Pennsylvania
Zachary Kirchner was bullied and died: Mom sues Pa. school district
Gay teenager died by suicide after he was bullied

On April 20, 2021, 15-year-old Zachary Joseph Kirchner decided he had enough of being bullied, teased, and being the object of ridicule at Red Lion Senior High School in southeastern York County, Pa. The action he took next has left a raw and deep never-healing wound in his family, and among his friends, as he died as the result of suicide.
In a lovingly crafted obituary by his grieving parents, the openly gay freshman high school student was described as “having an amazing smile and “he loved to make everyone laugh, even if you were having a bad day.”
The entry went on to note that the teenager was high functioning on the autism spectrum and had dreams of attending UCLA because of their gymnastics program. “He was an amazing gymnast and loved skiing in the winter and riding roller coasters in the summer. His love for his family was deep and his kindness went beyond words.”
His family also pointed out Kirchner was a supporter of LGBTQ rights and believed that “everyone should be treated equally, no matter what your race, religion, or sexual orientation, may be. His life was cut tragically short when the bullying that he was being subjected to, became more than he could bear. His family wants everyone to know what a wonderful person this world has lost.”
Now nearly two years later his mother has filed a lawsuit, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg against the Red Lion Area School District, its staff and faculty, specifically school guidance counselor Jason Hoffman and the schoolās resource police officer Marc Greenly, who has since retired from law enforcement, alleging they did not do anything to prevent the torment that led to her sonās suicide.Ā
In a court filing the York Daily Record reported, the boy’s mother, Hope Amspacher, alleges that that six students ā identified only by their initials because they are minors ā participated in bullying and abusing her son.
In graphic detail the court documents filing spells out that the 15-year-old hanged himself in the basement of his motherās home last April, additionally the boy had also sliced his arm open.
It was his older brother, Matthew Kirchner, who found him.
Amspacher alleges alleges that the Red Lion School District staff responded to the teenās abuse āwith deliberate indifference.āĀ The lawsuit also maintains that the six students named, ārelentlessly harassed, belittled and broke down (Kirchner) by telling him to ākill yourselfā and/or for (Kirchner) to do a ācharityā for the (students) by committing suicide.āĀ
The freshman student at Red Lion High School had been diagnosed with being on the autism spectrum, high functioning and also suffered from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, oppositional defiance disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and an unspecified mood disorder.
The York Daily Record also noted Kirchner came out as gay in eighth grade, leading to the six students named in the lawsuit publicly humiliating Kirchner and calling him a homophobic slur. Four of the students sent the teen text messages and messages over social media telling him to kill himself.
āWhat happened to Zach is obviously a tragedy,ā Amspacherās lawyer, Renee Franchi, told the paper. āItās becoming far too common for this kind of atrocity to occur in our schools. We have to hold our institutions accountable to prevent this from happening to other children.ā
The Red Lion Area School District did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A study released this past summer by the Trevor Project showed that experiences of discrimination or physical threat or harm based on oneās sexual orientation and/or gender
identity created LGBTQ youth trauma-related symptoms leading to a more than three times greater odds of those youth attempting suicide.
āExperiences of discrimination, harassment and violence against LGBTQ youth can contribute to trauma symptoms, which can include feeling scared, anxious, or unsafe in the world, often. The data demonstrates that LGBTQ youth who reported high levels of trauma symptoms had more than three times greater odds of attempting suicide,ā said Dr. Myeshia Price, senior research scientist at the Trevor Project.
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If you or someone you know is feeling hopeless or suicidal, contact The Trevor Projectās TrevorLifeline 24/7/365 at 1-866-488-7386. TheTrevorProject.org.
LGBTQ adults, as well as young people, can also contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 or online at suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
Pennsylvania
White House freezes $175 million in funding for UPenn over trans athletes
Decision centers on decision to āallowā Lia Thomas to compete on womenās swim team

The University of Pennsylvania learned Wednesday from Fox News and social media that the Trump-Vance administration is pausing $175 million in federal funding because of its nondiscrimination policy that allows transgender student athletes to compete as their authentic selves.
A reporter from Fox Business was first to break the news, describing the decision as a āpro-active punishmentā for UPennās policy which she said violated Trumpās executive order, signed last month, banning āmen from competing in womenās sports.ā
BREAKING: The Trump Administration has “paused $175 million in federal funding from the University of Pennsylvania” over its policies forcing women to compete with men in sports.
Promises made, promises kept. pic.twitter.com/o4yiiqtH9d
ā Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 19, 2025
The reporter went on to say an ongoing Title IX investigation puts the university āat risk of losing all its federal fundingā because Lia Thomas, a former UPenn student athlete, made history three years ago this week by competing with other women.Ā
That investigation, according to Fox, centers on the schoolās decision to āallow transgender and biological male Lia Thomas to compete on the womenās swim team, use womenās locker rooms while exposing his male genitalia to his fellow female athletes.āĀ
A spokesperson for the university told Fox it had not received any āofficial notificationā of the decision on funding by the Trump administration. UPenn said the university was and is in “full compliance” with NCAA and Ivy League policies:
“We are aware of media reports suggesting a suspension of $175 million in federal funding to Penn, but have not yet received any official notification or any details. It is important to note, however, that Penn has always followed NCAA and Ivy League policies regarding student participation on athletic teams. We have been in the past, and remain today, in full compliance with the regulations that apply to not only Penn, but all of our NCAA and Ivy League peer institutions.”
As the Washington Blade reported on March 17, 2022, Thomas was a UPenn senior when she became the NCAAās first openly trans Division 1 national champion at the Womenās Swimming and Diving Championship held in Atlanta that day. She won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:33:24, one second faster than her closest competitor.Ā
Thomas graduated in 2022 and started her pursuit of a law degree and the chance to compete in last summerās Olympic Games in Paris. The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld a worldwide ban on trans women athletes in June 2024, ending her dream of swimming at the Olympics or any other womenās competition, as the Blade reported.Ā
Thomas did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday evening. Last summer, the aspiring attorney commented on the decision that smashed her hopes of competing again.Ā
āBlanket bans preventing trans women from competing are discriminatory and deprive us of valuable athletic opportunities that are central to our identities,ā said Thomas.Ā
Openly trans athlete and activist Chris Mosier noted in a video posted on Instagram that Thomas and the university were in total compliance with rules of that time, and that the funding is being frozen despite the fact Trump was not even in office when Thomas competed.Ā
ĀĀĀĀĀView this post on InstagramĀĀĀĀĀĀĀĀĀĀĀĀ
Also speaking out Wednesday was Riley Gaines, who tied with Thomas for fifth place at the 2022 championships and has gone to become a paid spokesperson for anti-inclusion womenās sports organizations.
“The Trump administration has yet again taken swift action to uphold common sense and preserve women’s opportunities by pausing $175 million in federal funding to the University of Pennsylvania,” Gaines told Fox News.
UPennās policy appears online, stating: āThe Policy of Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action and Nondiscrimination at the University of Pennsylvania states āthe University of Pennsylvania prohibits unlawful discrimination based on race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected class.āĀ
āThe federal Title IX Policy extends to trans students; it states āNo person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.ā
Pennsylvania
Transgender Honduran woman canvasses for Harris in Pa.
Monserrath Aleman is CASA in Action volunteer

A transgender woman from Honduras has traveled to Pennsylvania several times in recent weeks to campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democratic candidates.
Monserrath Aleman traveled to York on Aug. 31 and Lancaster on Sept. 21 with a group of other volunteers from CASA in Action.
They door-knocked in areas where large numbers of African Americans, Black, and Latino voters live. Aleman and the other CASA in Action volunteers urged them to support Harris, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and other down ballot Democratic candidates.
Aleman will be in Harrisburg on Nov. 2, and in York on Election Day.
“We achieved the goal that we had in mind and that we wanted to achieve,” she told the Washington Blade on Oct. 22 during a Zoom interview from Baltimore. “We knocked on doors, passed out flyers.”
Aleman cited Project 2025 ā which the Congressional Equality Caucus on Thursday sharply criticized ā when she spoke with the Blade.
“We know that there is a Project 2025 plan that would affect us: The entire immigrant Latino community, the LGBTI community, everyone,” said Aleman. “So that’s why I’m more motivated to go knocking on doors, to ask for help, for support from everyone who can vote, who can exercise their vote.”
She told the Blade that she and her fellow volunteers “did not have any bad response.”
Aleman grew up in Yoro, a city that is roughly 130 miles north of the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa.
She left Honduras on Nov. 25, 2021.
Aleman entered Mexico in Palenque, a city in the country’s Chiapas state that is close to the border with Guatemala. The Mexican government granted her a humanitarian visa that allowed her to legally travel through the country.
Aleman told the Blade she walked and took buses to Ciudad JuƔrez, a Mexican border city that is across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas.
She scheduled her appointment with U.S. Customs and Border Protection while living at a shelter in Ciudad JuĆ”rez.Ā Aleman now lives in Baltimore.
“Discrimination against the LGBTI community exists everywhere, but in Honduras it is more critical,” said Aleman.
Aleman added she feels “more free to express herself, to speak with someone” in the U.S. She also said she remains optimistic that Harris will defeat former President Donald Trump on Election Day.
“There is no other option,” said Aleman.
Pennsylvania
Pa. House passes bill to repeal stateās same-sex marriage ban
Measure now goes to Republican-controlled state Senate

The Democratic-controlled Pennsylvania House of Representatives on July 2 passed a bill that would repeal the stateās same-sex marriage ban.
The marriage bill passed by a 133-68 vote margin, with all but one Democrat voting for it. Thirty-two Republicans backed the measure.
The billās next hurdle is to pass in the Republican-controlled Pennsylvania Senate.
State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D-Philadelphia), a gay man who is running for state auditor, noted to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review the bill would eliminate a clause in Pennsylvaniaās marriage law that defines marriage as ābetween one man and one woman.ā The measure would also change the legal definition of marriage in the state to āa civil contract between two individuals.ā
Kenyatta did not return the Washington Bladeās requests for comment.
The U.S. Supreme Court in 2015 in Obergefell v. Hodges extended marriage rights to same-sex couples across the country.
Justice Clarence Thomas in the 2022 decision that struck down Roe v. Wade said the Supreme Court should reconsider the Obergefell decision and the Lawrence v. Texas ruling that said laws that criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations are unconstitutional. President Joe Biden at the end of that year signed the Respect for Marriage Act, which requires the federal government and all U.S. states and territories to recognize same-sex and interracial marriages.
Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin earlier this year signed a bill that codified marriage rights for same-sex couples in state law. Pennsylvania lawmakers say the marriage codification bill is necessary in case the Supreme Court overturns marriage rights for same-sex couples in their state and across the country.
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