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Female Student Booted From Prom Over Suit

Aniya Wolf says principal threatened to get the cops
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted May 9, 2016 8:36 AM CDT
Female Student Booted From Prom Over Suit
Aniya Wolf, right, in her suit.   (Facebook)

Aniya Wolf has always felt "more masculine" than other girls. That wasn't an issue during her three years at Bishop McDevitt High School in Harrisburg, Pa., where she dressed in pants. But a similar outfit got her kicked out of her prom on Friday. Aniya, who identifies as lesbian, says she had already bought a suit for the event when her mom got a last-minute email saying girls had to wear formal dresses. "I told [the school] that I had read the dress code … and I didn't think that it precluded her from wearing a suit. I said that this was very unfair, particularly at the last minute," her mom tells WHTM. Aniya decided to wear her suit anyway and her mom says she looked "beautiful." But when Aniya arrived at the prom, she says the principal threatened to call police, and so she went home.

"We love, respect, and cherish all of our students," the school says in a Facebook post. But the dress code—which the school says it sent to parents three months ago—"specified girls must wear formal dresses. It also stated that students who failed to follow the dress code would not be admitted." Bishop McDevitt student Jacklyn Motter responded to the post with a lengthy comment, per the Daily Dot; in it, she says the experience left her ashamed of her school, particularly since students who fail classes and show up high or drunk "get admitted to prom WITHOUT A PROBLEM. ... What a terrible memory to take with me as I prepare to graduate." (A Louisiana student had a similar experience.)

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