Skirts for boys: Schoolboy takes demand to Holyrood

A Scots schoolboy has taken his demand for boys to be allowed to wear skirts to the Scottish Parliament.

Luca Scarabello claims that male and female uniforms “do not serve any practical purpose”, and pose a problem for gender variant pupils.

Mr Scarabello, who is 13, made the call in a petition to MSPs last week. They agreed to continue looking at the issue.

Pointless

While the schoolboy says that he does not want to wear a skirt himself, he wants other boys to be able to.

Mr Scarabello, who is a Green Party supporter, has previously petitioned to end faith schools.

His new petition, which came after he was unsatisfied with his MSP’s response, said: “Gender-specific Uniform codes should be ended because they discriminate against transgendered pupils and are, for the want of a better word, pointless.

Stigma

“They have no real use and do not make anything more practical.

“These uniform codes can cause serious distress in gender-variant pupils and create stigma against gender-variantism.”

He also wants to see an end to uniforms which are “extremely uncomfortable and physically restrictive”.

Mr Scarabello commented that if his proposal was made law it would, among other things, “Accommodate the transgendered community and remove stigma surrounding boy/girl clothing differences.”

Startling

Last year the Equality and Human Rights Commission claimed making girls wear skirts as part of their school uniform was “potentially unlawful”.

It said such a policy may discriminate against female pupils who have gender dysphoria and believe themselves to be boys.

The claim was labelled “startling” and “beyond satire” by one national newspaper commentator.

Related Resources