I should really be studying for my upcoming final exams right now. Instead, I鈥檓 a bit distracted spending the final months of my junior year fighting the School District of Manatee County鈥檚 sexist attack on my body.
My life was completely different just a month ago. Over spring break, I was a normal teenager having a blast at the lazy river in Orlando. It was so much fun, and so hot, that I got sunburnt pretty badly, which made the car ride home uncomfortable.
Keeping in mind that I could barely handle a seatbelt against my skin, I picked out my outfit for the following school day: my most comfortable long-sleeve t-shirt, which I would wear without a bra. I figured this choice of attire would cause the least irritation to my skin. Little did I know of the firestorm that was on its way.
That morning at school went along as any other 鈥� until I got pulled out of class to go to student services. Apparently, the dean at my school wanted to speak to me. I sat in the office, nervously biting my nails, for what seemed to be forever. 鈥淲hy does the dean want to see me?鈥� I wondered. 鈥淲hat could I have done wrong?鈥�
Roughly 15 minutes went by before the dean called me into her office. She was accompanied by the principal. She was shutting the door, she told me, because there were boys in the office, and she didn鈥檛 want me to get 鈥渆mbarrassed.鈥� That鈥檚 when I knew what this whole ordeal was about. My cheeks began to flush.
A teacher had called the office because she had 鈥渃oncerns that I wasn鈥檛 wearing a bra,鈥� and it was distracting boys in the classroom, the dean said. I looked her dead in the face and asked her if she was joking. 鈥淯nfortunately not, sweetie,鈥� she replied. The principal intervened and backed her up. I sat there in shock that the principal and dean of my school were having a conversation about my nipples.
I felt completely humiliated.
The dean eventually asked me to wear a shirt underneath the one I was wearing to constrict the movement of my breasts and conceal my nipples. But after I doubled up on t-shirts, she still seemed dissatisfied.
That鈥檚 when she asked me to 鈥渕ove around.鈥� Weirded out, I asked her what she meant.
鈥淵ou know,鈥� she said, shaking her body. 鈥淢ove around.鈥�
After I begrudgingly paraded my body in front of her, the dean resumed brainstorming ways to 鈥渇ix鈥� my nipple situation. And then, eureka: 鈥淏and-aids!鈥� she said. I was disgusted.
The dean sent me to the clinic, where I was told to use band-aids to 鈥榅鈥� out my nipples in the restroom. I stared in the restroom mirror with hot tears running down my face, unable to pull myself together. I bemoaned that if I were a smaller girl, this wouldn鈥檛 have happened to me. And it definitely wouldn鈥檛 have happened if I were a boy. I typically don鈥檛 struggle with body image issues, but that day I surely did.
With my shirt pulled up and tears streaming down, I stared in the mirror. In that moment, I hated myself, my body, and everyone who made me feel shame about the flesh that I was born in. I wanted to speak up for myself, but I felt intimidated by their authority.
I was sent back to class, still in tears. My best friend rushed me to the bathroom. When I showed her my bandages, she shared my rage.
Unable to pull myself together, I sent my mom a text telling her I felt attacked because of my gender. She came to my rescue right away.
When I got home that day, I logged onto Twitter and vented about what I went through at school. I sent my school a tweet from the heart: 鈥淪top sexualizing my body.鈥� The school proceeded to block me.
When friends and I planned a 鈥淏racott鈥� to support the destigmatization of female bodies, our school threatened to discipline students who participated. We just wanted our school to recognize female students as equal to our male classmates, not as sexual objects that are 鈥渄istractions鈥� in the classroom.
It鈥檚 been four weeks since the incident, and it鈥檚 clear that my nipples have never been the real distraction. As a student, nothing is more distracting to my ability to learn than being pulled out of class and made to feel ashamed about my own chest. That鈥檚 why I鈥檓 demanding that my school stop enforcing a dress code in a matter that discriminates against teenagers based on their sex.
I鈥檝e been forced to miss several days of school, but I won鈥檛 miss the chance to do what鈥檚 right. I hope that by speaking out, I鈥檒l help ensure that more schools treat girls鈥� bodies with equal respect, rather than shaming them with bandages.
