Unreal: Gay Kids Now Think Graduation Gown Colors Are Discriminatory
...students who decide they do not fit into either...
Avatar of B. Christopher Agee B. Christopher Agee — December 12, 2014
Members of the Gay Student Alliance at one Massachusetts high school are up in arms about a tradition they now believe discriminates against transgender classmates. Graduating seniors at Franklin High School have long worn different colored gowns, depending on their sex, when receiving diplomas. This year, however, the practice is being called into question.
The traditional approach – boys wearing blue gowns and girls wearing white – should be replaced with only one color option, opponents argue, to reduce the possibility of discriminating against students who decide they do not fit into either category. As a result of the controversy, Principal Peter Light has announced plans to revamp the school’s approach to graduation gowns.
“There will be a change, I think,” he said, though a new, more inclusive policy will not be enacted in time for next year’s graduation.
Due to the advance notice needed to change gown orders, Light explained that an updated plan will be announced within a couple of months in order to secure the new gowns for the graduating class of 2016.”
“We have yet to determine a timeline or what that change looks like,” he said of his school’s response to the gay students behind the complaint.
This is hardly the first policy change by a public school in an effort to placate transgender students. As Western Journalism reported earlier this month, schools in Minnesota will now begin forcing girls’ sports teams to accept boys who define themselves as transgender.
The policy is being criticized by some as not only unfair to girls but, given the inherent size difference between the genders as a whole, a potential safety risk for female athletes.
Read more at
http://www.westernjournalism.com/unreal-gay-kids-now-think-graduation-gown-colors-discriminatory/#3BhpB7RMQqtHplIl.99
