WINNIPEG – Isabella Burgos was born a boy, but this past summer she told her parents that she was transgender.
Isabella told her parents she had felt like a girl in a boy’s body for four years.
This September, she returned to Joseph Teres School for Grade 3 as Isabella. At first, Bella’s parents said, staff and students were supportive. After a confrontation with a parent who complained, Isabella was told she would have to use a gender neutral washroom.
“It’s just an eight-year-old girl,” said Izzy Burgos, Bella’s mom. “She just wants to use the washroom she identifies with; it’s a human right.”
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Officials from River East Transcona School Division, where Joseph Teres is located, sent the following statement to Global News:
“As a reasonable accommodation as outlined by the Manitoba Human Rights Commission, identified trans-gendered students use the gender-neutral washroom in their school.”
Bella’s parents worry the isolated bathroom will make the transition more of a challenge.
“You want to make sure they feel welcome and happy of the decision they made,” said Dale, Bella’s dad. “Because this is probably the biggest decision she’ll ever have in her whole life.”
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UPDATE: On Friday morning, Dale Burgos, Isabella’s dad, put out the following tweet:
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