Teen Jonathan Escobar told to “dress more manly” or leave school

16-year-old Jonathan Escobar left his home in Miami to live with his sister in Cobb County, GA, because his parents were unable to accept that he wears women’s clothing.

Shockingly, Georgia was less accepting of Escobar’s transvestitism. His older sister Veronica, with whom he lives, is surprised that her little brother lasted a mere three days in school before withdrawing due to administrative pressure. And how fierce does one have to be to out-crossdress Miami?

Anyone who has attended high school probably recalls the catch all “disruptive” rule for attire. I myself fell afoul of rules for disruptive clothing, once for wearing a souvenir t-shirt from Intercourse, PA. But Escobar’s situation is much broader and more serious in scope and raises the question of reasonable accommodation for LGBT teens. Escobar simply states that he doesn’t consider himself a cross-dresser, but rather that dressing the way he does is “who he is.” And at 16, it stands to reason that he may not know exactly where he lies on that spectrum.

Officials who had not witnessed Escobar’s attire believed he attended school in a dress and heels, but Escobar says that wasn’t the case:

Escobar said the assistant principal told him his style of dress had caused a fight between students at the school. Two days later, he withdrew himself from the Kennesaw school.

“You can’t wear clothing that causes a disruption,” said Jay Dillon, spokesman for Cobb County schools.

Dillon said he believed Escobar arrived at school in a dress and heels. But Escobar said he never wore a dress. He says he opted for “skinny” jeans all three days with flats.

Escobar was given the option of wearing “manly” clothes, or homeschooling. And he says that students harassed him, surrounding him in the cafeteria during his few days on campus. But a Facebook group called simply “Support Jonathan” had drawn 900 members, some planning on wearing pink shirts emblazoned with those words. Escobar wishes to return to school, but won’t compromise who he is:

“If I can’t express myself, I won’t go to school,” he said. “I want to get the message out there that because this is who I am, I can’t get an education.”

[Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution]