Ohio high school student joins walkout to protest biological males being allowed in girls' bathrooms
Ohio student Charisma Akroyd said that she was harassed by a transgender student in a bathroom as students protest males being allowed in the girls' bathrooms.
Ohio students staged a walk out to protest biological males being allowed in girls' bathrooms in a story that is receiving nationwide media attention.
Elida High School student Charisma Akroyd told "FOX & Friends" host Lawrence Jones Friday that she was harassed in a bathroom by a transgender student.
"I had a hoodie and sweatpants on and I had an outfit on underneath, and while I was taking my sweatpants and hoodie off, this male walked into the bathroom, kind of gave me a weird look, and said he wanted to join in," Akroyd said.
OHIO STUDENTS PROTEST SCHOOL'S NEW TRANSGENDER BATHROOM POLICY: 'SCHOOL BOARD HASN’T BEEN LISTENING'
The student's stepfather, Phil Hesseling, said that it was "very upsetting" to hear about the incident and was assured that the "matter would be handled" after he met with the school principal.
Hesseling explained that while he elevated the issue to the superintendent, he was left with the impression that school leaders were more concerned with potential legal fallout involving health insurance for the school.
"We were very concerned for Charisma and for what was happening," Hesseling said.
"The majority of the people in our district are speaking out and saying [that] this is not right —for [Charisma] to do that, her mother and I are very proud of her," he added.
When Charisma was asked about the walk out on campus, she said that "nothing" has changed at her school, adding that she felt support from some students, while a "smaller majority" disagreed with her protest.
"I want biological males to quit coming in the girls' bathroom," Charisma said.
The school district did not respond to a request for comment, Jones noted.
Dozens of Elida High School students reportedly walked out on Monday to protest the school’s policy allowing transgender students to choose restrooms by preference rather than biology.
The Lima News explained that students protesting the school’s restroom policy is the latest in a series of similar activism throughout the community.
"Parents and community members have protested for months in hopes that the school board would rescind the policy, which critics say violates the privacy of female students who are uncomfortable sharing a restroom with members of the opposite sex," reporter Mackenzi Klemann wrote.
"We’re upset about biological boys in the girls’ bathroom," said a freshman student who was among the first to walk out in the protest. "The school board hasn’t been listening."
Board President Brenda Stocker reportedly claimed at a recent forum that this policy keeps their school’s districts in "compliance with federal case law, established by the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals" and that "violating case law puts the district at risk of a lawsuit ‘that we would certainly lose.'"
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Fox News' Alexander Hall contributed to this report.