Girl in tuxedo denied a place in school yearbook

Thunderscreech · #1 10-21-2009, 08:01 PM

From:http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...-lesbian_N.htm

Quote:

JACKSON, Miss. — Veronica Rodriguez describes her daughter, 17-year-old Ceara Sturgis, as "a perfect child": a straight-A student, a goalie on the soccer team, a trumpet player in the band and active in Students Against Destructive Decisions.

Sturgis also is gay and feels more comfortable in boys' clothes, her mother says. So Rodriguez supported her daughter's decision to wear a tuxedo, rather than the drape customary for girls, when she had her senior portrait made in July. Now she is battling officials at Wesson Attendance Center in the Copiah County (Miss.) School District. Rodriguez said she received a letter from the school in August stating that only boys could wear tuxedos and have since refused to include the photo in the school yearbook.

The conflict is one of several this year involving how school districts handle cross-dressing students.

"The yearbook is not for the parents or the teachers. It's for the students," Rodriguez said. "She's not a troublemaker. She is gay."

Superintendent Ricky Clopton said the school district's attorney has assured him they are within their rights to exclude the photo.

Sturgis said she has received support from classmates and people around the nation. "It's really an amazing feeling," she said.

The Mississippi chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union warned the district that they are violating Sturgis' constitutionally protected freedom of expression, legal director Kristy Bennett said.

Candace Gingrich of the Human Rights Campaign, which advocates on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues, said it is not uncommon for LGBT students to clash with school officials on this issue. "It's a matter of self-expression," she said. Other school conflicts this year:

•In Waldorf, Md., a Westlake High senior was denied the option of wearing a tuxedo for her yearbook photo. Her mother complained, and the school reversed the decision after discovering other schools had allowed it, schools spokeswoman Katie O'Malley-Simpson said.

•In Dunnellon, Fla., a 16-year-old boy was sent home in March for violating Marion County School District dress code by wearing makeup, high-heeled boots and a bra. The policy on the district website states that students must dress "in keeping with their gender." Kathy Richardson, of the school district, said the boy's cross-dressing was an isolated event.

•In Lebanon, Ind., school officials in March reversed a ban on cross-dressing when a female senior decided to wear a tux to the prom. The girl sued the district, but the issue was settled when a "gender-neutral" policy was adopted. "We were OK with making that switch," Lebanon High Principal Kevin O'Rourke said.

In Sturgis' case, the deadline for yearbook photos was Sept. 30. Rodriguez hopes the school will reconsider.

Contributing: Marquita Brown. Joyner and Brown report for The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss.

Thoughts?

Jimmy Bones · #2 10-21-2009, 08:05 PM

Let the kids petition the ACLU for help. Those guys are good at scaring equality into state-funded institutions.

Jimmy Bones · #3 10-21-2009, 08:08 PM

I assume it's not a private school, anyhow.

Thunderscreech · #4 10-21-2009, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimmy Bones

I assume it's not a private school, anyhow.

Seems to be public.

warwick.hoy · #5 10-21-2009, 08:11 PM

Spell check fail in your title.

warwick.hoy · #6 10-21-2009, 08:14 PM

Other than that,...I say if a gal wants to wear a tux in her yearbook photo than by all means; she should be allowed and it should be included. In the end it's one of those things that is truly unimportant.

P.S. Mississippi,...figures

Thunderscreech · #7 10-21-2009, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by warwick.hoy

Spell check fail in your title.

logged and noted

WookieeForLife · #8 10-21-2009, 08:22 PM

Guys clothes are more comfy. Skin tight jeans and a thong, or looser nice fitting jeans and boxers? Makes sense. But we shuld all just go naked. The yearbook would be like a playboy. A state funded playboy.

kingpin2512 · #9 10-21-2009, 08:28 PM

This is so stupid. Who really cares if she happens to wear a tux. I hope they reverse this.

sonic assassin · #10 10-21-2009, 08:42 PM

out of the ordinary? sure. might make people uncomfortable.. they can deal

but the school saying you CANT cross dress? thats got to be against some laws. so long as everything is covered up, they shouldnt have a problem.

i knew a lesbian who wore boxers and drooped her pants like a dude. made sense to me. not sure if it was comfortable.. but she seemed to like it.

and another school getting mad at a boy in makeup? come on. they say hats are distracting.. fine. but makeup? if the kid is getting stared at and THATs distracting the class, its THEIR problem, not his.

in keeping with their gender? thats a really polite way of saying oppression. **** those people. i call shenanigans on all of those schools.

Thunderscreech · #11 10-21-2009, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonic assassin

out of the ordinary? sure. might make people uncomfortable.. they can deal

but the school saying you CANT cross dress? thats got to be against some laws. so long as everything is covered up, they shouldnt have a problem.

i knew a lesbian who wore boxers and drooped her pants like a dude. made sense to me. not sure if it was comfortable.. but she seemed to like it.

and another school getting mad at a boy in makeup? come on. they say hats are distracting.. fine. but makeup? if the kid is getting stared at and THATs distracting the class, its THEIR problem, not his.

in keeping with their gender? thats a really polite way of saying oppression. **** those people. i call shenanigans on all of those schools.

One of them did adopt a gender neutral dress code policy after a case.

of course, Public Schools are Public Schools.

Jimmy Bones · #12 10-21-2009, 11:16 PM

Eh, I am a firm believer in gender neutral uniforms, not dress codes.

Also a firm supporter of cute and effeminate sailor outfits for girls at schools.

As progressive as I try to be, I am really just a chauvenist perv. :P

santucci218 · #13 10-21-2009, 11:23 PM

wear whatever you want.

IconBasser · #14 10-22-2009, 01:45 AM

*sigh* this kind of conservativism needs to be put up against the wall and shot.

Let It Fall · #15 10-22-2009, 04:08 AM

I'm all for freedom of choice.. By why can't girls be girls and guys be guys? Guys with chick pants girls with dudeeverything (jeans, beer guts, clothing, even facial hair)

bmc · #16 10-22-2009, 04:18 AM

This happened in Saudi Arabia, right?

emor · #17 10-22-2009, 04:19 AM

rather than the drape customary for girls

Drapes? What is this, 1965?

bmc · #18 10-22-2009, 04:31 AM

I think the government should be telling people what to wear.

Simo98 · #19 10-22-2009, 04:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emor

rather than the drape customary for girls

Drapes? What is this, 1965?

I was under the impression drapes were curtains.

since when do you wear curtains??

bmc · #20 10-22-2009, 04:46 AM

Drapes are heavier material. Curtains are sheer.

Drapes are what they wear. Curtains are what you wish they wore.