School Officials Are Using Dress Codes To Target LGBTQ Students

Schools across the country have denied studentsentry to prom, graduation ceremonies and other school activities because of dress code policies that advocates say disproportionately impact LGBTQ+ students and girls.

In May, 16-year-old Florida junior Sophie Savidge told NBC Newsthat she wasn’t allowed to go to prom because she wore a suit. In a statement at the time, the school pointed to its online guide to attire, which stipulates that “ladies” are required to wear dresses and “one piece attire only” to formal events.

A transgender student in Alabama reportedly wasn’t allowed to go to her senior prom in April because she wore a dress. The school’s student handbook said that it was up to administrators to “deem appropriate clothing or appearance,” according to AL.com.

And the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi filed a federal complaint with the Department of Education against Harrison County School District for barring a transgender girl from wearing a dress to her regional band concert this spring. The complaint detailed a two-year pattern of the district punishing girls — transgender and cisgender alike — for violating dress codes requiring students to dress in clothes that are “consistent with their biological sex.”

The school district added the provision of “biological sex” to its dress code after LGBTQ+ students complained that they couldn’t wear clothes that expressed their gender identity, said Liz Davis, a fellow at the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project.

School administrators have long used dress codes to enforce a rigid gender binary and uphold different standards based on assigned sex. This year, there has been a renewed effort in school districts across GOP-led states to enforce policies that are