Welcome news out of Clyde, Texas: Trevor Wilkinson, a gay teenager suspended from school for wearing nail polish, has convinced the local school board to introduce and accept a gender-neutral dress code.
The Clyde School Board voted Monday (April 19) to accept the new, gender-neutral language in the student handbook. The same standards now apply to students of all genders.
“It is with great honor that I am pleased to announce that Clyde High School’s dress code is officially gender-neutral forever,” Wilkinson told local TV station KTXS. “I’m at a loss of words for the joy I am feeling on this special day. I am so blessed by the support, love, and help I have received through this experience.”
Related: Thousands support Texas gay teen suspended from school for wearing nail polish
Wilkinson made headlines last year after he received a suspension for wearing nail polish to school. At the time, administrators said that he violated the school’s dress code, which barred males from wearing make-up or nail polish. Wilkinson took his case to the school board where he slammed the school district for gender discrimination, and an online petition to have his suspension overturned netted hundreds of thousands of signatures. Despite the public outcry and Wilkinson’s appeals to the school board in December, the school ordered him to in-school suspension. At that time, his school principal also vowed that there would be no changes made to the school dress code. Wilkinson further alleged that the suspension was actually a result of thinly-veiled homophobia, as he identifies as gay.
Here’s hoping he enjoys the rest of the year back among his fellow students.
Invader7
Showed that backwards town and principal !!!
Mister P
Welcome to the 21st century Clyde, Texas.
Fahd
Great story – I’d like to see a made-for-tv movie or at least after school special. What’s right is right!
ohiogreg
I like this
WSnyder
One person CAN make a difference for the betterment of others.
It’s OK to challenge ‘the system’, especially when it hasn’t changed in a while and/or is not inclusive for some of the people it effects.
James26
Boys wearing girls cosmetics =/= betterment
TMBisAOK
Congrats James26 on being just as horrific of an ignorant bigot as those he was fighting against. DO BETTER!
Gay Thomas
Your hero rapist, Dumb Dotard, wears cosmetics, you clown moron.
Mack
It stated that the same rules applied regardless of gender but did they ban nail polish and make up for everyone? The reporting leaves a lot to desire because it really doesn’t give any results other than “gender neutral”.
James26
A shrewd move would be to ban all polish. The policy would be “gender neutral” but the effect would be to isolate him from all his little girl friends. The girls would despise him just as the boys already do.
TMBisAOK
Can you guys ban this effing asskole James26 FFS!?
Cam
In other words the district’s attorney told them they would lose in court and to change the damn rules.
lather
That’s one good BINGO!
HenryHawke
And that’s how most of these absurd rules get shot down. More than one public school system has shot them selves in the foot with rules that were gender specific. They had to prove how boys with long hair or girls who dyed theirs damaged the learning environment or was a “distraction.” Eventually it got expanded to include dress codes. Today the fight is over gender identity and the religionists and Republinazis are using the same tired excuses they used to prevent women and people of color the right to vote, (The GOP is still fighting that one!), and members of the LGBTQ+ community the right to…well…anything.
rbernard
For this change to happen in ass backwards Texas, this is a triumph for our community.
James26
What community? The male nail polish-wearing community? I am happy to not be a member.
Cam
@James26
Nothing enrages the right wing trolls more than some LGBTQ kid beating back bigots.
Mr. Stadnick
@James26 Are you always such a miserable person or do you save it all up to troll websites? I pity you and all your negativity. All that unhappiness is going to build up and one day you will discover you have some sort of cancer or perhaps have a stroke. Let it go and you might have a second of happiness in your obviously sad and miserable life.
Kangol2
He’s an example of successful activism that leads to positive change for others. Congrats and thanks are in order for this young man!
James26
He may have bullied the district into formally changing its policy, but the boys and men in that school will continue to hold him and others like him in contempt, and that will ensure that this sort of conduct remains rare.
He can blame “thinly veiled homophobia” all he likes, but the reality is his individual choice to wear polish and appear girlish is entirely on him; it is not a function of his sexual orientation and indeed, gay men, like their straight counterparts, largely revile displays of effeminacy such as this.
TMBisAOK
I blame ignorant bigots like you!
cc423
1958 called… they want you to come home.
dhmonarch89
and it’s the so called ‘men’ you refer to who have made the choice to be bigoted jack asses.
Cam
See how gleeful the right wing troll is that the kid might get beat up or bullied and harassed by the other “Boys and Men in the district”?
That’s their goal, for LGBTQ people to be terrified to come out of the closet and for bigots to win.
mailliw110
Wow James, that a very impressive amount of words coming from you.
EricDeVourin
Why does it harm your fragile masculinity so much? I don’t care if you wear a mullet. It doesn’t change anything in my life, so why should I care if that makes you happy? Why should I have to go by your rules just to make you feel comfortable? Those days and times have past. The world is made up of a rainbow of people and thats what makes it a beautiful place. This kid just had the b*lls to make it a more beautiful place for everyone.
Fname Optional Lname
Imagine letting something as little as a teenage boy wearing nail polish grind your gears! If you find yourself looking for reasons why this boy has not “won”, you might want to look deep in your heart and ask why. It is a much different world for the younger generation. They have many more allies and resources on their side and things will continue to get better.
James26
@Fname Optional Lname “Gender nonconformity” (which is better described as gender deviance) is reviled in 2021, just as it was in 1921 and 1821 and 1021. There may be more “resources” but these misguided adult cheerleaders don’t change the reality on the ground. This boy’s bad choices will isolate him from his male peers, diminish his boyhood, and make his life worse. Pyrrhic victory.
jennyhadadot
It’s been my experience that those who voice harsh homophobic rhetoric are secretly harboring homosexual tendencies. It’s a shame that in 2021, these men are too insecure to come out.
Mike Hunt
James26 are you suffering from a sad case of SPS or something? Jesus, dude ….
dhmonarch89
I hope as part of this, they expunge his record of the suspension…that could effect college applications.
James26
He violated the policy in place at the time, so why should his record of a violation be expunged? That would falsify the record.
As for your comment above about the other boys in the school (and other observers like me) being “b1gots,” nothing could be further from the truth. I and they are reacting to this boy’s *behavior*, not to some immutable or intrinsic characteristic like race or sexual orientation. We can judge his behavior – in this case, overt displays of eff eminacy – positively (as you apparently do) or negatively (as I and the vast majority of men do). My view of his behavior may be wrong or your view may be wrong, but neither has anything to do with “b1gotry.”
Cam
@James26
The right wing troll is really really invested in something bad happening to this kid who dared speak up.
LeBlevsez
James26 – time for you to buy a dictionary. “Bigotry” is an intractable belief without a rational basis. You have reasons for your beliefs, but that doesn’t make them rational. So take a big bite of that appellation. You’ll probably find it delicious.
James26
@LeBlevsez While irrationality might be an aspect of bigotry, it is not the definition. If that were the case, then every irrational belief from flat-earth to UFO abductions would be “bigotry.”
More importantly, there is nothing irrational about supporting the original dress code and opposing this boy’s sad efforts to degrade himself at school.
LeBlevsez
James26 – You ignored the word “intractable” in your reply. So yes, most flat-earthers are bigots, irrespective of other beliefs they may have. (Although there is probably a large overlap with racism, misogyny and gender biases ‘cuz ya know, stupidity.) Don’t conflate irrationality with intractability. They’re kissin’ cousins, not a single entity. Also, don’t conflate sartorial expression with degradation. Those aren’t cousins of any kind. Let the kid have his joy, and try not to be frightened by it.
wooly101
How nice, now he can ware a dress to his college interviews.
winemaker
Is Queerty kidding and is this important news? So the guy gets his nails painted, big deal and the school has a hershey fit over this, wow. Kind of like the almost daily updates on the kardashians and their constantly evolving drama that most thinking people don’t give a rats ass about.
Cam
Another screename for the right wing troll. VERY upset that somebody beating back some bigotry is getting coverage.
inbama
He’s smart, brave and adorable.
If I were 55 years younger, I’d propose.
Rock Star
One small step for gays one giant leap for humanity. Even in Texas.
Terrycloth
One of the grocery stores in my town , there is a young kid who wears a black skirt to work..no body says a thing….tattoos nose rings assorted piercings. Is personal choice just don’t be surprised some places will tell you they aren’t accepting applications at this time
AltGayMind
Good for this kid for changing the rules and opening the minds of others – seriously, what harm does some nail polish do? Absolutely none! Bravo!!
But I just don’t understand why the “gay community” seems to be on such a mission to denounce gender. When did it become a crime to be male or female? I don’t understand this constant push for gender neutrality and for doing away with any connection to male or female. It’s beyond bizarre! The fact is we are are born male or female – there is nothing evil or bad about that. If an individual does not feel male or female that’s perfectly fine and they should be able to proudly say they are trans or feel they are non-binary, but science and biology dictates that we are all either male or female so why is that such a horrible thing? It’s baffling how this community sees male and female as such a horrible statement which only gives the right wing Republicans even more fuel for their fire. Relax and drop the gender neutral bullshit.