
The policy change was brought about by Brighton College's headmaster, Richard Cairns, and is designed to make trans students or students experiencing gender dysphoria feel more comfortable, according to BBC. "If some boys and girls are happier identifying with a different gender from that in which they were born, then my job is to make sure that we accommodate that," Cairns told the publication.
Optimistically, we're hoping the school's intentions behind changing its dress code are genuine. And the results, thus far, seem positive: Trans activist and professional soccer player Sophie Cook penned a piece in The Telegraphyesterday about speaking at the school right after the uniform policy change was announced: "you wouldn’t know anything had changed for [Brighton College's students] since the introduction of their new rule," Cook wrote. "There has been no demise of civilization as we knew it, as some commentators suggested would happen with the acceptance of different sexualities and gender labels. Instead, new rules are being made — ones that are fit for a new, educated, open, and compassionate generation."
Elsewhere in the U.K., universities in Lancaster and Northampton recently introduced the idea of gender-neutral bathrooms following a campaign from students, and last year LGBT campaigner Elly Barnes urged all schools to introduce gender-neutral uniforms.
In October, Puerto Rico's public school system, which has a uniformed dress code, signed a regulation to allow students to wear either pants or skirts based on their gender identities, rather than being assigned one or the other. The policy shift was particularly notable because of the U.S. commonwealth's socially conservative cultural climate (including its views about the LGBT community).
Finally, it seems, the right conversations are being had about how to make LGBT students feel more welcome. Hopefully Brighton College's move will set the precedent for other schools, in the U.K. and far beyond, to follow suit.
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