A transgender student at a Texas high school who took his senior portrait in a tuxedo was initially told the photo could not be included in the yearbook, but the intervention of advocacy groups and the threat of legal action led to a reversal of the school district’s decision.
According to South Texas News, a superintendent at La Feria Independent School District reportedly ordered the yearbook photographer not to print the photos of Jeydon Loredo. The superintendent referred South Texas News to school policy about dress and grooming for male and female students when asked why the district was rejecting Loredo’s photo.
The report quotes a Lambda Legal lawyer as saying that preventing trans students from wearing clothes that reflect their gender identity violates freedom of expression rights.
A Human Rights Campaign release says a meeting between Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) attorneys and the school district’s lawyers led to the reversal of the district’s decision to block the photo’s publication.
The release also notes that the district’s anti-discrimination policy will now also include gender expression.
“It’s a shame that it took a threat of legal action for the school board to make the right decision, but we’re grateful that, in the end, Jeydon’s photo will be included in the yearbook,” HRC president Chad Girffin says. “Discrimination has no place in our society — especially our schools.”
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