CLYDE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – Thousands of people have signed a petition in support of a Texas high school student who was given in-school suspension for having painted nails.
Clyde High School senior Trevor Wilkinson started a petition to ‘Allow Males to Wear Nail Polish‘ after Thursday’s suspension. He was also told he is not allowed to return to class until he takes the nail polish off.
In the petition, which has gotten over 11,000 signatures on change.org, Wilkinson says, “it’s a complete double standard because girls are allowed to paint and get their nails done.”
Wilkinson calls his punishment “unjust and not okay” and hopes he will be able to change the school district’s policy.
Clyde CISD addressed Wilkinson’s concerns in the following statement, saying the dress code is only reviewed on an annual basis:
The District conducts a diligent and thoughtful review of the dress code on an annual basis. That review process results in the development of a final dress code that is consistently implemented and enforced during the next school year. Parents and students are provided a copy of the dress code prior to the start of each new school year. Questions or concerns with the dress code are reviewed individually, and the District cannot share any information regarding a specific student. The District appreciates the feedback and input on this issue received from members of the community, and will take this into consideration when it conducts its annual review later this school year.
Wilkinson’s quest for change has garnered support from his peers and community members as well as organizations like the Abilene Pride Alliance, who wrote the following letter on his behalf:
I am writing to you today on behalf of the Abilene Pride Alliance, an LGBTQIA organization dedicated to the protection and advancement of all people in the LGBTQIA+ family.
It has come to our attention that your school district is maintaining and choosing to enforce a policy that in itself discriminates based on gender. Specifically, you have chosen to punish a male student for wearing nail polish to school.
We are hopeful that the intent of this action was not to be directly discriminatory. But unfortunately, the outcome is that this policy and its enforcement have discriminated against this child and possibly more before him.
It is our hope that we can work with CISD to immediately rectify this situation the student is currently in and ensure that going forward, the school district follows TASB recommendations to dissolve policies that treat students differently based on sex expression.
We are asking for this discriminatory policy to immediately be addressed at your next school board meeting and that the child in question be released from suspension with an official apology from the School District.
We believe that no matter your orientation, race, or gender, we are all one Big Country family. We want to move forward in cooperation in that fashion.
However, if CISD chooses not to work toward our shared values of equality and grace, we will have no option but to defend this student and any LGBTQIA students that happen to find themselves being discriminated against.
Discrimination and hate are not Big Country values. We are asking that you help us cooperate and put differences aside to work toward the best outcomes for Clyde ISD and its students.