Transgender Teen Faces Hate and Abuse Daily

Michael Arone has been called every pejorative someone could direct at a transgender teen.

But, while most harassment the 16-year-old West Haverstraw resident faced has been short-lived, Arone reached a breaking point at a summer school program in Clarkstown South High School.

Arone, a North Rockland school district 10th-grader, is a male transgender teen who publicly goes by Melissa Andrews and prefers to be referred to as a female.

Arone said classmates have routinely called her “faggot,” “she-male,” “it” and “queer” in response to her wearing eye shadow and lipstick, straightening her shoulder-length brown hair and carrying a purse to school.

“He’s dealing with a hate crime,” said her mother, Patricia Arone, 37, who often refers to Arone as Michael. “That’s the only way to say it, it’s hate.”

In one instance at Clarkstown South, a female student tried to punch Arone and said, “Come fight me, you faggot,” according to a Clarkstown police report.

Arone said she had a dating relationship with this girl, but the girl began instigating much of the harassment against Arone after they broke up, Arone said.

Read the rest at lohud.com.