When video of 15-year-old Zachary being beaten over and over again by a classmate went viral in October, complaints from the family to school officials went ignored, WBNS reported.
"[A school official] basically said, 'There's a few gay kids in school and you're the only one they have problems with," Zach told the station. "So, what can you do to tone yourself down?'"
The school's handling of the attack outraged Zach's mother Becky Collins, who couldn't understand why officials would say her son needed to change, instead of the bullies. Justice could be close for the high schooler, however, after the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio issued the school district with a kind of ultimatum: come up with a plan to fight bullying or be slapped with a lawsuit, the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette reported.
James Hardiman, legal director for the ACLU of Ohio, told the paper that the motion should be taken seriously.
"We have reached out to the school to make certain they understand and appreciate what we're trying to accomplish," Hardiman said in a press conference, according to the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette. "We will not hesitate, however, if a response is not forthcoming, to take appropriate legal action."
Earlier this month, more than 6,000 people joined a campaign on Change.org hoping to pressure the school district to amend its anti-bulling policy to include sexual orientation and gender identity, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
According to WBNS, Union-Scioto Superintendent Dwight Garrett said he received the letter, but would offer no further comment.