- A 17-year-old
Texas high school senior was suspended for wearing nail polish to school this week, according to KRBC-TV. - Trevor Wilkinson of Clyde High School received in-school suspension three times this week for wearing the nail polish, according to Abilene Reporter-News. The Clyde's Consolidated Independent School District handbook restricts boys from wearing makeup and nail polish.
- According to Abilene Reporter-News, the School District Superintendent issued a statement in response to criticism saying the district will take it "into consideration when it conducts its annual review later this school year."
- Wilkinson set up a Change.org petition this week titled "Allow males to wear nail polish" that has accumulated over 45,000 signatures.
A 17-year-old student says it was "unjust and not okay" for his Texas high school to suspend him for wearing nail polish to school.
Trevor Wilkinson, a senior at Clyde High School, received an in-school suspension for wearing polish on his fingernails while attending classes, he wrote in a Change.org petition that has garnered more than 45,000 signatures in less than a week.
In the school district's student handbook, obtained by KRBC-TV, the rules stipulate that boys may not wear nail polish or makeup. The handbook does not list the same restrictions for girls, though it does prohibit girls from wearing "excessive or distracting makeup."
—trevvvv;) (@trevvowilkinson) November 30, 2020
"The district conducts a diligent and thoughtful review of the dress code on an annual basis," District Superintendent Kenny Berry said in a statement, according to the Abilene Reporter-News ."That review process results in the development of a final dress code that is consistently implemented and enforced during the next school year."
The statement also said that "the district appreciates the feedback and input" related to the incident and will take it "into consideration when it conducts its annual review later this school year."
"I have been doing this to express who I am," Wilkinson told the newspaper. "I've been trapped in closed-minded people's minds... I love my nails. I think they're so cool. I'm definitely using it to express myself and feel everyone should have that freedom of expression."
Wilkinson wrote on his Change.org petition that he's supposed to remain on in-school suspension until the polish is removed.
"It's a complete double standard because girls are allowed to paint and get their nails done," he wrote in the petition caption. "Not only that, but freedom of expression is validation enough that the dress code and policy is not okay. I am a gay male and I'm beyond proud. This is unjust and not okay. Help me show that it is okay to express yourself and that the identity that society wants to normalize is not okay."
The Abilene Pride Alliance, a local LGBTQIA+ community organization, released a statement on Wilkinson's behalf, urging the school district to apologize to Wilkinson and allow him to attend classes again.
"It has come to our attention that your school district is maintaining and choosing to enforce a policy that in itself discriminates based on gender. Specifically, you have chosen to punish a male student for wearing nail polish to school," the organization's chair, Sam Hatton, wrote in a statement on Thursday.
"It is our hope that we can work with Clyde CISD to immediately rectify this situation the student is currently in and ensure that going forward, the school district follows TASB recommendations to dissolve policies that treat students differently based on sex expression," the statement continued.
Hatton also called on the school district to acknowledge the issue at the next school board meeting.
"I am a human. I am valid. I should not get in trouble for having my nails done," Wilkinson wrote in the petition.