From: Celeste%express@freedom.msfc.nasa.GOV
Subject: News: Boy Wants to Wear Dress To School
Newsgroups: soc.feminism
Date: 11 Nov 92 19:45:02 GMT

The author of the article at the Atlanta Constitution was contacted. They
said that the article may be replicated provied the "by line" (author's
name) is left intact. With that we may replicate and distribute copies
of the article.

Article from
The Atlanta Journal & The Atlanta Constitution
of Saturday, Oct. 10, 1992 page B1

Teenage missing school because he's not allowed to dress as a girl

By Pat Burson
STAFF WRITER

A Tri-Cities High School senior is fighting for his choice "to
be a girl" has remained away from school for nearly three weeks
because of an impasse with Fulton County school officials, who
have ruled that he cannot come to school anymore dressed as a
girl.

Principal Hershel Robinson recently informed Nicholas Ricks, 17,
who has been cross-dressing since last spring and considers
himself a pre-operative transsexual, that he "would have to dress
appropriately until the medical and legal documentation came in to
state he was a girl."

Dr. Hershel Robinson said provisions have been made for Nicholas
to use restrooms in the administrative suite and to use the
coaches' office to change if he takes physical education. However,
the principal said, the student will be allowed to dress as a
female only if he has the medical and legal documentation.

Meanwhile, Nicholas's mother, Kathleen Baber, is irate with Dr.
Robinson and other school officials for not responding to her
pleas for help last spring, when she first discovered her son was
dressing as a girl at school.

She is still distraught. "It's like watching your son die, and
nobody will help you," she said, crying.

Nicholas says he wants the freedom to express himself as a
female, especially now that he is undergoing hormone therapy,
altering his physique and voice.

"I feel just like a girl," he said during an interview Friday at
his family's home. "If I'm not going to be a boy for my mom, I'm
not going to be a boy for anybody else, and I'm sure not going to
be a boy for the public school system."

He considers himself a transsexual because he "psychologically
identifies with opposite sex," he explained, citing the definition
in a dictionary.

"That's me. I'm making that choice," he said. "Right now, I'm a
boy. I'm choosing to be a girl."

Nicholas said he started altering his appearance last spring,
occasionally coming to school in makeup and feminine attire. "I
dress like the dress code is in the book for the girls," he said.

He said the school's dress code should be rewritten. "I want
them to say a boy can wear a dress," he said. "I want something to
be done for other students like me," he said, suggesting that
other students are hiding their sexual identities.

Nicholas now uses a female name and a new surname, but asked
that this new identity not be disclosed. He said that he plans to
have a sex-change operation in a few years.

Ms. Baber acknowledges that part of her anger at the school is
from frustration over her son's behavior. "I want to beat them up
for not helping me, [but] I know it's not their fault."

School officials and Nicholas say they have discussed the
possibility of the his going to an alternative school in the
district for students that have difficulty in traditional school
settings. But Ms. Baber, whose permission is required for such a
transfer, is worried about what might happen there, and said she
wants reassurance from school officials.

School spokeswomen Elizabeth Ackerman said this case is unique,
but a sign of the times. "I think it's the beginning of what we
will see more of in schools."

Dallas Denny, with the Atlanta-based American Educational Gender
Information Service Inc. (AEGIS), a national information publisher
and referral service, suggested that the family seek counseling
and include school officials so that a compromise might be struck.

Intentionally using the femine pronoun, Ms. Denny said of
Nicholas, "She's entitled to an education, and she shouldn't have
to be a boy to get it."

Local lawyers say the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that students
do not have unlimited rights in public schools.

"I think it is a hard case," said Georgia State University law
professor Stephen Wermiel. "I think the courts that have the best
argument are those that say the burden is on school officials to
demonstrate that their codes are reasonable. In this case, if they
are willing to accommodate some of the student's privacy
interests, it doesn't make sense to me to prohibit him from
dressing as he pleases within the dress code limits."

Michael Huptman, past president of the Georgia chapter of the
American Civil Liberties Union, said, "He can probably get
something from his physician that he is going thought the process
and add that at this point in time, except for the surgical
procedure, he is female. Then I think the school will have a hard
time saying he can't dress as a woman, especially if the physician
says it's best for his mental and physical health."
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