court next WEEK!”

The rest of the week is ALL about preparations for the case. It is decided that I will take part even though, technically, I could get out of it, since I am a minor and acted within the scope of what my mother and the school was allowing.

Sheila and the school lawyers work with us all. Mrs O’Dell also has her team working on an amicus brief. The night before the first day of court, we go to the mall and get my three new outfits to wear that are court ‘appropriate’. We also get mani-pedis and have a nice dinner. Then we go home and do more prep.

When the alarm goes off, I open my eyes and want to throw up when I realize what day it is. I get up and quickly get dressed. I go down and force a smoothie down, since the thought of anything solid doesn’t sit well with my stomach.

An hour and a half before it is time, we all get into Momma’s Mercedes and she drives us to the courthouse. We meet up with the legal team in a conference room that is provided to us and go through some last minute details.

Then it is time…

I sit there letting all of the preliminary court ‘stuff’ go in one ear and out the other. I fight back the queasiness in my stomach. I look around and see that Jonathan is NOT here. As a matter of fact, I am the only student here—the others are all in class. I think this is the first time I have EVER envied anyone for being IN school when I am not.

I wish I could say it gets more interesting—it doesn’t. It’s all about people getting up and telling their side of things—only all wrapped up in all kinds of legalese. I wish we were allowed phones, so I could at least text…

Finally, it is my turn…

I get up on the stand and swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth…

I tell my story of how I was tricked into changing genders and the repercussions it has had on me in school, given the laws around transgendered individuals in the State. The judge asks me several questions as do the lawyers on both sides. Then I tell about my idea for using the houses in school to get over the discrimination—or to at least force people to THINK about it. To understand that there IS a spectrum—that it is NOT all black and white.

There are LOTS more questions after that… I feel really sick and tired after nearly a full day of it.

Finally, after three days of it all, the judge says, “Well, normally, I would not render a ruling so quickly, but since this was fast-tracked, I will have my verdict ready at thirteen hundred hours tomorrow. Court is adjourned!”

Everyone files out. The lawyers are not sure how it will go, since they could not really get a read on how the judge may be leaning. Sheila says, “I think it may go more in our favor than not—I can’t say why; it is just a feeling. PLUS, we are RIGHT!”

Momma, Mummy, and I go out to eat and I go to bed early.

The next morning, I sleep in a little later and get up in time to get ready for us to get to the courthouse for the verdict.

Of course, there is media all over the place and of course, they try to get US to say something. Momma says that we will be happy to talk after the verdict and we go in to take our seats.

The judge comes in precisely at one o’clock and sits down. He gets straight to the point.

He looks at the Malloys and says, “I have to say that I am truly disappointed that parents would use a venue like this to try and discriminate against their own child. By your own admission in your statements, you agreed to your child taking the profile test, knowing full well that it was a test designed to profile an individual on the LGBT spectrum, because you thought that it would prove that your child was quote-unquote NORMAL.”

He turns a little red and says, “That is wrong on so many levels. First, that you have created an environment for your child that was so hostile to the very idea that being transgendered is an unfathomable thing and so toxic that your child was scared to death to let you know. Then, that you would approve a test only with the goal that it would prove your world view, then sue when it does not.”

He takes a breath as the Malloys squirm. He continues, “Your contention that your child’s and even YOUR privacy was violated by the release of the information is completely undermined by this fact, plus that the information was to be used in the fully disclosed school experiment. The fact that it did not result in an outcome that fits with your outdated and bigoted worldview is not in support of your case. As for the school releasing the information to ANY of the parents of minors that signed the consent form, there is no violation of privacy.”

He takes a breath and says, “What the court was not asked in this case and will not rule on, is the question of informing the parents of those minors that are sixteen and older. The question becomes that of is being on the LGBT spectrum a MEDICAL issue that protects that information under HIPAA. One can see the argument that underlying cause of being, say transgendered, at the psychological level is no more a medial issue than having red hair. Yes, there is a medical component, in that there are some remedies to the fact that the internal gender does not fit the external body—but, to say that the internal gender itself is a medical issue, would raise that condition to be disease. Based on discussions here, that would seem to be a questionable determination and would not speak against providing the information to the parents, but it is a question that needs further investigation. In the meantime, I can see no reason to withhold the information from the parents.”

He then looks at me. He smiles and says, You, young lady, are very brave indeed. You have been wronged on so many levels, yet you still try and make things better, not only for you, but for everyone around you. That is very commendable. I hope that you can maintain that quality for the rest of your life. As for your perceived experiment, I applaud you on that, as well. In spite of flawed State laws that are indeed unconstitutional and illegally discriminatory, you prevailed in coming up with a viable plan to fully bring your school in line with the very spirit of Title VII. It may be a slightly different interpretation of workplace, but I agree with your lawyers that school is indeed your place of ‘employment’ at this stage in your life and that you have every right to not be subjected to illegal discrimination.”

He looks to the courtroom at large and says, “This court was not initially asked to rule on the constitutionality of LB1345—the State’s ‘wristband law’, since there was a separate request to the court on that. However, it is such an integral part of this case that I have agreed to fold it in. Requiring anyone to have to wear a distinguishing marking based on sex, race, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, or any other protected status, is so against the foundational beliefs of this country that it is beyond comprehension. We entered a second world war to stop the VERY SAME THING in other countries! We have fought hard as country to not have a culture of branding individuals. Yes, we have a sordid past on this issue, but it is not in line with the founders’ intent and it is not in line with this court’s thinking.”

