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This article was published 11/10/2014 (2171 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Bella Burgos wore a fuchsia pink dress and a bright pink scarf around her hair.

Nearly everyone else in the crowd of a few dozen also sported something pink: a scarf a hair ornament, a T-shirt.

A week after a media blitz about an eight-year-old transgender girl who’s been the target of an alleged bullying campaign by another parent, the first public display of support for the girl was a rally in the heart of Transcona at Centennial Square Saturday at noon.

"Thank you. For supporting me," Bella said, after members of her family, including her father and brother, also thanked supporters for turning out.

For over a month, the eight-year-old and her family have been at the centre of a dispute over transgender at her Transcona grade school. On the other side is a parent who yelled at the child and her older brother and lobbied other parents outside the school, the Burgos family has told media in countless interviews.

At first, the issue was which bathroom Bella was to use. She had been using the girl’s washroom, but after the complaint from the parent, the mother of one of Bella’s classmates, she was to use another washroom, a gender-neutral single toilet separate from the girl’s room. The matter then escalated beyond bathrooms to the broader issue of transgender identity.

The River East School Division has spent the last several weeks trying to find a way to accommodate both sides and in the last week, Bella’s story has drawn attention from local media and from social media around the world.

The rally gave the family a chance to express their gratitude.

"I’m excited our community sees a reason to come out and support us," said Bella’s mother, Izzy Burgos.

In his speech, the girl's father, Dale Burgos, said: "It’s been unreal. The support out there. Trailblazer is the word we’ve heard for Bella . . .#pink4bella has gone all over the world," The family has had emails of support from as far away as Japan and the Netherlands.

"I don’t know how all these people are finding my email. It’s kinda creepy, but it’s great," the father said to appreciative chuckles from the crowd.

"You’re not only supporting Bella. You’re supporting people like her," her brother Rece told the small crowd.

The rally was organized on social media under the hashtag pink4bella. There were pink flamingos, pink balloons and radio personalities Jordan Knight and J.D. Francis from Energy 106 FM.

"I just want to thank you all for coming out in support of Bella. And wearing pink," rally organizer Adam Herstein said. "The only way I know how to deal with a bully is to stand up to them," he said.