“Cry Me A River!”: School Board Member Caught On Video Mocking LGBTQ Student Suicides




An Indiana school board member was caught on video telling an LGBTQ activist to “cry me a river” after she was confronted about the unmet needs of transgender students.

Ten activists from the Tri-State Alliance (TSA), an LGBTQ rights group for southeastern Illinois, southwestern Indiana and western Kentucky, had come to the Nov. 25 meeting to talk to the school board for the Evansville-Vandeburgh County School Corporation about the issue, reports The Illinois Eagle.

“The TSA said that six people had signed up to speak,” the news outlet reported. “Only one was able to speak to the board before being denied by board president Karen Ragland. The other five were able to speak only after TSA activists twice protested.”



After the meeting, several TSA members confronted board member Ann Ennis about LGBTQ student suicides.

In video footage of the incident posted on the TSA’s Facebook page, one of the activists—identified as TSA President Wally Paynter by the Eagle, can be heard calling Ennis, “so transphobic. When you met with us, you were so transphobic.”

Ennis can then be seen backing away from the group saying “cry me a river,” while making what appears to be a violin-playing motion with her hands and arms.

“Cry me a river?” Paynter asks.

“Oh, cry us a river about the kids who have died?” Another activist can then be heard saying.

Paynter, then says, “kids commit suicide, you don’t care.”

The second activist added, “you’re a… s****y person” before the video cut off.

“While the Evansville-Vandeburgh County School Corporation has added coding to protect student sexual orientation, they have not yet added language that protects student’s gender identity,” reports Newsweek. “TSA maintains there is no support on the board to protect transgender students and their interests. According to a study published in 2017 by the Indiana State Department of Health, the third-highest cause of death among 10- to 14-year-old Indiana citizens is suicide. Among 15- to 24-year-olds, it is the second-highest cause.”