Jacksonville transgender teen fights for new home

A local teen is asking the state to let him live with another family. He says his biological family rejected him for being transgender.

Ryan Stalvey, 16, could be forced to return to his original home at a moment's notice.

He told Action News Jax’s Katie McKee that his family doesn't agree with his transgender status and that his mother is mentally and physically abusive.

Stalvey spoke with us on Wednesday with the permission of his current foster parent.

He was born a female and now identifies as a male. At his eighth-grade graduation, he said he wore a suit. He said his mother saw him and was angry.

“She dragged me out and try to swing at me in the parking lot,” Stalvey said.

Stalvey said his mother and father don't accept him and abuse from his mother happened often.

“Being abused it wasn't just physical it was also mental and emotional. It's affected me a lot,” Stalvey said.

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Stalvey said he set up a secret video camera to record the beatings he said happened regularly.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office was called to his home in January when he and his mother got into an altercation about male clothing.

The report says "... the suspect (Ryan's mother) jumped on Ryan and proceeded to take the tie off of her that she was wearing."

His mother was arrested and but never charged. In April, the court ordered her into treatment and she avoided domestic battery charges.

We called Stalvey's mother to get her side of the story and she has yet to return our call.

“They have not accepted me at all, I don't know if they will,” Stalvey said. “It sucks but not as much I guess because I have another family that does.”

Stalvey met another transgender teen at Paxon High School through the Gay Straight Alliance group. After the Florida Department of Children and Families sent Stalvey to live with his grandmother, she allowed him to stay with the family of his friend who he says have accepted him as their own.

Stalvey said he wants that family to legally adopt him, but his mother won't allow it, and he fears she will someday decide to make him come home.

Stalvey and his classmates have planned an event to bring awareness about the problems transgender individuals face.

Supporters will gather outside the courthouse on Saturday at 1 p.m. to show their support and bring awareness to transgender issues and child abuse.

Stalvey is also using the hashtag #RiseForRyan to raise awareness about his cause on social media.

Cox Media Group