今日吃瓜

A TRANS man who came out about his gender transition at Ourimbah TAFE in New South Wales has lodged a formal complaint after allegedly being harassed and ostracised by a classmate.

Casey Norman decided to come out at TAFE in April as transition began changing his appearance, has reported.

鈥淪ince my appearance had already drastically changed and was unavoidable to not see, I decided to come out,鈥� he said.

It was during his coming out that another student interrupted, saying, 鈥淭his is all too much, you鈥檙e way too confusing.鈥�

The student allegedly systematically harassed Norman thereafter, sending him rude emails, calling him 鈥渕issy鈥� and referring to him by his former name.

Norman arranged for an LGBTI educator from ACON to address the students involved, but to no avail.

鈥淓ven during this time when I took a minute to explain to class how it felt when you misgendered someone and how it made me feel, [the student] took the opportunity to have another dig at me,鈥� he said.

Norman said he was forced to accept a program to complete coursework at home, despite the other student鈥檚 alleged actions having breached TAFE鈥檚 anti-harassment and discrimination policy.

The policy says trans students should not be subject to 鈥渧erbal abuse鈥� based on their transgender [status]鈥�, ignored or segregated, or referred to by their prior name.

Norman said the ongoing harassment caused him anxiety and left him unable to attend classes for fear of encountering the harasser.

His alleged abuser was not found to have breached TAFE鈥檚 discipline policy.

鈥淚 accept that the tone of some emails to you from one student is not polite or appropriate,鈥� read a response from TAFE to Norman鈥檚 complaint.

鈥淗owever neither the tone, nor content of these emails can be characterised as harassing or discriminatory to the extent that the student involved should be subject to student discipline.鈥