HILLSBORO, Mo. - Over 100 LGBTQ and allied supporters descended on Hillsboro City Park in Hillsboro, Mo. Friday evening in support of the #LiftingUpLila event organized by the Missouri GSA Network. The majority of attendees made the hour trip from the metro area - with one group arriving on a chartered bus. The action was designed to show support for Lila Perry, a 17 year old transgender senior at Hillsboro High School (with a perfect attendance record, folks!).
Earlier this week, over 200 of Lila's classmates staged a walk out in protest over her right to use the women's locker room/restroom at school. Lila has received national media attention since the story broke two weeks ago after a group of parents challenged the school's policy.
Speakers included LGBTQIA and transgender youth, members of the St. Louis based Metro Trans Umbrella Group, and Lila herself.
"It's wonderful to have them all out here," Lila told #Boom of the crowd - explaining she has received a great deal of support from her local GSA, the Missouri GSA Network and MTUG.
A scrum of media surrounded Lila prior to and after the event, with some reporters asking insensitive to ill-tempered questions ranging from inquiring about her makeup habits to asking why straight men can't use the women's restroom if she can.
"I was so mad; that made me really angry," Lila said. "You know, if you don't understand transgender issues maybe you shouldn't be reporting on them - just my two-cents."
A handful of protesters, one waving the confederate flag, hung to themselves away from the crowd. According to organizers, the actions was a great success.
Update: Three of the seven members of the Hillsboro R-3 school board resigned during a special meeting on Sept. 10th. None of the letters submitted by the board’s president, John Stewart, its vice president, Dan McCarthy, and its director, Charles “Bo” Harrison stated a specific reason for their departure.