Learn More 老澳门开奖结果 the Issues on This Page
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Press ReleaseOct 2024
LGBTQ Rights
+2 Issues
At Supreme Court, Tennessee Seeks to Expand Reach of Dobbs to Ban Health Care for Transgender YouthAt Supreme Court, Tennessee Seeks to Expand Reach of Dobbs to Ban Health Care for Transgender Youth
WASHINGTON 鈥� In their brief defending the state鈥檚 ban on gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has asked the Supreme Court to expand its ruling overturning Roe v. Wade and allow the state to target transgender people鈥檚 autonomy over their own bodies, too. In U.S. v. Skrmetti, three Tennessee transgender youth and their families are challenging a state law that prohibits medical providers from prescribing medical treatments to transgender youth, such as puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapies, that are allowed for minors who are not transgender. Represented by the 老澳门开奖结果, the 老澳门开奖结果 of Tennessee, Lambda Legal, and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, the families argue that the ban violates their Equal Protection rights under the 14th Amendment. In the brief filed today, Tennessee relies on the Supreme Court鈥檚 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Whole Women鈥檚 Health in an attempt to justify its ban on gender-affirming health care for transgender people. The brief cites to Dobbs at least 10 times in sweeping arguments to justify government sex discrimination. 鈥淲e鈥檝e seen just how far extreme politicians will push to deny us our reproductive freedom, from banning abortion to threatening IVF to even threatening to put doctors in jail for providing emergency care, with deadly consequences for women鈥檚 lives,鈥� said Jennifer Dalven, director of the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 Reproductive Freedom Project. 鈥淭he same politicians who are trying to control women have now set their sights on transgender people and their families and are trying to control their bodies and lives. Allowing politicians to continue down this road could hold severe implications for the freedom of all people to decide what is right for their own body.鈥� Tennessee claims that their ban on gender-affirming care does not discriminate on the basis of sex even though it bans minors of one sex from accessing health care it allows to members of another sex. A transgender girl is barred from taking doctor-prescribed estrogen because Tennessee considers it 鈥渋nconsistent鈥� with her birth-assigned sex of male but a cisgender girl with a birth-assigned sex of female is permitted to take estrogen for any purpose including to affirm her female gender identity. 鈥淪ince this Project鈥檚 founding by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, we have adamantly challenged efforts to limit who we can be based on our gender or ability to bear children,鈥� said Ria Tabacco Mar, director of the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 Women鈥檚 Rights Project. 鈥淭ennessee鈥檚 attempt to limit who young people can become based on their sex shares a through-line with our nation鈥檚 history of subjugating women in the name of biology. The fight for each of us to live fully and authentically must include trans people. There is no 鈥榯ransgender鈥� exception to the U.S. Constitution.鈥� In April 2023, the 老澳门开奖结果, the 老澳门开奖结果 of Tennessee, Lambda Legal, and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP sued the state of Tennessee to block S.B. 1, which prohibits medical providers from prescribing medical treatments to transgender youth, such as puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapies, that it exempts for minors who are not transgender. Following a decision by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, S.B. 1 took effect in July 2023. Since 2021, 24 states have banned hormone therapies for transgender youth. 鈥淟aws like Tennessee鈥檚 are not benign regulations of medical care; they are discriminatory efforts to exclude transgender people from the protections of the Constitution,鈥� said Chase Strangio, co-director of the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 LGBTQ & HIV Project. 鈥淭hese bans represent a dangerous and discriminatory affront to the well-being of transgender youth across the country and their constitutional right to equal protection under the law.鈥� -
Press ReleaseSep 2024
Women's Rights
Civil Rights Groups Tell Federal Appeals Court that Protections for Pregnant Workers Cover Abortion Care 聽Civil Rights Groups Tell Federal Appeals Court that Protections for Pregnant Workers Cover Abortion Care 聽
