New York City Council Partners With GGE Calls for Gender-Inclusive Dress Code

On Thursday, January 23, members of the New York City Council with the help of Girls for Gender Equity (GGE) introduced a resolution calling on NYC public schools to create and enforce a gender-inclusive dress code.

In a press release shared with Teen Vogue, a number of council members partnered with GGE to introduce a resolution and a bill that would eliminate gender-biased dress codes. As the release notes, New York City’s Department of Education requires its schools to use “gender-neutral” language in creating school dress codes. However, a study of 100 New York City public schools conducted by Girls for Gender Equity determined that gender policing still occurred.

For instance, Girls for Gender Equity found that 55 dress codes had banned crop tops, 28 codes had banned tube tops, and 27 codes banned “distracting” styles of dress as well as miniskirts. Under the resolution and bill introduced, the Council wants the Department of Education to “ensure that dress codes across all NYC schools are inclusive of gender presentation and do not discriminate against girls and gender non-conforming students.”