Virginia school district considers ban on cross-dressing

How do you guys feel about this?

I actually kinda agree with the School Board because I do think that the male students who do cross-dress are putting themselves in danger. I think that girl students can easily get away with it...but the boys are a different story.

While it does rob them of self-expression, I do see the safety concerns.

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/10/10374850-virginia-school-district-considers-ban-on-cross-dressing

Updated On: 2/10/12 at 06:39 PM

Well I do see how it could be bigotry in disguise too, and I have no doubt the boys who do cross-dress are picked on anyways but...could cross-dressing lead to more?

Putting aside the issue of potential bigotry for a second, I understand where the school board is coming from and think they are making the right choice.

If the school board believes that this could lead to violence then banning it is the best course of action. Look at what happened with Lawrence King. The father had asked (albeit after the fact and out of anger) why it was that the school didn't stop his son from dressing in drag. Now granted Mr.King should have taken some accountability as the parent but still. If there is any violance on the matter on either end because of this then the school is held accountable. By enforcing a dress code, this deminishes the chance of violence happening. And that is all the school cared about. No violence means no mess for the school board to clean up later on.

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What tiny said.

You're right, by enforcing a dress code it doesn't diminish the chance of violence happening, the kid already came to school dressed in drag once and therefor the sad (but true fact) is that just by doing it once the kid already made himself a target regardless of how he comes dressed to school.

I think that the issue of school aged kids coming out is something that is new. And, educators are unsure of how to deal with it. I am not saying that bullying is right or that it is something that i condone. However, bullying has always gone on in some form or another since before this issue rose to the surface.

I understand that you feel that the kid should be able to come to school dressed however he wants to. But, there has to be a line of what is acceptable for school and what's okay for personal time. At most jobs, if a guy showed up to work in drag, they would ask him to change, and if he refused, then he could get fried. And, truth be told, from a legal standpoint there is nothing that the guy could do about it. If they fired him for being gay, sure, that is wrongful termination right there. But, if they fired him for being in drag, then there is nothing that the guy can do about it. Being gay is a civil right and one that can't warrant termination of employment. However, wanting to dress in drag isn't and can warrant termination. I am not at all saying that I agree with the way things are set up, but that is the way things are.

Furthermore, I do think that it is an awful thing that there are kids in high school who commit suicide due to the fact that they are bullied for being gay. And, that it is a problem that needs to be fixed. But, while you can make rules about what a school deems acceptable on the subject, doesn't mean that a student is going to agree with what their school administration said or think it is right. So, how do you suggest that the problem be solved?

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More violence and trouble for the those individuals who dress up.

I'm an assistant teacher in Special Education for middle school in TX, and I at 27 still put up with those remarks!!!

When I first started this year these kids said behind my back as I was walking to my car, "Excuse me, Mam...Mam?" It hurt...so I can only imagine what it would be like for the students.

I would think that it would be getting easier for kids today teased about being perceived as gay (and I say perceived because only the kids themselves can answer that)...but I don't know.

I have to agree here. In Middle School I remember you could be handed your ass for not wearing the proper sneakers! I too want to live in a Utopia where Kids can dress and act as they like without fear of violence and retrobution. However the time we live in right now is not that Utopia.
Dress codes can very well be an attempt at stemming future problems.
I am with the school board on this one.

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Instead of dealing with the perpetrators of bullying/crime, you would RATHER "blame the victim"? Sooo, if a chick wore a mini skirt, she's sorta asking to be harassed/raped/bullied?

The schools should get on the bully and his family and friends' cases' immdeiately and punish THEIR punk ass behavior. Seriously, how do you think the mindset of such disgusting/criminal behaviours will change if the schools don't deal with it? Suspension, expulsion, or some other way (community svce and lecture at a LGBT place) of addressing the PerpETRATors.

Lkewise, if a kid is, say, fat, or has frizzy hair, or is poor, (and gets mercilessly bullied for THOSE things etc.), you're gonna "blame the victim"? INstalling a dress code, IMHO, is just avoidance. Has been tried before for eons, and it doesn't work.

Yeah, I think maybe what we should be focusing on is how so many people just seem to think that that violence and abuse of students is just something to be accepted.

It is VERY laughable that you would consider a guy not allowed to wear a dress to school, to be akin to a woman being beaten up and forced to have sex against her will. To me, that is downplaying rape which is a far more worse crime then allowing a guy to wear a dress or not.

The MAJOR difference between rape and cross dressing is that in any case of rape, the woman in question is not doing anything wrong. I am not saying though, that with cross dressing, the guy in high school is asking to get beaten up. But, at the same time, he should at least be aware of that which he is doing or about to do.

It doesn't take a rocket science to realize that if you're going to dress in a way that isn't the norm, in a place like high school nonetheless, kids are going to act harshly against that.

Here is a better example as to why I think that comparing rape to self expression is utterly laughable. Let's say that you read a story of a guy in your town, his form of self expression is dressing up as Hitler. However, when he walked into his local synagogue dressed in said costume, members of the synagogue beat him up. Why? After all, he was only expressing himself.

I don't think that the kid should be beat up for putting on a dress. However, he should also realize the can of worms he is opening up in the process just by doing so.

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Winston, what's laughable is that you think that was the comparison being made.

The comparison is not between rape and not being allowed to wear a dress.The comparison is about VIOLENCE being visited upon someone for the way they're dressed--"provacatively" in the girl's case, as a female in the boy's.

You understand that rape = violence, yes?

Thanks for illucidating my point, ORANGE and REGGIE....