He takes a sip of water and continues, “As such, I declare LB1345 as constitutionally and morally corrupt. The law and its requirements must be immediately vacated.”

There is a loud murmur that ripples through the room.

The judge continues, “As for the experiment. I find that this experiment is FULLY in line with the constitution and Title VII. As such, I not only encourage the school to continue the experiment, but I order that this experiment be continued for the remainder of the school year and beyond as a pilot to determine whether the same or similar programs need be implemented in all schools across the circuit to counter known discrimination against protected statuses, similar to the busing orders in the south during the mid-twentieth century. A known wrong must not only be stopped, but also corrected.”

The murmur turns into a buzz…a LOUD buzz.

The judge bangs his gavel and says, “I will supply my written ruling by the end of the day. This session is adjourned.”

We all hug each other and congratulate the lawyers. I kiss Francie, who had come into town to hear the verdict. I can’t help but notice the venomous looks we get from the Malloys.

Of course this makes the national news and there is a HUGE buzz across the nation. The news shows are all talking about it—with mixed interpretations, depending on the station. The bigots immediately file an appeal but the Appeals Court won’t stop the lower court’s ruling until it can take on the case…in approximately two years.

As such, Ronnie immediately starts working with Mummy to solidify the program—it was never intended to be a PERMANENT program, it was only supposed to last a month. Momma works with the parental board, since there will need to be help and support from that side—of course, not everyone is HAPPY about the ruling and there is a faction that vows to do what they can to derail the program.

Since this is now going to be a foundational part of the school structure, a new student body board is stood up that is devised of the heads of each house (moving forward, to be voted on by each house) and then, of those, a president that is voted on by the board members. I am voted in as both official head of the Pinks and subsequently as the first president of the board.

All of that does create intermittent conflicts with my cheer plans—but, I am still pushing the group towards State…only a couple of months away. I will just HAVE to make it work—oh, and not derail my grades; Momma and Mummy have BOTH made that VERY clear.

About a month after the ruling, Jonathan comes up to me after our weekly Pink meeting—he had never made the effort to swap out of the group and, as such, is still officially a Pink. He doesn’t really ever attend the voluntary weekly after-school sessions, only the mandatory in-school ones, but for some reason he had come to today’s.

Thankfully all of the others in the group were really nice to him, especially Emily.

He looks at me and has a strange look on his face. It is a mixture of sadness and…hope? He says, “Paige, I know we got off on the wrong foot about this whole thing. I was really mad that this whole thing—that I blamed totally on you—had outed me to my parents and I didn’t think it was fair. I STILL don’t think anyone should get outed against their will, but that is another topic.”

I stand there silently and just nod. I don’t know where he is going with this, but I don’t want to get all defensive and shut him off.

He sighs and says, “My parents have basically pushed me out of the house—it doesn’t matter that I am not following my innermost desires. It doesn’t matter that I KNOW I am a girl and not pursuing it…for THEM. They…have made me move in with my ‘eccentric’ Aunt. For them, ‘eccentric’ means that she is very liberal…and is a big supporter of LGBT rights. When she found out about my ‘problem’ from my parents, she immediately offered to let me move in with her.”

I give him a thoughtful nod, but still remain silent—my eyes encouraging him to continue.

He says, “There is no pressure from her at all for me to transition. She is happy to let me be…well, me. Anyway, I thought I would tell you. I…I…I think I am going to try some things…at home. I’m not ready to be like you or Emily at school, though…not yet, at least.”

I go over to her and hug her. It is an overtly girly thing to do and I feel tears drip from her eyes onto my shoulder.

I slowly push her from me, holding onto her arms, so that I can see into her eyes and say, “You need to do what is best for YOU in this and not worry about what others think. I KNOW how hard that is, TRUST me! Honestly, though, what Emily…and now you…are doing is a lot harder than what I did, I think. Thankfully, you’re both now in safe and encouraging environments where you can blossom.”

I sigh and continue, “I’m sorry that this has driven a wedge between you and your parents. I also am sorry that you were outed against your wishes. None of that was EVER the intent. I can’t say the ends justify the means, but in this case, I can hope the ends ARE better than the alternatives.”

Jonathan bites his lips in a very girly way and, after a few seconds, simply nods.

I smile and say, “And, if you would like for me to come over to your house at some point and meet…well, YOU, then I would love to!”

He nods and says, “Emily said the same. Give me some time to adjust and I would love that, too. By the way, between us only, well, and Emily, I’m…Felicia.”

I hug her again and say, “I am VERY happy to meet you, Felicia. And, of course, this stays between us. Have you talked to my Mummy, yet? I think she would be happy to know that you are…becoming YOU.”

She shakes her head and says, “I want to but it’s tough to get an appointment with her right now…”

I smile and take my phone out my purse. I send a brief text. After a minute, I get one back.

I hug Felicia and say, “Tomorrow morning at 9:30. Us Pinks look out for one another, you know!”

I wink at her and she gives me a bright smile as we walk together towards the front entrance to go home for the day.