I've never known a highschool that required tuxes or dresses for graduation. Mine required a cap and gown - all 600 of us.

That was my thought exactly. It would have been a simple thing to amend the language to "formal wear", and leave it alone. I presume they were referring to graduation pics, not.

Digital, it depends on where you go to school.

My brothers both graduated from a military academy and wore their Class A uniforms for graduation.

I went to an all girls high school where the tradition was to wear a white/ivory dress, tea length minimum, no low cut neck or back lines, 1" thick straps minimum. It actually makes for a really pretty graduation picture, and no one has ever complained too much! So I've actually never worn a cap and gown....(I graduated from college a semester early, and there was no mid semester ceremony, so I didn't go back to walk!)

what time is it? I clearly missed the logic train here.

Seems to me, a better question might be... "What year is it?" 2011 and this stuff is still going on? Shameful.

I graduated from an all girls high school, arguably the best in the US and we wore white dresses...its a tradition and requirement.

Man this article is confusing. Is this about graduation attire or the clothing worn for the yearbook picture?

Aren't senior portraits taken months before graduation so they can be included in the yearbook? I can't imagine they are taking the formal senior portraits during graduation? That would imply that you aren't getting your yearbook until months after graduation. I had my Senior portrait taken in the Fall of my senior year. I had my yearbook before graduation. At graduation, we all wore caps and gowns.

So are they now requiring all senior portraits to be taken in a cap and gown? That's pretty lame. Sound like they are punishing the entire student body so they can prevent this happening again. That's even lamer. This poor kid shouldn't have been ostracized like this.

I do think that the result of the lawsuit was a knee-jerk reaction. I personally loved wearing a drape in my senior photo. The proper result would let either gender wear a cap and gown OR a tux OR a drape. The only people that should or could be embarrassed by the result would be the student or their parents. She did look attractive in the tux, though I thought at first it was a boy in lip stick.

It does seem like a mix up of dates here. The photos are not taken at graduation. So does it not change what students wear for senior pictures? Graduation has always been traditional depending on the school, as stated by others. We wore cap and gown for the actual graduation, but suits for boys and white dresses for girls during baccalaureate ceremony (when it was still allowed).

Mohee, the logic train left a long time ago. You and I will have to find our own way, maybe on the common sense train.

I think graduation caps and gowns came about to level the playing field between the "haves" and the "have nots" so no one at graduation had to be embarrassed about his/her clothing, probably extending back to the years of the Great Depression. Now this new tradition (new to this school) is leveling the playing field between genders. I'm slightly amused by the line that mentions "unfair gender stereotypes" about a way of life that extends back at least 2,000 years, a way of life that includes to distinct sexes, male and female, nothing more and nothing less.

Now think about this. If the girl had been allowed to graduate in a tux because that is what floats her boat, why couldn't a budding transvestite (male) graduate in a dress with a scoop neckline showing his hairy chest and pits? After all, that is who he is, right? A family down the road owns a number of horses and goes to as many rodeos as they can. The daughter might want to wear her rodeo clothes and who's to say she shouldn't? She wants nothing more than to train to be a vet for large animals, specializing in horses. And then there's the kid who has wanted to go to clown school is whole life. If we have a transvestite and a cowgirl walking across the stage to get a diploma, why couldn't we have a clown? Why shouldn't Gordie be able to express himself openly on the most important day of his life? Big red nose, humongous shoes, a carnation pinned on to his outfit that squirts water, painted face, can't you just about visualize him shaking hands with the school superintendent receiving his diploma?

But oh, god, wait until you hear about this, and this is a true story There is a kid in our school system who barks like a dog, has barked like a dog since he started school. He isn't stupid, just has this quirk that gets worse when he's excited, and he has made it to his senior year and now is going to graduate in May. He humorously (or otherwise, I'm not sure) wears a spiked dog collar, and would probably wear it at graduation if we didn't have a decades long tradition of caps and gowns for graduation.

Yes, by all means, let the students wear whatever expresses their true selves. I'm sure you'd get a couple bikinis and maybe a scuba diver. Motorcycle leathers, Indiana Jones gear, a French maid and. . . . . . . .

Now seriously, something a lot of people don't realize that the dynamics are very different when dealing with a very large group of people as compared to dealing with individuals. The dynamics of a family changes when someone new as added to the family or when someone leaves the family, or even when one individual in the family changes in some way.

Everybody can't have their own way in a group. There has to be a compromise, compromise more by some people than others, but you just can't please everybody in a group. The girl would be changing the dynamics of the graduation tradition if she were allowed to wear her tux to ceremony, and seriously someone could challenge long standing traditions next year and the next and the next. If you allow this to happen in a given situation, you'd have to allow that in the same situation, and pretty soon you really would have a kid showing up in a clown costume. I absolutely don't believe clowns should be allowed to participate in graduation ceremonies, but my nephew is totally smitten with Indiana Jones, and I have s sneaking suspicion the principal would like the French maid get up.

showing his hairy chest and pits

Works for me

The girl would be changing the dynamics of the graduation tradition if she were allowed to wear her tux to ceremony, and seriously someone could challenge long standing traditions next year and the next and the next.

