From All Over: GenderNews Posted the
week of
April 6
1998

Source: The NY Times, April 2, 1998. "A School is Split Over Boys in Skirts" by Jonathan Rabinovitz.


High School Boy Suspended
for Wearing a Dress

According to a NY Times article, a Middletown, Connecticut high-school boy became the center of a controversy when he went to school wearing a dress. On March 25th Bryan Giles wore a peasant dress to school. Sometime after padding the front of the dress with tissue paper, he was asked to remove the dress. He did, but put it back on later, and was suspended for three days. (According to Mr. Giles, the padding was not there very long, and he had worn dresses to school previously without being punished.)

The suspension was completed by March 31st. On that day, Mr. Giles came to school in a denim skirt. In support, no less than eight other boys wore dresses or skirts, and about a dozen girls wore business suits and ties. Four boys, including Mr. Giles, refused to change and were suspended -- Mr. Giles for five days and the other boys for three days.

After what the Times article describes as "an outcry in this city of 44,000 just south of Hartford," the suspensions were reduced and the four boys returned to school on April 2nd. Mr. Giles was dressed in pants that day, but told the Times "I feel I had the right to do it, and I'll do it again."

School administrators still felt they were right to punish students for disruptive attire. "We don't want to create a carnival-like atmosphere in our school," said Dr. Larson, Middletown school superintendent.

Joseph S. Grabarz of the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union said, "The Middletown school definitely overreacted. They wouldn't react the same way to a cheerleader wearing a football jersey."

In talking to the Times reporter, Mr. Giles said, "I feel comfortable wearing a dress. It's just something I like to do. I make sure it isn't trashy and looks cool."

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