Fascinating thread on false taxonomy and the current trans moral panic

In contrast to sports where there are fairness concerns, here's government mandating traditional gender stereotypes and attire on graduates. Down to socks and shoe style - this is despite their clothing being under robes and no concern about the showing of any skin or anything that.

Hypothetically, could a public school in a liberal place do the reverse to make a point? Mandate that boys wear skirts/kilts and that girls wear pants?

Complaint:

https://wp.api.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/230518_Dkt-1_Complaint.pdf

Article:

https://www.npr.org/2023/05/20/1177335398/trans-girl-dress-boy-high-school-graduation-mississippi

The ACLU sued the district Thursday on behalf of the student and her parents after Harrison Central principal Kelly Fuller and school district superintendent Mitchell King told L.B. that she must follow the boys' clothing rules. Graduating boys are expected to wear white shirts and black slacks, while girls are expected to wear white dresses.


L.B. had selected a dress to wear with her cap and gown. The lawsuit said L.B. had worn dresses to classes and extracurricular events throughout high school, including to a prom last year, and she should not face discriminatory treatment during graduation.


King told L.B.'s mother that the teenager could not participate in the graduation ceremony unless L.B. wears "'pants, socks, and shoes, like a boy,'" according to the lawsuit.


Clark wrote in court papers Friday that taking part in a graduation ceremony is voluntary and not a constitutionally protected right for any student.

 

I did not see a written order if there is one. An argument from the article - that graduation ceremonies are voluntary - seems like a red herring to me.

I don't see how this isn't sex-based treatment/discrimination which would be subject to intermediate scrutiny. What substantial interest does the government have in micromanaging which students are required to (versus banned from) wearing socks? Who are they trying to protect with this, and what's the message? That males and females have different roles in society and better darn well dress like it?

When I was in school, there was a practice (if not a formal policy) that female students could wear hats indoors but male students could not. I am sure it was based upon how many read the Bible about head coverings. That didn't make sense to me back then either but not sure what would have happened had it been challenged.

 

Counter point. Why does it matter? In other words, why is it important for an individual to express their preferred pronouns in this particular setting? Are they expecting to be treated differently than someone who uses different pronouns? I ask this, because it was a question that was asked of me when talking about people who are somewhat ambiguous looking. I think it was a fair question then, and I think it's a fair question now.

Go GATORS!
,WESGATORS

 

Agree. I get emails every day from people I’ve never met. Some have names that could be either male or female. My response wouldn’t change if I knew which they were.

 

It probably doesn't matter for a direct response. But people use pronouns all the time when referring to someone.

I worked with a client contact/rep named Stacy, and we had multiple client contacts with that same client and often more than one contact for the exact same file. Almost everyone would incorrectly assume Stacy was a woman. Sometimes communications were less clear because people were saying, "she/her." I suppose we could just stop using pronouns entirely and use only proper names, but that doesn't seem likely to happen, and I'm sure that would irritate people, too. It wasn't a huge deal. I just told the people in my office that Stacy is a man.