Having read the article in regard to Bremerton High School’s “gender bender” day there are several things that made me question the intent of those reporting on the school event.

As a member of the LGBTQ community, I found the article and the demonization of the spirit week day quite astonishing. The entire tone of the article seemed to point out that having teenaged boys dressed as girls was somehow incindiary and misogynistic.

I offer a counterpoint, I find this experimentation in the affectations of gender beneficial to the students’ growth and education as human beings. I know there are several young boys who might gladly wear a dress, or skirt, or what-have-you to school, but peer based mocking keeps their behavior within the realm of “socially acceptable.”

I would imagine a day such as gender bender day would empower these students to do something in a safe, somewhat more accepting environment. It would appear to me, as a reader that Ms. Reim, acting on behalf of the LGBTQ community, is more worried about the gender boundaries that a “gender bender” day would establish, but maybe she doesn’t understand that “gender” is not biological, it is social.

In an era where boys wear skinny jeans, grow longer hair, and adorn themselves with piercings, and girls wear shorter hair and slacks, we see that it is not the gender stereotypes that define the individual. Reim states that this event brought drag queens to her mind, but it there is one thing drag queens are and have always been about, it is about blurring the line between the masculine and the feminine.

All this article seems to do is shame the young men who decide to come to school on one day wearing garments designed for young ladies. But I ask, where is the outrage for the girls wearing slacks every single day? It doesn’t exist.

Allow the students to grow, and learn, and explore in a safe, friendly environment. After all, isn’t that what schools are for?

Robin Abille

Bremerton