You say that as if it were bad thing. Traditions should always be challenged. Otherwise, we're stuck in a stagnant society.

You kinda like that image, do you? I didn't write, but was also thinking about hairy legs and big men's feet stuffed in a pair of girlie high heels.

I guess I read the story differently than most folks. I assumed they meant that everyone must wear caps / gowns for their graduation photos. That is what the rest of the article is about - the senior photos that go in the year book. Instead of everyone wearing what they want - which the school apparently does not allow - they will now tell everyone to wear their caps / gowns for their senior photo, so everyone looks the same.

I know the article specifically says

Copiah County School District will ditch gender-specific graduation outfits and instead require all students to wear a cap and gown as part of a settlement of a lawsuit filed on behalf of lesbian teenager whose tux-wearing photo was excluded from the senior yearbook.

so I assumed photos, not the actual ceremony.

I didn't mean to say it as though changing dynamics was a bad thing. I just mean to say that the dynamics change when there are a lot of people involved rather than just an individual or two. And I also said and meant to say that not everyone in a large group would probably be happy. And I also truly believe clowns should not be allowed to walk through the graduation ceremonies, but Indiana Jones fans with their hat and whip should be allowed. I'm saying clowns are a bad thing, French maids and Indiana Jones would be a good thing. Everybody knows that.

That is what I got out of the article also. Senior pictures would be with the students wearing caps and gown. I do not see what is wrong with all students wearing the same article of clothing, shouldn't affend anyone.

This article is poorly written.

It's confusing what outcome has actually been agreed to, and/or what has been changed.

Seems this young lady wore a tux to her senior photo, which is what will go in the yearbook. Then the principal found out and decided, on his own, to exclude her photo from the yearbook.

The article seems to imply that the outcome of the law suit is that the students have to now wear only a cap and gown for their senior pictures. Yes? No? I'm not sure as it's not clear. It makes no sense that the school would decide that everyone must now wear a cap and gown over their clothes for their actual senior picture. I can't imagine that anyone with half a brain would make that decision. I think the writer of this article needs to clear this up and make clear what happened.

The easier and simplest way to deal with this issue is to allow the young adults to wear whatever gender clothing they want to portray themselves in in their senior picture. One blogger her seems to think that if you allow people to wear what they like then there will be clowns, cowboys, french maid outfits or all manner of outfit. That's silly. That's taking the argument well past any logical end. The young lady in this story didn't dress in some "outfit" that is more in line with a Halloween party. She simply wore a tuxedo, which is a formal form of clothing. If the school has a policy of requiring formal clothing, then she wore that.

The person who overreacted in this situation was the principal who decided that his own sensibilities and moral objections should be used to exclude a student from an important event in a young adults life, that of graduating from school and moving on to becoming a full grown adult. The principal could have simply accepted the young ladies choice of formal wear and just let it go. Instead he made a choice for exclusion. That's where the problem lies, the principals poor decision.

Seems the lawsuit simply sought to get the young ladies photo back into the yearbook, and NOTHING more. Then, seems another poor decision was made that affects all future school graduates. The future majority isn't suffering due to the young ladies choice of clothing. They will be put under new rules due to a principal who tried to exclude a student because of some personal issue he/she had. Blame him, not the young lady.

Everyone wearing the same thing means that no one is offended? Really? Ok, then how about everyone wear a tuxedo? Or, how about everyone wear a formal dress? Better yet, everyone wear sweat pants and sweat shirt. That won't offend as everyone will look the same. No, I don't think so. That would be offensive to anyone with a sense of self and individualism. It's clear that some, in a country that respects individual freedom, seem to think that removing individualism is the best way to protect individuals.

churchmouse, a straight woman who is a slob is more likely to have hair pits and legs with her dress than a transvestite male. They generally look as good as, or better than, women.

And I find it interesting that you are comparing wearing a tuxedo - traditional male attire - with clown attire. I guess we can see how you really feel about men and their clothing.

How do I really feel about men and their clothing? What do I expect to find in my son's closet? What would I be shocked to find in my neighbor's closet? Which clothes do I think department stores should never carry? What clothing do I think major chain retail departments stores should carry that they don't already carry?

(I'll give you a hint about my son's closet: I expect to find whatever makes him comfortable and happy. I haven't told him how to dress since he was a kid, before high school. I don't shop for him. I don't tell him how to dress or what I expect. But then I actually don't know what's in my son's closet because I don't look in his closet. He's a big boy. He can figure it out himself.)

I don't equate a tuxedo with clown wear although I know a lot of men do. I mostly don't care what men wear as long as they don't stink or have their bare bellies hanging out. So sue me. Turn me into the ACLU. I don't like bulging bare bellies, male or female.

