Sarah walked in from school, threw her backpack to the floor, stormed up to her room, and slammed the door. Her mother, working in her office two floors below, felt the vibrations and knew something must be terribly wrong. Her daughter, only a month into her freshman year of high school, was distraught when her mother found her sobbing on her bed.

With some coaxing by her mother, Sarah recounted her experience through the school day, barely coherent through her sobs, how friend after friend looked judgmentally at her and walked away. At first, she was baffled, then panicked, and finally, once she got a friend to offer intel, she was devastated to learn that a boy she went to homecoming with over the weekend had spread rumors about her engaging in multiple sexual acts with him and his friends, which were now spreading like wildfire across a combustible social media terrain.

After another day of jeers and snide remarks from middle school classmates about their short, rainbow-striped hair and repeated misgendering of them as their sex assigned at birth, Zin was drained. It was all they could do to get through the school day, using every ounce of energy to cope, lucky to absorb anything taught in class. When Zin got home, they received a much-needed hug from a loving parent, then got online in a supportive LGBTQ group chat that reconnected them with their humanity and dignity.

Sadly, one of these teenagers attempted suicide in the days to follow. Thankfully, they survived, though it........

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