A transgender teen in Massachusetts says other high schoolers beat him at a party

GLOUCESTER, Mass. (AP) — A transgender teenager from Massachusetts is recovering after allegedly being punched, kicked and stomped upon by other high schoolers at a party.

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 Tkaczyk into the woods, where police found him. He said he was taken to a local hospital and treated for his injuries, including a broken bone under his right eye and scratches and bruises on his body.

“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.”

Tkaczyk's mother, Jasmine, said she was terrified when she got the call that her son was in the hospital.

“This was my worst fear for Jordan. This is been my biggest fear for him as a mom of a transgender kid,” she said of him being assaulted. “Getting that phone call was one of the most terrifying things to experience. Having to go to the hospital to see him in that condition. When I got that call, I was just praying that he was alive.”

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. But the district did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

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.”

Associated Press writer Steve LeBlanc in Boston contributed to this report.

In a photo taken Sept. 4, 2024, in Gloucester, Massachusetts, transgender teenager Jayden Tkaczyk stands outside his house with his mother, Jasmine Tkaczyk. Jayden Tkaczyk alleges that he was beaten up at a party by several other high school students due his being transgender. (AP Photo/Michael Casey)

In a photo taken Sept. 4, 2024, in Gloucester, Massachusetts, transgender teenager Jayden Tkaczyk stands outside his house with his mother, Jasmine Tkaczyk. Jayden Tkaczyk alleges that he was beaten up at a party by several other high school students due his being transgender. (AP Photo/Michael Casey)

ADDS LOCATION: A photo taken Monday, Sept. 2, 2024, in Gloucester, Mass., a transgender high schooler Jayden Tkaczyk shows the injuries he suffered after being allegedly beaten up at a party. (Steven Tkaczyk via AP)

In an unknown location, a photo taken Monday, Sept. 2, 2024, a transgender high schooler from Massachusetts, Jayden Tkaczyk, shows the injuries he suffered after being allegedly beaten up at a party. (Steven Tkaczyk via AP)

A transgender high schooler from Massachusetts, Jayden Tkaczyk, is hospitalized, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024, at Addison Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester, Massachusetts after he was allegedly beating by several other students. (Steven Tkaczyk via AP)

The path for the NFL's Washington Commanders to return to the nation’s capital is clear after an on-again, off-again saga in Congress ended early Saturday with a postmidnight reprieve.

The U.S. Senate passed a resolution to transfer the land including old RFK Stadium from the federal government to the District of Columbia. The D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act passed by voice vote at roughly 1:15 a.m. after more than a year of lobbying and support from Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., district Mayor Muriel Bowser, Commanders controlling owner Josh Harris and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

“We are extremely grateful that our elected officials have come together on a bipartisan basis to give Washington, D.C., the opportunity to decide on the future of the RFK Stadium site," Harris said. "This bill will create an equal playing field so that all potential future locations for the home of the Washington Commanders can be fairly considered and give our franchise the opportunity to provide the best experience for all of our fans.”

The RFK Stadium land provision was part of Congress’ initial short-term spending bill Tuesday before it was torpedoed by President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the latter of whom amplified misinformation about the site on his social media platform X. Two versions of the House's slimmed-down bill, including the one that passed Friday night to avoid a government shutdown, did not include it.

Giving the local government control of the land for the next 99 years allows for the decaying husk of the old stadium to be torn down and the site redeveloped for any number of things. One of the possibilities is a football stadium and surrounding entertainment options at the franchise's former home.

Bowser called it “a win for D.C., for our region and for America.”

“Everybody loves a good comeback story — and that’s D.C.’s story,” she said.

All that awaits is President Joe Biden's signature to become law. Comer went as far as saying that Senate passage of the bill is “a historic moment for our nation's capital.”

“If Congress failed to act today, this decaying land in Washington would continue to cost taxpayers a fortune to maintain,” he said. “Revitalizing this RFK Memorial Stadium site has been a top economic priority for the city, and I am proud to have partnered with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to get this bill across the finish line and to the president’s desk. This bipartisan success is a testament to the House Oversight Committee’s unwavering effort to protect taxpayers and our full commitment to ensuring a capital that is prosperous for residents and visitors for generations to come.”

Playing in Washington again is no sure thing. The Commanders are considering places in the district, Maryland and Virginia to build a stadium in the coming years.

Their lease at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, runs through 2027. Harris called 2030 a “reasonable target” for a new stadium.

The team played at RFK Stadium 2 miles (3.22 kilometers) east of the Capitol from 1961-96 before moving to Maryland. Harris and several co-owners, including Mitch Rales and Mark Ein, grew up as Washington football fans during that era, which included the glory days of three Super Bowl championships from 1982-91.

Part of the way the provision got into the bill initially involved an agreement between the team and Maryland to tear down the current stadium in a timely fashion and redevelop the site with a project of equal economic impact, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press earlier this week on condition of anonymity because the deal was not being publicized.

After the Senate greenlit the RFK Stadium land transfer, Maryland Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, both Democrats, said they continued to believe their state's partnership with the team should continue long into the future.

“After working to level the financial playing field, and receiving assurances that should the team move they will redevelop the existing site in a manner that meets the needs of the community, tonight we supported the proposed land transfer legislation,” Cardin and Van Hollen said. "We have always supported the District’s effort to control its own land, and through regional discussions and cooperation, our concerns with this proposal have been addressed.”

The team has played games in Maryland since 1997 and practices in Ashburn, Virginia, not far from Dulles International Airport.

A return to the district would be another victory for Bowser, who on Thursday celebrated the start of an $800 million downtown arena renovation that is keeping the NBA's Wizards and NHL's Capitals in town. At that news conference, she took aim at Musk for sharing incorrect information on X, formerly Twitter, about taxpayers footing the bill for a new stadium.

“It was stated that the (continuing resolution) contains $3 billion for a stadium,” Bowser said. "All wrong. There are no federal dollars related to the transfer of RFK, and in fact the legislation does not require or link at all to a stadium. We’re talking about how the District can invest in removing blight.”

Musk reshared an inaccurate post saying: “Buried in the 1,547-page omnibus bill is a provision to facilitate a $3 billion NFL stadium in Washington, D.C." with the message, “This should not be funded by your tax dollars!”

The bill specifically prohibits the use of federal funds for a stadium on the site, “including training facilities, offices, and other structures necessary to support a stadium.”

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

FILE - A vehicle pushes up pikes of snow after trucks dump their loads of snow in the parking lots of RFK Stadium in Washington, Monday, Jan. 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)