Texas student suspended for wearing nail polish, says it's 'double standard' because girls are allowed to paint nails
It was supposed to be just another day for Trevor Wilkinson when the Texas male high school student showed up at school as usual. Only this time, he was sporting nail polish on his hands. This led to his suspension from in-person classes.
A senior at Clyde High School in Clyde, Texas, Wilkinson told KRBC-TV that after returning to his in-person classes, his teacher summoned him and broke the news. "I started to take off my backpack and my teacher goes, 'Trevor, can you come with me?'," he recalled in the interview.
She then informed him about the dress code at Clyde High School, which explicitly forbids boys from painting nails, but doesn't have any such rule for girls. He adds that the policy is discriminatory towards homosexuals. "Ever since I came out I have been having more issues at Clyde than what I normally would," he said. "I really wasn't surprised that this was a thing. Clyde is very traditional."
According to a report in Daily Mail, Wilkinson was told by his principal and vice-principal that he could either take classes remotely until January (when the entire student body was due back in class), go home and remove the nail polish or keep the nail polish but remain in suspension. Wilkinson refused to remove the nail polish and has no plans of doing it either.
In order to support his cause, Wilkinson started the petition 'Allow males to wear nail polish'. "Hello, my name is Trevor Wilkinson and I am a senior at Clyde High School. Today, I got ISS (in-school suspension) for having my nails painted. I was told that I will continue to get ISS until I take them off," he wrote in the petition.
"It's a complete double standard because girls are allowed to paint and get their nails done. Not only that, but freedom of expression is validation enough that the dress code and policy are 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."
"I am a human. I am valid. I should not get in trouble for having my nails done. Sign and share this so people like me don't have to ever deal with this again. It's time for a change and that time is now. Thank you;)" he concluded. Up until two days ago, he had 4,000 supporters. At the time of writing this article, Wilkinson had garnered over 31,000 signatures.
The Clyde Independent School District has since issued a statement. "The District conducts a diligent and thoughtful review of the dress code on an annual basis," the Clyde CISD said.
"That review process results in the development of a final dress code that is consistently implemented and enforced during the next school year. Parents and students are provided a copy of the dress code prior to the start of each new school year. Questions or concerns with the dress code are reviewed individually, and the District cannot share any information regarding a specific student."
So when will the resolution come? "The District appreciates the feedback and input on this issue received from members of the community, and will take this into consideration when it conducts its annual review later this school year."