These Boys Protested Their School's Sexist Dress Code In The Best Way

A group of male students at Buchanan High School in Clovis, California, swapped threads with their female counterparts to protest their school's antiquated and sexist dress code.

The Fresno Bee reports the students' gender-swap came just one week after the Clovis Unified School District declined to update the dress code, which bans boys from having long hair or wearing jewelry and defines skirts and dresses as “girl's clothing.”

To protest, several male students arrived to school wearing dresses, while girls wore “boy” clothes, including collared shirts.

Student Emma Sledd says,

The reason we switched gender norms for the day was to make the statement that what we wear dose not define us as students. Our district's dress code should not favor or discriminate any gender. We believe everyone should be able to express themselves equally. A boy with long hair is no less of a hard worker than a girl with long hair.

Another student, sophomore Sophia Brodish, explains,

We live in a city where the LGBTQA+ community is very minimal and unaccepted. By allowing the dress code to become gender neutral, we are starting to bridge the gap of acceptance and unacceptance.

Students petitioning for a gender-neutral dress code reportedly gathered over 2,500 signatures by Monday. Interestingly, the district's dress code has been challenged in court by the American Civil Liberties Union, but was not required to change despite directly violating state code.

Citations: Boys wear dresses at school to protest Clovis Unified dress code (Fresno Bee), High School Boys Fight Back Against Their Dress Code by Wearing Dresses (Complex)