So, since she wanted to dress like a oy, all of the students now must dress like a lady; gown, and cap.

I have no problem with gays, but am really getting tired of them shoving it in my face.I do not go around and tell everyone I am straight, why do the feel the need to tell everyone they are gay? I don't care what you do in the bedroom. it's how you do your job, and live your life.

I think Burt reynolds put it best. " if you love a goat, and you are happy, and the goat is happy, then I'm happy for you. Just don't expect me to go to dinner with you."

Sorry, sometimes my finger doesn't spell well. it should be " dress like a boy".

Why this big desire to force everyone to look/act/be like everyone else? What's wrong with a little individualism? My senior picture is 50 years old (!) and even back then, we were allowed to wear whatever we wanted -- some wore suits or dresses, some jeans and tie dyed shirts. It's really fun looking back to see who's changed their persona since then.

My granddaughter's public school asks that all kids produce a photo for the yearbook, but that's it. It can be formal (taken by a pro photog) or leaning against a tree in the park. The kids are reminded that this photo will be in the yearbook forever, and nobody did anything stupid. They're all beautiful.

I once taught in a high school for troubled kids; same deal. Kids chose what they wanted to wear, and it was actually fine. Nobody died. Lighten up, folks.

mohee - I'll explain the logic. By denying students a chance to wear a tux or a gown, the administration can STILL castigate Ceara Sturgis by saying "It's all because of HER that you can't wear a tux or a gown"!

Churchmouse....best post I have EVER seen on a message board.

Deborah,

I don't get it either. What is with this obsession to be "normal" or "just like everyone else"?

Since when has blending in ever gotten anybody anywhere?

If the issue was attire for senior photo (taken several months before graduation) then of course each student should wear what they wish. They have to buy the pictures and yearbook - they should be in their own desired clothing.

If the issue is attire for the graduation ceremony, just require all students, faculty and guests to attend in the nude. If anyone wishes to skip it, they can pick up the diploma at the office, or have it mailed. No further problems locating a facility large enough or limiting tickets.

I think too many people just have too much time on their hands and too much hate in their hearts.

Digital, they're talking about attire for the senior portrait, not the graduation ceremony. In my high school in CA in the 1970s, we all wore caps and gowns for graduation. For the senior portraits, the guys wore tuxes and the girls wore a drape, which gave the impression that they were wearing strapless evening gowns (not a dress or blouse as the article says). You could also be photographed in cap and gown, but just for purchase. The photos that were published in the yearbook were the ones in tux or drape.

Here's a thought...and I may be reaching a bit...why don't we just not worry so much about some girl wearing a tux and not worry about what sexual preference they are and not be so rediculously closed minded about this?

The picture of her in the tux was very nice...she is obviously a very pretty girl...and it's so nice to see her mom is completely supportive of her daughter. More parents should be so supportive of their kids.

Let's stop allowing others to bully someone because of something like this...and please...all of the so called "religious" ones who think it's ok to praise God and Jesus and spread the word, yet it's also the loving, Christian thing to do to spread your hate and bull@!$%# simply because you can't stand the fact that there are those out there who are different than the "norm," get over it...if you really allow such hate and disgust in your hearts, you are no more Christian than Osama bin Laden was.

Well blending in never got anyone anywhere, but defying cultural norms by dressing like the opposite gender never got you anywhere either. Unless of course your the headliner at a drag show.

I see the opinion police are hard at work. My post 2.14 as an example. If the opinion police do not care for a post, they vote to collapse it. Probably the same folks who holler, "Free speech", all the time; as long as they agree with the speech. Pathetic.

The collapse button should be eliminated; replaced by a simple up/down option. A moderator could decide if it warrants deleting, if so, delete it and post the reason.

Yeah, tomorrow, we should teach all kids to be drones who do whatever an authority figure tells them. They should never think differently from the masses.

dirp101 & matt- Great answers!

tommowsnews-:( really?

That's right: "If I can't have my way, no one can!!" (sarcasm)

They can still wear these if they want, the title refers to the policy the school enforced onto the kids where they HAD to wear these. Now they have a choice.

I think this girl would have been happiest if students were told that they could wear either a tux or a dress, regardless of gender. However, if the school can't handle this, then they would rather reduce everyone's rights in order to preserve their delusion that gay people don't exist. Pathetic.

tomorrowsnews

Of course school is not about expressing yourself, I mean I would hate for my child to actually write their own short stories in English or carry out their own artistic expression in Art Class.

Our schools are supposed to churn out clones who think the same way and act the same why how dare people expect to be able to be themselves.

All sarcasm aside rules should be in place with good reason and if that reason is obscure or nonsensical I would expect a student to question those rules and challenge them, we do it all the time in society, No one says if you don't like the rules in the US which are unjust you can leave, and if they do well then I would question their allegiance to the founding principles of this country. The United States was born through people questioning the law of the British and challenging it.

