Trans Teen And Mother Forcibly Removed From Ted Cruz Rally In Maryland

A transgender teen, along with his mother, were thrown out of a Ted Cruz rally being held in Maryland. They were tossed from the event even though they had reserved tickets and Cruz had not yet even appeared on stage.

16-year-old James Van Kuilenburg told a Washington newspaper that he and his mother were sitting at the rally held for the Texas Senator when suddenly he felt a tap on his shoulder. He was then told he would need to leave. As Van Kuilenburg wrote on Facebook:

“Before we even had a chance to see Cruz, I was tapped on the shoulder. When I turned, there was a Campaign Staff member, asking me to leave. I am a visibly trans person, and I’m proud of it, so I wore my trans pride flag around my shoulders and a National Center for Transgender Equality shirt. The campaign staff member kept holding on to me, saying the ‘event staff were asking me to leave.’ I then asked what the reason was, but he only repeated himself. When I asked for a reason again, he told us to follow him to the event staff.”

The teenager then tried to walk over to where the national press were standing so that he could let them know he was being kicked out for being transgender, but staffers grabbed him and led him away:

“The staff that were following us grabbed me again, and told me ‘ma’am I need you to cooperate and not shout.’ I corrected him, telling him that I’m a boy, and he briefly apologized. When we met with event staff they told us that because we were in a private event, they had grounds to tell us we were ‘trespassing.’ We explained that we reserved tickets, and they then went on to explain that they had ‘observed us taking part in a event outside.’”


The “event” turned out to be Van Kuilenburg and his mother holding signs outside the rally hall that said, “Human rights are not up for debate.” But they left their signs outside when they entered the venue. When the two attempted to complain, Van Kuilenburg says:

“We were then pushed out of the venue. When trying to explain what had happened to the Cruz volunteers outside, they laughed at us. The level of disrespect and aggression there was outstanding.”

When Cruz did make it to the stage, he harshly criticized GOP front-runner Donald Trump’s comments that the transgender community should be allowed to use whatever bathroom they feel most comfortable in. To that, Cruz retorted:

“Have we gone stark-raving nuts?”

Just you, Teddy Boy. Just you.

This article was originally published by the same author at LiberalAmerica.org.

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