Texas High School student, Trevor Wilkinson, was recently suspended for wearing nail polish to school. This comes just a month after controversy surrounded Harry Styles wearing a dress on the cover of Vogue, many claiming it was “not manly.”
The 17-year-old senior from Clyde High School returned from Thanksgiving break with his nails painted and instantly received three days of in-school-suspension for violating the dress code.
“Imagine your school not allowing boys to paint their nails and giving boys ISS for it, and the whole administration being okay with it, homophobic and sexist? Welcome to west texas,” Trevor tweeted on November 30. That same day, the teen launched a Change.org petition that has since gained over 260,000 signatures.
In the petition, with a goal of 300,000 signatures, Trevor explained his situation and says, “help me show that it is okay to express yourself and that the identity that society wants to normalize is not okay. I am human. I am valid. I should not be getting in trouble for having my nails done.”
According to NBC News, Clyde High School stated, “Questions or concerns with the dress code are reviewed individually, and the District cannot share any information regarding a specific student. The district appreciates the feedback and input on this issue received from members of the community, and will take into consideration when it conducts its annual review later this school year.”
After the petition attracted national attention, the school lifted Wilkinson’s suspension and held a special meeting discussing the issue. WKRN says, “Wilkinson continues to advocate for the dress code policy change and said he hopes that the outcome of the meeting held on Thursday will allow him and other students to freely express themselves.”
Wilkinson added “This isn’t just about the dress code. This is about more than that. It’s about discrimination and sexism and homophobia and racism and how not OK it is,” according to PinkNews.