A student has been arrested after a fight in a locker room at El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills involving a nonbinary child.
The nonbinary student’s father is accusing the teen who was arrested of transphobia — being prejudiced against transgender people.
The Los Angeles School Police Department responded to the school on Wednesday, March 8 after a fight broke out between a teenage boy and the nonbinary student, both in 11th grade, in the boys’ locker room after gym class. The fight was caught on video.
The video, shared with this news organization, shows the two teens throwing punches and the nonbinary student eventually being put in a chokehold by the other student.
The fight allegedly began because of another fight between the two students just days before, during which the nonbinary student was called a homophobic slur and punched in the head multiple times, according to the nonbinary student’s father. LASPD said they arrested and booked the boy, but they did not disclose the grounds.
Nonbinary people generally do not conform to a male or female gender identity.
Los Angeles School Police Department representative Nina Buranasombati said when the fight broke out on Wednesday, school staffers immediately intervened to separate the two students.
The nonbinary student’s father said the school did not respond to complaints of harassment toward LGBTQ students that he and other parents had made in the past. The father requested his name not be published because he fears retaliation for his child.
“I have not heard why there was no action taken against this student for two and a half days,” the father said, referring to the first fight. “No one will answer my questions … I know many parents here have reached out to (the) administration.”
Brad Wright, chairman of the El Camino Real Charter High School board, said an investigation into the fighting was ongoing. He would not say more about it.
“Our school can offer equitable treatment and a great education,” Wright said. “I would like the parents that have issues to write to us. We’ll investigate what’s going on.”