May this tradition continue to build bright free thinking intelligent youth.

Question authority!

I personally want my children to be able to express themselves! Wearing a tux in a graduation photo hurts NO ONE!

May this tradition continue to build bright free thinking intelligent youth.

tommorowsnews: I'll bet you like that US Military annihilation of the 1st and 4th Amendments to the Constitution recently passed by the US Senate too, don't you ?

Joe H-3534443

Personally I don't care if she wears a tux or not. But to sue? Way to ruin it for all the future graduates,

Because extremists really do believe it's all about them.

It was the school district's decision to ditch the tux/dress tradition for graduation, not her's. She simply wanted to wear what she felt comfortable in. Dollars to donuts she would have preferred to simply have dressed how she prefered and not have anyone take notice of it. She didn't pick the fight, the principle did by yanking her from the year book. Should she have simply let herself be written quietly out of school history because one person objected to her choice of formal wear?

The dress code is the dress code. She had a choice not to participate. Instead she choose to interfere with the rules and push her preferences down every body's throat.

Why sue? Humm, maybe because the school was being discriminatory. Maybe because they removed her picture from yearbooks and the class picture.

It's the school who is making all kids wear a cap and gown, not this young woman. I'm sure if she had her way they would have simply amended the policy to require formal-wear... dress, tux or cap/gown, it doesn't matter.

Laureen, some girls are tomboys and like to dress like boys. So let's say one graduated and decided she wanted to wear something out of the norm, would that be denied because it wasn't the norm? Or, is the only reason this young lady was denied to have her photo the way she wanted was because the school officials knew she was a lesbian and so they decided to punish her for that? When I graduated from highschool on 1975 I had my hair down past my shoulders. If I'd been told that my photo couldn't be in the yearbook unless I got my hair cut do you think I wouldn't have made a stink? There may have been some back then in the school administration who didn't like long hairs but they didn't have the right to tell me how to dress for my senior picture. Now they could've commented about how horrible they thought it was but they didn't have the right to stop me. And this young lady had the right to make her decisions about her appearance. The schools actions instead have now lead to no one having the right to make that decision. Some people are older but definitely not wiser.

Laureen Dolt, we are all deviants in some way, and there is noting wrong with that as long as you are not harming others. This girl didn't want to be stereotyped and sexualized in a way she was not comfortable with. A dress conveys a message about sexuality that was uninvited. She just wanted to be spared that.

So go somewhere and puke your brains out. Nobody is forcing anything on you here.

The school decided to punish everyone, not the girl. A dress should never be required by anyone. Requiring a dress is what is forcing a role on someone.

Apparently 97% of the population is illiterate. The article clearly states, even in the TITLE that tuxes and dresses were banned AFTER the lawsuit. Basically, the principal of this school is a sexist pig who wants all female gendered person in "proper attire" according to his own preferences.

For those who say others don't understand education and rules, let me tell you that we understand them very well. Let's say you went to a private school and the rules of that school said that when you took your graduation picture you would wear a cap and gown. Now it's understood ahead of time that that's the way it is. You can choose not to go to that school. Let's say you go to a school where people decide what they want to wear then the individual has the right to decide what they want to wear. What I'm seeing here, in my opinion, is that someone took a personal dislike to what the young lady decided to wear and took it upon themselves to impose their personal beliefs on another human being. Where does it end? Maybe the next year this same individual will decide he doesn't like the way a guys hair is cut, or the fact that someone smirked when their photo was taken. Where do you draw the line? As long as what the person is doing isn't illegal or immoral then they should be allowed. The problem is that a lot of people seem to believe that only their views are correct. Either you have freedom or you don't.

wholey moley laureen.....that was mean, just mean

Laureen, Methinks thou dost protest too much. Who was she? You must have been very intrigued. And obviously horrified by your feelings. How sad.

tomorrowsnews: can you say "Seig Heil", I know you can if you get your head out of your butt. Now be a good storm trooper, go upstairs and go tell your mommy what you want for dinner.

Not to mention demonize everyone else whose decision on dress has been made for them by the whining of a single individual. But she got her day. Good for her, right?

She wasn't seeking to force everyone in to caps and gowns and take away their choices. She was trying to get her choice accepted. The single individual whining and changing everything was not Ceara Sturgis (the student) it was the school principle who found himself unnerved by the sight of a girl in pants and dinner jacket.

LanceSmith

I think you missed the point in the article. They can still wear a tux or a gown if they want. Previously the school said you had to wear, along with the cap and gown, a dress or a tux appropriate to gender. Now you only have to wear the cap and gown.

So the law suit has actually stopped the school from making the decision for the graduands that they must wear a dress of a tux, and now allows them the freedom to wear what they wish under their cap and gown.

I truly hope that one whole class of lets say the football team they all wear dresses in their pics!! that will show the district a thing or two!

