A transgender teen in Massachusetts says other high schoolers beat him at a party

GLOUCESTER, Mass. (AP) — A transgender teenager from Massachusetts is recovering after allegedly being beaten by other high schoolers at a party.

Sixteen-year-old Jayden Tkaczyk was at an outdoor party Friday night in Gloucester when nearly a half-dozen teenagers attacked him and called him homophobic slurs, Tkaczyk’s attorney, Craig Rourke, said. They then chased Tkaczyk into the woods, where police found him.

Gloucester police are investigating. They did not respond to a request for comment. Gloucester Public Schools Superintendent Ben Lummis, at a press conference Tuesday, said the district is taking the allegations seriously.

Rourke says Tkaczyk, who goes to a vocational school, has long been bullied because he is transgender, including being forced off the Gloucester High School football team. He called Friday’s attack a “horrible beating” and said that “everybody is scared, and traumatized.”

“They called him names and chased them into the woods, where, you know, the police were able to locate him and get him to the hospital,” Rourke said. “His parents were home, and they got a call that is every parent’s worst nightmare. Their child was in the hospital.”

Rourke said the family wants those responsible held accountable.

“To start, they’d like to know that this isn’t going to happen again,” he said. “As far as criminally, I think they would like to see justice there.”