(no subject)
Lesbian Reaches Deal on Yearbook Tuxedo Photo
JACKSONVILLE -- A Clay County lesbian student reached an out-of-court agreement with the local school board, about six months after her senior portrait was banned from the yearbook because she was dressed in a tuxedo.
Kelli Davis, now a freshman studying criminology at the University of South Florida in Tampa, said she was "happy" with the settlement and hopes it will prevent future discrimination against students
"I think it's pretty big because I wouldn't have agreed to it if wasn't," Davis said Thursday. "It's going to be better for them."
The Clay County School Board approved the mediation settlement on Sept. 15. The settlement alters the way senior portraits are handled and forces the school system to provide faculty and staff with "sexual orientation" training.
The district entered mediation after Davis threatened to file a lawsuit in federal court.
The debate began earlier this year when Fleming Island principal Sam Ward pulled Davis' yearbook photo because it violated the dress code for senior portraits.
School officials said sexual preference was not the issue, but gender. They said since Davis did not follow the rules on dress, she would not be in the yearbook. The county school board and its superintendent backed the decision.
Davis said she wore a tux for her senior photo because it made her feel more comfortable than a drape -- the two options given to students.
"It wasn't a gender-identity issue," Davis said. "I'm obviously a female; I don't try and be a guy. But I was being discriminated on because of my gender."
Under the agreement, an official appeals process is now available regarding the senior photo policy.
I agree that it is not discrimination against her sexual orientation, but why do they feel the need to indentify her as Lesbian in the first place? It seems the implication is that only a Lesbian would want to wear a tuxedo for a senior photo.
It is also ridiculous that they feel that she was "in violation of dress code" for wearing a tuxedo.
"Suit = Man" is not an accurate equation by any means.
JACKSONVILLE -- A Clay County lesbian student reached an out-of-court agreement with the local school board, about six months after her senior portrait was banned from the yearbook because she was dressed in a tuxedo.
Kelli Davis, now a freshman studying criminology at the University of South Florida in Tampa, said she was "happy" with the settlement and hopes it will prevent future discrimination against students
"I think it's pretty big because I wouldn't have agreed to it if wasn't," Davis said Thursday. "It's going to be better for them."
The Clay County School Board approved the mediation settlement on Sept. 15. The settlement alters the way senior portraits are handled and forces the school system to provide faculty and staff with "sexual orientation" training.
The district entered mediation after Davis threatened to file a lawsuit in federal court.
The debate began earlier this year when Fleming Island principal Sam Ward pulled Davis' yearbook photo because it violated the dress code for senior portraits.
School officials said sexual preference was not the issue, but gender. They said since Davis did not follow the rules on dress, she would not be in the yearbook. The county school board and its superintendent backed the decision.
Davis said she wore a tux for her senior photo because it made her feel more comfortable than a drape -- the two options given to students.
"It wasn't a gender-identity issue," Davis said. "I'm obviously a female; I don't try and be a guy. But I was being discriminated on because of my gender."
Under the agreement, an official appeals process is now available regarding the senior photo policy.
I agree that it is not discrimination against her sexual orientation, but why do they feel the need to indentify her as Lesbian in the first place? It seems the implication is that only a Lesbian would want to wear a tuxedo for a senior photo.
It is also ridiculous that they feel that she was "in violation of dress code" for wearing a tuxedo.
"Suit = Man" is not an accurate equation by any means.