PROGRESS

Court Forbids Charter School From Requiring Girls to Wear Skirts

“In 2019, girls should have the choice to wear pants,” one mother said.

A federal court ruled Thursday that a charter school in North Carolina has violated the Constitution by requiring female students to wear skirts. U.S. District Judge Malcolm Howard ruled that the policy violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. In 2016, the American Civil Liberties Union and the parents of three students ages 5, 10, and 14, filed a lawsuit against the school. The lawsuit argued that requiring girls to wear skirts restricts the students’ movement, inhibits them in school situations such as playing at recess or sitting on the floor, and causes them to feel uncomfortably cold during winter. “All I wanted was for my daughter and every other girl at school to have the option to wear pants so she could play outside, sit comfortably, and stay warm in the winter,” said Bonnie Peltier, the mother of a former student who is a client in the case. “We’re happy the court agrees, but it’s disappointing that it took a court order to force the school to accept the simple fact that, in 2019, girls should have the choice to wear pants.”

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