I dont give a rats behind what anyone wants to wear on their day, but this girl IMO went too far to allow the ACLB or whatever their name is.... to sue the school.

If she loved her school so much she should give it all back to them via the groups on campus. Guy, straight or "whatever" to change the rules for ONE, should be what is illegal. I had a boss once that told me only the rich have morrals, I didn't understand it for years but I do now. Those with the money speak softly with heavy sticks. She sure got her stick to speak for her (the ACLU).

I want to know where my group/stick is: I am a single American female, mad as hell that my government is screwing me? Think this ONE Amercian can get something going? Yeah just what I thought too, NOT without my STICK.

@youareabully:

What are you mad about? Maybe someone out there can help if your rights are being impinged.

EngEsq.....yeah been there done that, there are so many kids with the issues my daughter has that it is not the "in" thing. The only reason this gal got her 15 mins is because she waived the "rainbow flag" being gay is "in" being mentally challenged is not!

I refuse to have my government treat me like a number and then when my number is called it is for more paperwork or my favorite current gripe going on right now.. I am sorry Miss blowitoutyourhat your daughter is handicap, has been for the 13 years of school she attended at OUR class schedule of studies. No.. I am sorry that even though she passed all her required classes, and got on the honor roll, she will not be able to walk in a cap and gown with the rest of the class. That took me her whole senior year to fight, she DID get to do that!

The current California law states no child left behind, what they dont say is... we will drag your handicap kid out of school but you get nothing if you cant pass the California exiting exam. Soooo my fustration is......Now that they gave her a "I showed up to school everyday" certificate. She can't find a job. No one wants to hire a mentally challenged child. This said child still has wants and needs, she is 19 and has places she wants to go and things she wants to do but the state of California has told me point blank she is not retarded enough. yeah thats right, they school her, they gave us the corses to take and now, now that she is an adult she gets no way to live life. I am on a very small budget, I can only afford so much. Lets just say her father and his wife find raiser her too hard so they do nothing. Maybe he will give the occational $25 or so, but come on!

Sooooo the point is the STATE is leaving the hanicap alone to fend for themselves. How can that happen??

Oh I can go on and on...... sorry..........so like I said where is my STICK???

So, wait, your daughter should get special treatment, but anyone else who wants consideration is a jerk?

I'm sorry your mentally challenged daughter can't find a job right now, but if you look around and stop thinking only of yourself, you might notice that a LOT of young people, people who are perfectly capable and even extremely bright are having trouble finding jobs right now.

Most of me thinks as a society, especially one as wealthy as we are, should make allowances to give care to those individuals who have understandable difficulty taking care of themselves. But a small part of me asks, why is it my responsibilty to help pay for your kid? You decided to have a child, not me. If she isn't working, she isn't contributing to society.

Yes, I know that is heartless, and as I said, only a small part of me feels that way. But that part of me gets very vocal when people like you speak with such a sense of outraged entitlement. Ask for help, and I'll be more than inclined to offer it. Don't act like it's owed to you. You haven't done anything to earn it.

Plus, you are celebrating a scholarly event, not going to prom. A cap and gown is more dignified by far. But that isn't really the point.

Oh, please... it's Mississippi. If you aren't white, Baptist and heterosexual, you ain't jack craaap there. There is no tolerance. There is no open-mindedness, there's just prejudice. It's what the folks of Mississippi do; they marry their cousins and pick on folks who are different. All that in-breeding has affected their brains.

I lived there for a verrrrrrrrrrry long 2 years, when I accepted a fellowship at a university. I was frowned upon because I was Lutheran! Couldn't get out of there fast enough.

So if it was ok for her to wear a tux then I guess they would have to allow the class clowns to wear dresses. That was why they did not want a Girl to wear a Tux then they would have had tons of idiots (Boys) showing up in dresses. I don't care what gender you claim. You came out with a outer part or an inner part and that's alone tells you what gender you real are. Cant change it even with surgery do to you will never have all the correct parts. So if your born a boy be one, if your born a girl be one. For crying out loud its not hard.

I totally agree! There was no discrimination in asking her to adhere to the same dress code everyone else was being required to follow. It seems she simply wanted to do things her own way and used her sexual preference as leverage to do so.

There was no discrimination in asking her to adhere to the same dress code everyone else was being required to follow.

That would be true if everyone were being mandated to wear the same thing, but here people are being mandated to wear separate outfits based upon gender alone. A tux was not inappropriate attire for this event, ergo she should not be restricted from wearing it. Understand that nuance?

Like Leatherneck said, this is no different than if a bunch of male class clowns wanted to wear dresses. Are you ok with that? If you are, I don't agree with you but at least you are being consistent.