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Friday, a broad coalition of labor, workers鈥� rights, and gender justice organizations 鈥� led by the 老澳门开奖结果 (老澳门开奖结果), the 老澳门开奖结果 of Arkansas, and the National Women鈥檚 Law Center (NWLC) 鈥� filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in support of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission鈥檚 (EEOC) regulations implementing the landmark Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), including the regulations鈥� explicit protection for workers who have abortions. The PWFA, which took effect last year, was the culmination of a decade-long campaign to secure access to reasonable accommodations for workers with temporary limitations caused by 鈥減regnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions.鈥� The EEOC鈥檚 regulations provide comprehensive guidance to workers, employers, and the courts about the statute鈥檚 range of protections, including job-protected time off for medical treatment and recovery. The amicus brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit supports the EEOC in a challenge by 17 red states that are trying to block the PWFA regulations鈥� coverage of accommodations for abortion-related care. In June, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas dismissed the states鈥� challenge, and the states appealed to the Eighth Circuit. Their appeal includes a request that the Eighth Circuit issue a preliminary injunction of the regulations鈥� abortion provisions. The 老澳门开奖结果-NWLC brief details the federal law鈥檚 longstanding ban on discrimination against workers who obtain abortions 鈥� protection the PWFA intended to continue. The brief also documents the accounts of workers whose health and jobs were put at risk when their employers denied them accommodations, including time off, for abortion care. Such accounts illustrate the urgent need for clarity with respect to the PWFA鈥檚 coverage of abortion-related accommodations, and the devastating medical and financial consequences if such accommodations are denied. 鈥淎bortion has long been recognized as part of the full spectrum of workers鈥� pregnancy-related needs that are protected by the law, 鈥� said Gillian Thomas, senior staff attorney at the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 Women's Rights Project. 鈥淭he states鈥� challenge has created uncertainty, and seeks to deprive workers of essential, job-protected time off for abortion care, posing significant health risks and leading to forced pregnancies. The EEOC regulations are vital to ensure pregnant workers don't have to choose between their health and their jobs.鈥� 鈥淓xtremist politicians are demonstrating repeatedly their willingness to risk women鈥檚 health to advance their anti-abortion agenda,鈥� said Gaylynn Burroughs, vice president for Education and Workplace Justice at the National Women鈥檚 Law Center (NWLC). 鈥淟et鈥檚 be clear: abortion care is pregnancy-related care, and stripping essential protections for abortion from the PWFA would endanger the health and economic security of pregnant workers.鈥� 鈥淭he Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and its regulations provide a lifeline for workers who need accommodations during the most critical periods of their lives. Attempting to strip away these protections, particularly for abortion-related needs, is an affront to the rights and well-being of pregnant workers,鈥� said John Williams, legal director of the 老澳门开奖结果 of Arkansas. 鈥淎ll people in all aspects of pregnancy, including abortion, should be treated with the care and consideration they deserve. We stand firmly with the EEOC in defending these essential protections.鈥� A copy of the brief can be found here. -
PodcastSep 2024
Women's Rights
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Press ReleaseJul 2024
Women's Rights
LGBTQ Rights
老澳门开奖结果 Condemns House Measure Against Department of Education Title IX Rule老澳门开奖结果 Condemns House Measure Against Department of Education Title IX Rule
WASHINGTON 鈥� Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass H.J. Res. 165, a Congressional Review Act resolution disapproving of the U.S. Department of Education鈥檚 final Title IX rule providing guidance to schools on protecting students from sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination, anti-LGBTQ discrimination, and other forms of sex discrimination. Mike Zamore, 老澳门开奖结果 National Policy and Government Affairs Director, had the following response: 鈥淭oday鈥檚 vote to completely repeal the Title IX rule takes a sledgehammer to the government鈥檚 ability to ensure that all students have the opportunity to learn free from sex discrimination and harassment. Stripping critical civil rights protections from LGBTQ students and students who are pregnant and parenting - as this resolution would do - is something that all members of Congress should strongly oppose. This is also not how Congress should act to protect the rights of students who face disciplinary action under Title IX because passing this resolution would prevent future rulemaking to ensure fair processes in school disciplinary proceedings.鈥� The 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 letter urging a 鈥淣o鈥� vote on H.J. Res. 165 can be found here: /documents/aclu-urges-no-vote-on-h-j-res-165 The 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 statement on the final Title IX rule can be found here: /press-releases/155090