JACKSON – A Mississippi school district hopes photographs of a teenage lesbian in a bikini will help lead to the dismissal of a lawsuit claiming her rights were violated when a picture of her in a tuxedo was left out of the yearbook”s senior section.
In the latest documents filed in U.S. District Court, the Copiah County School District attempts to shoot down Ceara Sturgis” argument that her right to gender identity was violated.
Sturgis has said she likes to wear masculine clothes and that”s why she donned a tuxedo instead of a drape to appear in the 2010 Wesson Attendance Center yearbook.
The district, which is asking the court to dismiss Sturgis” lawsuit, contends that the teenager had maintained the drape was offensive and a form of sex discrimination. Yet, Sturgis chose to wear a bikini to the senior party, which is a school function, according to the documents. Pictures from the party also appear in the yearbook.
“Indeed, it is hard to conceive of an item of clothing more sexualizing and feminine than a bikini,” the district said in the documents.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the lawsuit on Sturgis” behalf, said Sturgis also had on a pair of long shorts in the swimsuit photo.
“They”re just trying to bully her into dropping the suit,” Bear Atwood, legal director for the ACLU of Mississippi, said Wednesday.
“The point is did the school engage in gender stereotyping when they made her wear a specific outfit designed only for girls” in the senior portrait, Atwood said, referring to the drape girls were required to wear.
Sturgis, who graduated from Wesson Attendance Center in May, is now a student at a community college, Atwood said.
The ACLU filed the lawsuit against the school district in August, months after another Mississippi lesbian teenager, Constance McMillen, sued the Itawamba County School District over its policy against same-sex prom dates.
The ACLU claimed the central Mississippi school district discriminated against Sturgis on the basis of sex and gender stereotypes. Her photo and name were kept out of the senior section of the yearbook. However, Sturgis” photo in the tuxedo did appear on a personal page in the yearbook that was purchased by her mother.
The suit challenged the district”s policy allowing male students, but not female students, to wear a tux for senior portraits. The suit alleges a violation of Title IX, the federal law prohibiting discrimination based on gender.
The district said in court documents filed Dec. 3 that Sturgis “has no constitutional right to be included on the senior portrait page of the yearbook in a tuxedo.”
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