Another U.S. school is pushing unhealthy gender norms on its students.
17-year-old Trevor Wilkinson is a senior at Clyde High School in Clyde, Texas. According to NBC News, Wilkinson has become the center of national news after he was suspended from his school for wearing nail polish.
“Imagine your school not allowing boys to paint their nails and giving boys iss [in-school suspension] for it,” he wrote in a tweet on Monday, November 30. “And the whole administration being okay with it, homophobic and sexist? welcome to west texas.”
https://twitter.com/trevvowilkinson/status/1333464079453851648
The school’s student handbook states that men are prohibited from wearing makeup and nail polish. If a school administrator thinks a child is violating the dress code, “the student will be given an opportunity to correct the problem at school.”
The handbook continues, “If not corrected, the student may be assigned to in-school suspension for the remainder of the day, until the problem is corrected, or until a parent or designee brings an acceptable change of clothing to the school. Repeated offenses may result in more serious disciplinary action in accordance with the Student Code of Conduct.”
The Clyde Consolidated Independent School District then released a statement on Friday saying that it “conducts a diligent and thoughtful review” of the dress code annually.
“That review process results in the development of a final dress code that is consistently implemented and enforced during the next school year. Parents and students are provided a copy of the dress code prior to the start of each new school year,” the district said.
It then added, “Questions or concerns with the dress code are reviewed individually, and the District cannot share any information regarding a specific student.”
To combat the suspension, Wilkinson created a Change.org petition. The petition demands that boys be allowed to wear nail polish at the school.
“I am a gay male and I’m beyond proud,” Wilkinson wrote on the Change.org page. “This is unjust and not okay. Help me show that it is okay to express yourself and that the identity that society wants to normalize is not okay. I am a human. I am valid. I should not get in trouble for having my nails done. Sign and share this so people like me don’t have to ever deal with this again.”
As of December 7, more than 74,000 people have signed the petition in support of Trevor Wilkinson.
Source: NBC News,
