A transgender high school student in Mississippi missed the graduation ceremony after a federal magistrate ruled on Friday that the school district could prohibit the student from donning a dress to walk across the stage and receive her "long-awaited diploma."
The 17-year-old transgender girl and her parents filed a lawsuit against Harrison County School District in the Southern District of Mississippi this week after school officials told the girl on May 9 that "she could not attend or participate in her high school graduation ceremony while wearing a dress and heels," according to court documents.
Transgender Mississippi Girl Misses Graduation After Dress Code Ruling
According to court documents, administrators at Harrison Central High School informed the teen less than two weeks prior to the May 20 graduation that there was a dress code policy requiring girls to wear a white dress and dress shoes and boys to wear a white button-down shirt, black dress pants, black dress shoes, and a tie or bowtie.
Administrators stated that the teen must adhere to the attire code for males, as per CBS News. The lawsuit claimed that school administrators were adamant about enforcing the dress code, although the student "entered high school as a female and has lived her entire high school career as a girl."
According to the lawsuit, there is "no legitimate interest or justification" for prohibiting the teen from donning a dress to "the final and perhaps most significant event of her high school career."
The judge denied the teen's request for a provisional restraining order against the school district's decision on Friday, citing "reasons stated at the hearing."
In a ruling issued on Friday, US District Judge Taylor McNeel upheld the attire code. McNeel presided over the initial hearing on Thursday and expedited the entire proceeding to render a decision in time for the weekend ceremony. The American Civil Liberties Union, which represented this pupil, tweeted that the decision to affirm the school district's explicit discrimination was "deeply disappointing and concerning."
Governor Tate Reeves signed a bill prohibiting juveniles from undergoing gender transition surgery and hormone therapy in February after the bill passed the Republican-controlled state Senate.
According to the ACLU, the 17-year-old, designated by her initials "L.B." in court documents, did not attend her Gulfport high school's commencement. The family has requested that the adolescent's full identity be withheld for reasons of privacy and protection.
Since 2012, L.B. has attended Harrison Central High School as a female. She attended the gala donning a blue rhinestone-adorned gown without opposition from the school. According to the complaint, the Browns cited a violation of their child's civil rights, alleging the school district discrimination based on sex and gender and breached the teen's First Amendment rights.
Mississippi School's Dress Code
In accordance with the school's dress code for female students, the adolescent selected a dress and heels to wear with the traditional cap and gown, according to a press release from the ACLU. Samantha Brown, L.B.'s mother, explained that after speaking with the principal, they discovered that the dress code policy for the school year and graduation were distinct.
Per CNN, the court documents contain a participation agreement for the start of operations. It indicates L.B. and her mother signed the document on March 14, 2023, consenting to comply with graduation ceremony participation requirements.
The graduation policy of the Harrison County School District requires students to wear dress shoes and formal attire (dresses or dressy pant-suits for females and dress trousers, shirt, and tie for boys). The policy makes no mention of dress code requirements for LGBTQ students or specifies that students must dress in accordance with their ascribed sex at birth.
According to Brown, girls are required to wear white graduation dresses, while males must wear a white button-up shirt with a tie, black trousers, black stockings, and black formal shoes. This has never been a problem in the past. We felt we were adhering to the attire code based on her self-identification."
