A female student at a Catholic high school had her picture removed from the yearbook because she decided to wear a tuxedo, which the school claims violates the dress code.
Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory School officials said that the Archdiocese of San Francisco dress code policy states that female students have to wear a dress for the yearbook, reports SFGate. "As we prepare to pass out yearbooks, it is always regretful when a student portrait is omitted for any reason."
Jessica Urbina wore a tux for a sr portrait which violates private school's dress code. Students wearing ties today pic.twitter.com/DlTG23kgHV
— Will Tran (@KRON4WTran) May 16, 2014
School principal Gary Cannon said that while the school accepts students who are "straight, gay, bi, transgender, all that," they must still adhere to the Catholic church's teachings.
To protest the picture's removal, many students went to Friday classes wearing ties and bow ties. Her brother, Michael Ubrina, who is an alum, said in a statement, "I am embarrassed to call myself an alumni of a high school that does not acknowledge, respect, value and empower all of its students."
If Sacred Heart receives state funds, then the high school could potentially be violating a law that prohibits schools from preventing students from access to sex-segregated activities, Ilona Turner, legal director of the Transgender Law Center, told The Associated Press.
The school could also be violating Title IX, which is a federal law that prohibits schools from gender discrimination.
image from Twitter via Will Tran