She was allowed to wear the tux for her photos. Everyone was aware that she was wearing it. Photos were taken. Nothing was said. Afterward, her photos were deliberately left out of the yearbook. That is why she sued. The principal pulled her photos. The principal changed the dress code to hurt everyone. She is not to blame. She was not given the option to re-take her photos. As to the other crap, gay guys don't want to wear dresses; we're guys. I'm over 50 and I've only met a handful of gay men who identify as women. Straight guys may wear a dress, if it is allowed, just to be idiots. That is a separate issue. Formal wear doesn't include costumes. Jeez, people, grow up!

Even straight women, like myself, don't enjoy wearing dresses. To be required to do it is annoying.

Why do you think that would be acceptable tomorrow? If I was told I had to wear a leopard print bikini for my senior photo, you're damn right I would make a fuss. Even if it was the "dress code" Well F*** your dress code. To her, wearing a dress was akin to wearing a leopard print bikini.

Get over yourself tomorrow, you're wrong.

WorkerBee, you miss the point. It wasn't the same dress code everyone was required to follow. Groups were segregated in the dress code. One group was told they had one dress code, and the other group was given a different dress code. Those groups were boys and girls. That's the essence of the discrimination. If a tux is appropriate for one group but not the other, than the groups are unequal.

There is not reason other than that discrimination to say a girl can't wear a tux.

If a boy wants to wear a dress as a joke in his senior class photo, the only person really having a joke played on him is the boy himself. Why does it affect anyone else? I swear, you people let others get to you way too much.

@ Mandy-2148207: Theirs a huge middle ground between a girl being asked to wear a dress (even if shes lesbian) and a girl being asked to wear a leapord print bikini. Unless shes been living under a rock, a girl growing up in Mississipi should know that the cultural norm is that girls wear dresses and boys wear tuxedo's. This girl isn't stupid. She knows and has known what's expected of girls her whole life. She's just purposley causing trouble, trying to force everyone else to accept her delusional lifestyle.

So a cultural norm makes it OK to force girls to wear things that they are not comfortable wearing?

Since when is "doing what you are expected" an OK excuse to discriminate?

I dont see how wearing what she wants is forcing anyone to accept anything, other than her for who she is. And its not a "delusional lifestyle" the only delusion is you believing that the gay can be prayed away.

Who's version of morality? Your's?

Fine, lets use utilitariansim, or consequentiallism, or the golden rule, or objectivism, or any other moral code that philosophers have developed using thought and reason.

However, the moral code that allows me to sell my daughters into slavery would be a poor choice.

tomorrow, if everyone adhered to the rules as strictly as you wish, this country wouldn't exist. It exists because some brave and wise men broke the rules and broke away from a monarchy. History is filled with brave and good men and women, people we honor, who broke unjust rules.

I had no idea that pants and dinner jacket constituted a "special right" . . . .

Holy generalization!

You make it seem so easy to throw everyone in the trash on a topic which really don't have the experience to comment on. I always think if I have not walked a mile in somebody's shoes I'm on thin ice when I attempt to judge somebody else life.

I'm totally straight and I hate wearing dresses.

I never asked the sexually deviant to "Walk a mile in my shoes" in order to live in my neighborhood. Why should I be forced to walk a mile in theirs? Having seen the disgusting things they write on restroom walls where they meet to mate, glory holes and used rubbers lying about, I already know I won't be walking a mile with them.

I simply would prefer they did whatever it is they do behind closed doors and refrain from their "activities" in front of me or my family. Perhaps move the annual "Phallus and Speedo parade" to 10pm so the kids do not have to watch?

Next they will be demanding a placard and parking space so they do not have to walk as far to the restroom,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I mean dating area.

paidmyfee, you are disgusting.

Get over yourself and go meet some REAL people instead of watching propaganda on Fox.

paidmyfee

Wow you really like to generalize which I hasten to ad is not the mother of logical and well thought out argument.

Do you really think all gay people are like that are you so naive and blinkered that you really think this? IF so then why would anyone not think the same of straight men, where you can see adverts for strip joints, men idling up to woman on the side of the street to pay for sex. Men attacking innocent women. Not to mention the sex shops for straight people everywhere then there is all the straight sex on TV.

Try less generalizing it only makes for foolish and ignorant argument.

The last darling we had where I worked hounded the female employees endlessly to be included in their personal business and gossip. Ever watched a guy try to empathize with women's menstrual cycles, while lacking anything resembling a vagina???????? It was tragic to say the least. If you want to talk about your period or lovely dresses grow a vagina already. If you want to be a man so bad,,,,,,,,,,,grow a pair.

Better yet, keep your personal peculiarities to yourself and in your own home. Stow the parades and buy a dress that covers your balls when you are in the mall already.

I have to agree with paidmyfee on the gay pride parades. In Miami all you have to do is walk down the street, and BOOM, a gay pride parade comes out of no where and suddenly your surrounded by disgusting grown men who seem to be under the delusion that their all twenty-something, chorus girls. If you honestly want to earn my respect, and want me to treat you as my equal, then you can start by dressing normal.

