Suspended Gay Teen Refuses to Back Down
17 year Trevor Wilkinson, a senior student at Clyde High School, Texas, was suspended earlier this month over - controversially, in the eyes of the school - returning from the Thanksgiving break with his nails painted.
According to Wilkinson, the school dress code permitted girls to have their nails painted, but not boys. To stand up to this, Wilkinson painted his nails and went into school. He was informed that it was in breach of the dress code, and offered the choice: take his classes remotely until January, and remove the nail polish, or be served an indefinite suspension. He took the suspension.
A change.org petition quickly grew, with over 200,000 signatures gathered in days to express solidarity. Posting on Instagram, Wilkinson thanked supports and encouraged them to continue to contact the school to demand a change to the policy. He was later invited onto Good Morning America to discuss the issue.
The school, however, has been dragged kicking and screaming towards a conclusion: first suspending Wilkinson, refusing to change the dress code, it later commented that it does not change the dress code mid-year and would consider changes for the next year. It has now been reported that the district has called a "special meeting" for the 10th of December to discuss a potential change to the dress code.
Wilkinson described how authorities at the school tried to negotiate a middle ground earlier in the month, to prevent this sort of exposure, but he refused on the grounds that he knew that their middle ground solution wouldn't achieve any change. His suspension has been quietly lifted, though he continues to fight against the policy.
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