Gender Nonconformity in School: Case Studies and Lessons for School Leaders

• In Event: Roundtable Session 45
  In Roundtable Session: Sites of Struggle and Possibility: Reflections, Lessons, and Tools From the Field

Abstract

This paper will explore seven news stories from K-12 schools in the United States that include incidents of gender non-conformity. Institutional responses such as: enforcing dress codes, censoring yearbooks, and expelling a student-athlete from practice demonstrate the ways that gender expressions are policed and enforced in schools. This paper will present each incident as a case study alongside the laws and policies informing the institutional responses. Recent guidelines and settlement agreements regarding gender expression in schools from the Office for Civil Rights will be discussed. The paper will conclude with information about the negative impacts of such responses and offer suggestions for school leaders on how to transform the way gender is interpreted and enforced in schools.

Author

• Elizabeth J. Meyer, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo