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# French students protest for trans rights
- URL: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/french-students-protest-for-trans-rights/
- Published: 2020-12-24T10:33:27.000Z
- Updated: 2020-12-24T10:33:27.000Z
- Description: Over 100 students gathered in at the entrances of Fenelon High School in Lille, France to pay tribute to a 17-year-old trans classmate, Fouad, who committed suicide.
- Author: Rachel Badham
- Tags: News, Europe, France, LGBTQ, Trans, Trans Rights

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/france-trans-rights-protest-1.jpg)

Students paying tribute to their classmate

Over 100 students gathered in the entrances of **Fenelon High School** in Lille, France to pay tribute to a 17-year-old trans classmate, **Fouad**, who committed suicide. According to the [**Independent**](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/france-transgender-suicide-lille-fouad-b1776144.html?ref=scenemag.co.uk), Fouad had only recently come out as a trans woman, but was misgendered and criticised by school staff for wearing a skirt. She shared a video on social media where a member of staff argues her identity is ‘upsetting others in the school’, while Fouad is in tears.

She was found dead in a shelter where she was staying on **Wednesday December 16** – only days after the incident at school. School authorities continued to misgender Fouad in a statement released after her death: *“Valérie Cabuil, rector of the Lille Academy, learned with great sadness that a final year student at Lycée Fénelon in Lille ended his life in his foster home on Wednesday. This dramatic event shakes up the entire education community.”*

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/felelon-school-france-1.jpg)

A student at the gathering said: *“We are here to send a message of tolerance…and to tell Fouad we are here for her”,* with the hope to make a statement for trans rights in France. They also said Fouad *“was suffering a deep pain that dates to a long time ago”*. French education minister, **Jean-Michel Blanquer**, [tweeted ](https://www.boston25news.com/news/french-teens-protest/KB2L5DDKGQU7AZC5XJVA6DAKBY/?ref=scenemag.co.uk)in response to the situation: *“Fouad’s death challenges our society about everything we must do to ensure that everyone’s rights are respected.”*

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/trans-rights600400.png)