A Northern California transgender teen who told police he was beaten and sexually assaulted by three boys in a bathroom has recanted his report to law enforcement officials.
Just one day after the unidentified student said he was accosted by "three unidentified male juveniles" outside of a boy's restroom, the Hercules teen "admitted he fabricated the entire story," according to Officer Connie Van Putten, who spoke with Mercury News.
The city's police department released a statement on Tuesday evening saying investigators were having a hard time confirming certain details of the teen's account. Law enforcement officials also said the student didn't have any wounds to his face, hands or head.
The teen told officials that he made up the story to shed light on the intense bullying and assaults transgender citizens encounter.
"I'm just relieved that nothing of this nature did happen," president of the West Contra Costa Unified school board Charles Ramsey told Mercury News. "It would have been a tragedy. Sometimes a young person uses poor judgment, but we have to be compassionate and understand what motivated the student to want to do this. Everybody is human and we all make mistakes. It doesn't take away from the fact that we need more support for transgender students."
Under a new California law, public school students can use whatever gender of restroom with which they identify - the first piece of legislation of its kind.
The unnamed student, who was born female but identifies as male, initially told police he went to the boy's bathroom because that's the gender with which he identifies.
But some have criticized the bathroom legislation, AB 1266, saying the law infringes upon the rights of non-transgender students, the Mercury News reported.
The president of Sacramento organization Pacific Justice Institute is reportedly trying to garner 17,000 signatures to file an appeal for the law.
"A student making a false accusation is disappointing," Brad Dacus told the Mercury News. "It just shows that kids dealing with gender identification issues need counseling, not entrance into bathrooms and locker rooms of students of the opposite biological sex."
Meanwhile, transgender program manager for Fremont's Tri-City Health Center Tiffany Woods said she figured there was more to the teen's story, but couldn't say for sure what it might be.
"Transgender students don't tend to fabricate stories like this and bring scrutiny onto themselves," she told the Mercury News. "There's more to the story that is obviously not being reported, but I don't think we know yet."
