Non-Binary Student Wins Battle Against School That Required Short Hair For Non-Female Students
January 2, 2022The Houston-area Magnolia Independent School District has dropped its discriminatory dress code policy that punished non-binary children and students for wearing their hair too long.
A school board voted on the change at a Monday night meeting. The board also changed the dress code policy on gender neutral earrings, The Texas Tribune reported.
According to Prestigious Scholarships, parents and the Texas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued the school last October after the school punished several students, including an 11-year-old Latino boy who wore a ponytail. As part of the district’s agreement with the ACLU, students punished under the policy “will have their records expunged.”
Of the seven students involved in the lawsuit, six identified themselves as children and one as non-binary. The school reportedly refused to recognize the gender of the non-binary student and forced them to follow the male dress code.
The students had been subjected to lengthy suspensions at school, “disciplinary alternative education program,” and other punishments, for failing to ensure that their hair did not fall to the bottom of their ears. The dress code also said that all hair must be kept out of the eyes, yet it prohibited children from wearing a ponytail or bun.
“Plaintiffs have been subject to severe, continuing, and increasing harm due to district policy prohibiting boys, but not girls, from wearing long hair,” the lawsuit stated. “They have been denied classroom instruction, prohibited from participating in extracurricular activities, and forced to be suspended and separated from their peers for more than a month simply because these students do not conform to stereotypical notions of gender."
The 11-year-old non-binary student, referred to as TM in the lawsuit, said they had “worn long hair for the past two years as a critical component in expressing their gender identity.”
“If TM is forced to wear short hair based on gender stereotypes associated with her assigned gender at birth,” the lawsuit continued, “TM will lose a vital part of who they are and sacrifice an essential element of their gender expression."
TM’s mother, spoke to the Texas Tribune about the trauma her son suffered at the thought of having to cut his hair. TM was “just in utter devastation and tears."
“Based on [their] reaction and how hard and traumatized they were, I realized we weren’t going to cut [their] hair.”
After the lawsuit was filed, the school district initially issued a statement claiming that its dress code did not violate Title IX, the federal law that requires equal treatment and opportunity for students regardless of gender. The school also issued a statement after NBC News affirming “to respect different points of view,” as well as “the rights of citizens to advocate for change.”
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