OOOOHHHH NOOOOOO not a PARADE!!!!!!

What is yours and everybody elses obsession with "normal" and what exactly IS normal anyway?

Maybe you should be an adult and learn that not everyone is like you. And the whole world, oddly enough, does NOT revolve around you. And other people are free to live their lives and express themselves as they wish. They are not forcing you to dance with them, or join them.

Both Paid and Jonathon lost all semblance of credibility. Again quit the generalization your embarrassing yourselves.

When the school wouldn't allow it, and removed her from the school's yearbook for wearing the tux, she had no choice but to sue in order to be recognized. She wanted the right to wear the tux. She like the idea of formal wear, but wanted to wear the formal wear she preferred. The school wanted to force her in to a dress. When the school realized they couldn't force her in to a dress and for whatever asinine reasons couldn't tolerate a girl in boy's clothing, decided to adopt a gender-neutral dress code. The school could have settled the lawsuit by simply keeping the tuxes and dresses and letting her wear a tux.

The settlement was the school's choice, not her's.

These days it is a majority of one that makes the rules for everyone else.

Oh, you've got it so wrong. The government is the tail. The people the dog.

Why do you have a right to wear a tux instead of a cap and gown? What if some people could wear black caps and gowns, and others pink, and you had to wear the pink? I'd bet you'd sue over that.

Same difference for this girl.

Tony, one girl did not dictate what others should wear. She wanted to wear what she wanted to wear. She didn't care what others wanted to wear. The principle made that decision, not her. Get your facts straight.

no one said she wanted to be a guy. She is a lesbian, there is a difference. All she wanted to do was have her pic in the yearbook in a tux. The principal is the one that made the decision to exclude her for no valid reason. She was dressed in a presentable manner for the photo.

and what, because someone is a minority, it is still ok to discriminate against them? It is 2011, haven't we progresses beyond this yet? So when the time comes that you are the sole voice or opinion on a matter, you wont mind that the rest of us ignore you or discriminate you. And I already know what your first words will be..."but wait, this is different" No it isn't! Discrimination is discrimination....end of story.

@ Tammi-3843794- Really? Did you not see that picture? Of course she wants to be a guy, lets not play dumb.

Tomorrowsnews,

If your workplace required you to wear a pink tutu and combat boots, would you do it?

Mandy thanks for the great question.... I had been considering any come back at all.

tomorrowsnews..... I carefully reread the article, I cannot find the rule she broke. Maybe I missed it, if you can find the area in the article about a pre-existing rule stating she could not wear a tux or that she had to wear a dress, would you please point it out.

I will take issue with your gay rant.... as a old gay man that has worked, paid taxes for 45 + years and managed to stay in a committed relationship for 30 years so far....odd you could not tell all of that from my dog's pic.

My mother could enlighten you in many areas....sadly has she passed, happy and pound of my life.

Poor assumption tomorrow. Girls have friends, fancy that! Some girls even have roommates in college that they are not sleeping with, crazy I know!.

I am heterosexual. And you making comments about what my parents "wanted" is completely ridiculous because you dont know them. So you have no basis for your claims. And me being straight is no guarantee that I am even going to have children. Its my choice after all. I'm not going to go have children just because my parents maybe hoped for grandchildren. What a stupid idea.

Then you jump from a gay rant to trying to insult me with welfare, huh. It seems you just run out of arguments and have to use insults because you think that makes you more valid. It doesn't.

I am not on welfare. But you may feel free to call my boss. He doesn't give a @!$%# what we wear or look like beyond that we wear close-toed shoes and safety glasses. What you wear has nothing to do with your performance at work. But dont worry, I would never try to work for you, I don't work for people with sticks up their butts who then claim to be homophobic.

And funny, you didn't answer my question, if your work place decided that the dress code was a pink tutu and combat boots, would you wear it without question?

@Mandy -

I'm not going into the whole 'I think I know who you are by your picture' deal, but I am going to comment on your 'pink tutu' question.

If your employer requires a certain uniform, that is their right to do so; it is NOT your right to think that by virtue of working there, you are entitled to question the dress code. You are free to work there or not, but if you agree to accept that paycheck in payment for work done, then you are required to adhere to all rules of the workplace (some of which are not set up by your employer, some of which are). One would assume that, at one's interview, dress code would be discussed - and either accepted or not at that time.

You don't like pink tutus? What....is blue your color? If it is, then you should find someplace whose dress code is blue tutus, not pink. It is still a free country.

I do have one question, and maybe you or someone else here could enlighten me. If this girl was a honor student, please tell me WHY is she working as a stocker at a Nike outlet? Why did she not attend college (at least a community college)? Could it be that her unwavering stance on her own individual dress code has made her an unfavorable choice for securing meaningful employment? I just find it quite odd that an honor student, two years after graduation, is working at a very low level job.

Jet, I understand, and that is why I am posing the question to Tomorrow. He seems like the kind of person who can dish it out but wouldn't like it much if the situation came to him.

