MA Teen Brutally Beaten Because He's Transgender, Mother Says

GLOUCESTER, MA — A Massachusetts teenager is hospitalized with injuries including a broken bone under his eye after being beaten up at a party last week 'because he's transgender,' his mother said Monday.

Sixteen-year-old Jayden Tkaczyk said he was at an outdoor party Friday night in Gloucester when as many as a dozen teenagers attacked him and called him homophobic slurs.

They chased him into the woods at Goose Cove, punching, kicking, and stomping on him before police found him in the woods, according to Tkaczyk.

"I've been trying to think of how to word this but I am so ANGRY, hurt, and disgusted," his mother, Jasmine Tkaczyk wrote on Facebook Monday afternoon, adding that the group who "jumped" her son was made up of members of the Gloucester High School football team.

She continued, in part: "His head was kicked into a rock, he was stomped in the face where they broke his bone, and he was beaten all over. As they beat him they called him a f@**et. They did this to my son [because] he's trans. They weren't just trying to hurt him, they were trying to kill him."

"I was scared, but I thought to myself that if I escape and I get out, that things will eventually get better," Tkaczyk told The Associated Press. "As I was getting hit, it was terrifying. I thought I was going to die, but I tried to keep a positive mindset."

Jasmine Tkaczyk said that when she got the call from the hospital, her "worst fear for Jayden" as the mother of a transgender child was realized.

The Office of the Essex County District Attorney said it was "aware of the serious allegations" and was working with the Gloucester Police Department on what it called "this active and ongoing investigation involving juvenile parties."

It would not comment further, including whether anyone has been arrested.

Tkaczyk, who said he has been scared to leave his house since the attack, said he hopes the teens are held accountable.

"No one has been arrested. No one has been charged, and nothing has happened to the kids that caused this," he said. "If people or if the city wants to make this city better, then they should start taking action to help their community be safer."

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell said MassEquality, an LGBTQ+ rights and advocacy group, has been in touch with the family and that they and others have reached out to her civil rights division and children’s justice unit.

Campbell said her office is actively following up on the complaint.

"What we’ve heard is horrific to say the least, but like any investigation, we do it thoughtfully, we do it in partnership with community and constituents, and that won't change here," she said. "So we’ll do what we can to investigate this quickly and thoroughly."

Tkaczyk, who goes to a vocational school, said he has long been bullied because he is transgender, including being forced off the Gloucester High School football team. He said the district in the past has done nothing to address his complaints about bullying but he hopes that changes now.

"Bullying reports have been stacked up and stacked up and stacked up on kids bullying me not just mentally but physically," Tkaczyk said. "Over 11 years, I’ve been getting bullied. ... It's been a terrible and hard struggle for me, and I don’t open up to anybody about how really bad it is."

Gloucester Public Schools Superintendent Ben Lummis, at a press conference Tuesday, said the district is taking the allegations seriously.

James Cook, the principal of Gloucester High School, sent a letter Tuesday to the school community advising them of the weekend attack and advising children "struggling with news of this incident" or anyone who "feels unsafe for any reason" to seek out a school staff member.

"Creating a safe and inclusive environment that supports all of our students, staff, and families is our number one priority," Cook wrote. "Although this is a difficult message to send the night before our first day, I have confidence that our staff will come together to welcome all students back to GHS."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.