Around 150 parents and students took to protesting a high school’s new gender neutral uniform.
The Priory School in Lewes, Sussex, recently made trousers compulsory for all students.
The change in dress code was designed to address the length of some skirts and to promote inclusion for the small number of transgender students enrolled at the school.
Protestors are arguing that a choice should be made available to the students.
Others have suggested that the compulsory use of trousers will lead to a waste of clothes.
Hats off to the girls at a Sussex secondary school who are refusing to comply with new rules requiring them to wear 'gender neutral' uniforms. The gates were closed on them because – shock, horror – they want to continue wearing skirts! All power to them! pic.twitter.com/wwikWo6l53
— Paul Embery (@PaulEmbery) September 6, 2019
The BBC reported on some of the reactions:
Former Priory student and TV presenter Piers Morgan tweeted his support for the protesters saying the “gender neutral craze” was out of control and girls should be girls, and boys should be boys.
The Conservative MP for Lewes, Maria Caulfield, also tweeted: “Very disturbed to see the school turning away girls from Priory school because they choose to wear a skirt and calling the police on them.
“This is not how we should be treating the young women of Lewes.”
Libby Murray, who is in her final year, said the new rule meant clothes were going to be thrown away, which would contribute to the climate change crisis.
She also said removing the choice for pupils to wear skirts because some wear them too short was “unfair”.
“Girls roll up their skirts but that can be solved by better policing of it.”
This isn’t the first time UK Schools have toyed with gender neutrality.
Schools in Wales were under fire for gender neutral toilets which led to increased bullying–with some girls forgoing school entirely to avoid needing the toilet.
Some schools were faced with staunch resistance from predominantly Muslim parents after LGBT themes were added into their curricula.
The British education system has shown its growing keenness to incorporate culturally progressive themes into their teaching.