As for why she is working at a store, how would I know? I don't know her personally. Maybe she wanted to take some time off school. Maybe she likes working in a store. (I know, hard for some small minded people to believe that working is actually fun for some people.) How do you know its a low level job? You know, not everyone has to run right off to college.

I doubt highly that her dress kept her from getting a job. Thats like saying that my tattoos will keep me from getting a job. That has yet to happen.

'Hear here!'

When it comes to civil right we are not a country of majority rule. That was the ENTIRE intention of the judicial branch in the first place. Tyranny of the majority ring a bell?

Tired, again....the girl did not change the regulations, the principle did. She could have cared less what other wore. She just wanted the choice to wear what she wanted. If you want to blame someone, blame the school. They changed the rules, not the girl.

How dare anyone challenge the social norms? If we're not vigilant, the liberals will make us provide equal education for minorities, voting rights for women, and who knows what else?

Tyranny of the majority? -- How dare anyone challenge societal norms? -- If we're not vigilant women will have the right to vote? --- I've never heard the phrase, "Tyranny of the majoity.", but to use your phrase the MAJORITY elected to change equal rights, womon's right to vote, etc., etc.

The thrust here is the decision of a seventeen-eighteen year old to contact the ACLU and sue the school corporation for a decision that she/he didn't agree with. Did she/he push the envelope? - well sure she/he did as any kid will do, (yes, she/he is still a kid at that age.) It is the adults responsiblity to lead and guide a young person -- to enforce the rules - as we should do as parents and as an institution that involves children/young people.

So what have we taught here ?-- I'd say the lesson is that you (the person in this situation) have more entitlement than the rest of do -- that you, because you are special, can change any rule or norm. Well, sadly he/she did - as was done with prayer in school.

Dam(n?)! am I ever sick and tired of my rights being trampled!

Tyranny of the majority? -- How dare anyone challenge societal norms? -- If we're not vigilant women will have the right to vote? --- I've never heard the phrase, "Tyranny of the majoity.", but to use your phrase the MAJORITY elected to change equal rights, womon's right to vote, etc., etc.

The thrust here is the decision of a seventeen-eighteen year old to contact the ACLU and sue the school corporation for a decision that she/he didn't agree with. Did she/he push the envelope? - well sure she/he did as any kid will do, (yes, she/he is still a kid at that age.) It is the adults responsiblity to lead and guide a young person -- to enforce the rules - as we should do as parents and as an institution that involves children/young people.

So what have we taught here ?-- I'd say the lesson is that you (the person in this situation) have more entitlement than the rest of do -- that you, because you are special, can change any rule or norm. Well, sadly he/she did - as was done with prayer in school.

Dam(n?)! am I ever sick and tired of my rights being trampled!

tomorrowsnews...you are hilarious!

Funny tomorrow, you make all of these claims that are wrong.

I have a friend who is a manager at a store right now, and by god, she happens to be 20. At American Eagle.

As for not being in college, maybe she didn't want to go right away.

Justross...... so tell me what happened to rules? By your facts, we should all go to our boss and tell them we will not be coming in at 8:00 because we don't feel like it. Lets see how long we keep our jobs. No difference.

um, actually, no. Not in the least. Rules still exist. That's such a ludicrous statement that I've having a hard time not questioning your intelligence, or at least your intellectual honesty, in offering that as an "argument."

The rules have to be the same for everyone. Your boss can't say "girls come in at 8:00, boys come in at 9:00." Your boss also can't fire a woman for not wearing a skirt. There can't be one set of rules for girls, and another for boys.

Are some of the students allowed to show up bare naked? If so then you have a point. If not you are just using hyperbole, regardless of its applicability, to try to "prove" a point.

The way most graduation dresses are designed these days, the young women might as well be naked because nothing is left to the imagination. A tuxedo is far more modest.

They should sue the school, not the ACLU. The school was the one who decided that cap and gowns was preferable to allowing students to choose a tux or a dress. They couldn't handle the thought of a girl in a tux, or a boy in a dress.

No one is taking anyones rights away. The school is simply changing the dress code so that it does not discriminate against ANYONE. The school could have simply said it was fine for a girl to wear a tux, but theres nothing wrong with switching to the more traditional cap and gown so that everyone wears the same thing.

Besides, no ones taking your rights away. Name one right that you had 10 years ago that you don't have now aside from being able to bring liquid on a plane....

....yeah, I thought so. Typical Republican. All rhetoric, yet nothing to back it up.

They couldn't handle the thought of a girl in a tux, or a boy in a dress.

I can see where a boy in a dress might be outside a lot of people's comfort zone. And I'm also not sure why those people should have to hide or apologize for that discomfort.

I'm okay with whatever floats your boat. I can respect that.

But I'm not okay with being told I have to apologize for whatever my opinion is. Respect goes both ways.

kudos