Male student in dress shut out of prom.

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by BigV

If so, then why wait until the end of the year at prom time to enforce the rule, when, as the article states, he has been wearing women's clothing all year long?

Because it was the first time he wore a dress.

[Ibby]

They didnt forbid him to wear makeup, or do his hair, or wear tight clothes... like Magster said, this was the first time he tried to wear a dress.

[BigV]

From here.

...Kevin Logan, who attended school all year wearing female clothing, was denied entrance to the prom because he was in a dress.

The school uniform dress policy, which quotes the First Amendment right of freedom of expression, prohibits halter tops, miniskirts and attire promoting profanity, among other things. It does not say boys cannot wear dresses or skirts.

However, a clause in the code says administrators, at their discretion, can ban clothing they think would be disruptive.

That discretionary judgment is what concerns Badgett and her girlfriend, Laniqua Gaines, who said it’s a window for prejudice that makes victims of boys such as Logan, 18, who prefers to present himself as a female.

Emphasis mine.

I don't see where this says it was the first time he wore a dress. Based on what I have read so far, this is a case of the administrator in charge at the door making a judgement using their discretion. I think the decision is a very bad one, and represents a losing cause in court, should it get that far. So what is the story? He was banned because he was wearing a dress? Or he was banned because his attire was disruptive? Or because his dress was disruptive? It comes down to the administrator's judgement. Perhaps they have a legal leg to stand on; it's a pity they're using it to stomp on this kid's prom.

Also

"Ms. Rouse said I wasn't allowed to have on a dress," said Logan, who noted he wore female garb the entire school year.

In a 1999 Indianapolis case, a court ruled males can wear dresses to high school proms as a First Amendment right, the ICLU's Ken Falk told the newspaper.

[Happy Monkey]

I think school administrators may have absolutely no idea what clothing would cause a "disruption". Unless they think snickering is disruptive.

Which they may.

[MaggieL]

"Disruptive" is when an civl-service administrator thinks an issue requires them to actually do something to protect their position.

[BigV]

On a related note...

The irony of the unfair double standard is underlined in the first article I linked to in my previous post. It quotes a female student, a lesbian, who wore a tuxedo to the prom. She was accompianed by her female date, who, presumably, wore a dress. This obvious cross dressing caused no reaction on the part of the administration whatsoever.

The subtitle of the article confusingly states:

Lesbian who wore tux says his rights violated

:scratches head:

[wolf]

Tuxedos are male, right? So, the article of clothing is having his rights violated by being worn by a lesbian.

[wolf]

Most schools have the "disruptive clothing" rule ... the exact meaning of disruptive to be determined on a case by case basis. This is not unusual. My high school had the same rule ... covered every circumstance imanginable, from large breasted girls in halter tops to chicks who legally should be restricted from wearing spandex, as well as teeshirts with inappropriate slogans.

In some districts the "disruptive" element includes gang colors, etc.

[Happy Monkey]

"his" == the guy in the dress, I think.

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by BigV

The subtitle of the article confusingly states:

Well..it's not confusing when you know the lesbian wasn't hassled for the tux. Unless you're having pronoun problems about "him"...."him" being the drag queen.

I haven't heard any coverage mention whether this guy had a date, and if so how the date was gendered and attired...anybody?

[Stormieweather]

Similar story from last year, here in Florida:

Florida School District Settles Yearbook Picture Case. On Sept. 21, Clay County School
District officials announced that they had settled a lawsuit brought by Kelli Davis, a lesbian
student whose photograph was excluded from her yearbook because she wore a tuxedo rather
than a scoop-necked collar. The decision to exclude her led to a heated school board meeting
in February, at which the board voted to support the school officials’ choice. In the
settlement agreement, the school district agreed to change its senior portrait policy, add
sexual orientation to its non-discrimination policy and provide diversity training.

One link to the original story is found here http://www.local6.com/news/4232902/detail.html.

[BrianR]

I haven't seen any mention of a date. I seem to remember that going stag was not allowed but my memory of that time is hazy.

I find that it is easy to use gender-specific pronouns correctly when applied to the genderbenders...use whatever pronoun is appropriate for the gender the person in question is presenting to the world, no matter that you (or anyone else) is not fooled. I have several friends that are gay, lesbian and/or transvestite. Some of them wear clothing that is best left to the opposite sex. When my TV friends are dressed like women, I refer to them as women, even going so far as to use their chosen female names. And I revert back when they dress as males. Sometimes things get confused when I use BOTH names to identify one that has the same name as another friend but a different opposite-sex name. (eg John/Marsha refers to one in particular, differentiating them from the "Jon" who is NOT a TV)

In my humble opinion, this is much ado about nothing. Such rules should be restated that the clothing worn should be "tasteful" and specifically allow crossdressing. It is relatively rare anyway so what's the big deal? I understand (but have not seen a picture) that the prom dress in question was tasteful and appropriate. I'd have let it go, personally.

[BigV]

Have you read the article?

It is a short story about a lesbian prom goer dressed in a tuxedo holding forth on the subject of the male student being banned for wearing a dress. She is very supportive of the other student's plight.

I was confused by the pronoun gender mismatch in the subtitle. I associate "lesbian" with "her" not with "him". No offense to anyone intended, but I would be surprised if I was alone in this assumption.

[Happy Monkey]

No, the lesbian was saying that the gay student in the headline had his rights violated. The lesbian's rights weren't violated.

[MaggieL]

The rights violation in question was the drag queen(him) being refused admission because of the dress. The lesbian is "her"...and she wore her tux without being hassled. Hence the theory that to not allow him to wear a dress was gender discrimination...because if he was female he'd apparently be allowed to wear either a dress or a tux...since she was.