By Heather Smith, Executive Director
This piece originally appeard in the Argus Leader.
This week the Argus Stu Whitney opined about Watertown High Schools all-white homecoming court dress up in Indian costumes. Failing to see the harm, the District rationalized that they were honoring Native American culture with its school tradition despite feedback from NativeAmericans who pointed out that they did not, in fact, feel honored.
In the same week, another Sioux Falls high school was also celebrating homecoming, in part by hosting Gender Swap Day. This is an apparently popular school tradition steeped in gender stereotypes: boys are supposed to wear girls clothing and girls are supposed to wear boys clothing. The event is intended to encourage school spirit during homecoming, but the result was more harm than amusement.
We heard complaints that students mocked the transgendercommunity with slurs such as trannies everywhere and using the names and likeness of well-known transgender celebrities to mock the community. As a result, gender nonconforming students, some LGBTQ students, and other supportive students and teachers felt bullied, disrespected, and denigrated inschool this week. The theme day assumes that there are only two genders and only two ways to express them. Gender nonconforming and LGBT students are already at greater risk of bullying and suicide and a Gender Swap Day is insensitive and harmful.
We understand that homecoming week is a spirited, fun time filled with traditions. We know that traditions can be a wonderful link between past, present, and future students, but when homecoming tradition results in peer-based discrimination, harassment and bullying they must be stopped. A Native American student shouldnt have their culture mocked and an LGBT student shouldnt feel bullied in the hallways of their school.
Here at the ACLU of South Dakota, part of our mission is to stop unlawful bullying and harassment in schools and help create school communitiesthat promote respect and safety for all students. We urge school leaders andstudents to take a step back and consider what a school environment that welcomes and encourages all students truly looks like.
