A transgender student in Memphis, Tennessee, said she has been the victim of bullying at her school because of her gender identity, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Keloni Grand said a group of boys from Melrose High School threatened to hurt and kill her on Jan. 28, Fox 13 Memphis reported. She said she walked away, but they followed her.

“They were saying the usual names,” Grand told the network. ‘You fag**t, you gay, you tr**ny. We ready to fight you. We ready to beat you, we are going to shoot you, we going to kill you.’”

She added that the boys tried to fight her when she was outside of the school talking to her friends. “I was like, ‘Why you always messing with me? Can’t you leave me alone?’”

Grand said the bullying intensified once she began transitioning from male to female in January. She said she filed complaints but nothing has been done.

“Sometimes, I think I should hide myself, but people tell me to keep pushing and be myself,” she said, adding that she’s thinking about transferring to another school because of the incident. “It’s unbelievable. It’s shocking that I have to be removed from a situation because people don’t like who I am.”

Martavius Hampton, director of sexual health at LGBTQ advocacy group Out Memphis, told Fox 13 that LGBTQ students need a strong support system at schools.

“Want to make sure if someone makes a report or complaint that it’s followed through and it’s respected to make sure the student is safe or protected,” he said.

LGBTQ
transgender students