NationStates Jolt Archive

Well seeing as I am not allowed to make comments in my title the title I used will have to do...unless a mod feels the need to flex their 'powers' again.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/11/17/school.dress.ap/index.html

(AP) -- A homecoming tradition in which boys dress like girls and vice versa in a tiny Texas school district won't be held Wednesday after a parent complained about what she regarded as the event's homosexual overtones.

As a substitute for "TWIRP Day," the schools ranging from elementary to senior high decided to hold "Camo Day" -- with black boots and Army camouflage to be worn by everyone who wants to participate.

TWIRP, which stands for "The Woman Is Requested to Pay," was hosted by Spurger schools for years during Homecoming Week -- to give boys and girls a chance to reverse social roles and let older girls invite boys on dates, open doors and pay for sodas.

Plano-based Liberty Legal Institute issued a news release Tuesday reporting that it "came to the aid of a concerned parent" over an "official cross-dressing day" in the school district 150 miles northeast of Houston.

"It is outrageous that a school in a small town in east Texas would encourage their 4-year-olds to be cross-dressers," Liberty Legal Institute attorney Hiram Sasser said in the release

Tanner T. Hunt Jr., the school district's attorney, called Sasser's statement "inflammatory and misleading." He said the district never planned or conducted a "cross-dressing day."

"They are a tiny little East Texas school district," Hunt said. "It never occurred to them that anyone could find anything morally reprehensible about TWIRP Day. I mean, they've been having it for years, probably for generations, and it's the first time anybody has complained."

Delana Davies, 33, said she complained after reading a school notice about "TWIRP Day." Davies, whose 9-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter attend Spurger Elementary, said she viewed the day not as a silly Homecoming Week activity, but rather something related to homosexuality.

"It's like experimenting with drugs," Davies said. "You just keep playing with it and it becomes customary. ... If it's OK to dress like a girl today, then why is it not OK in the future?"

I think it's kind of funny what people can think of to argue about, but I don't see what this has to do with Texas as a whole being 'dodgy'. Simply thinking differently than you does not make anything 'dodgy'.

Don't blame it on Texas. That lady just needs a kick in the face.

A town I lived in as a kid had 'PowderPuff' day. Instead of dressing up and going out on dates and the like, this town and another small town near it shared activities. Through the day people would dress in their girl/boyfriends clothes and take on their duties. That evening, the football players and the cheerleaders would switch places, and the girls from both towns would suit up for a savage game of 6-{wo}man football, while their adoring boyfriends would cheer them on in skirts on the sidelines. It was just a silly thing to do, amusing yes, subliminally homosexual? I don't think so.

This lady just has a craving for snatch, I'm willing to bet, and is afraid her kids do too, and will act on it if allowed the chance. My thinning thread of patience for mankind is always tweaked by morons like this.

I think it's kind of funny what people can think of to argue about, but I don't see what this has to do with Texas as a whole being 'dodgy'. Simply thinking differently than you does not make anything 'dodgy'.

errr the thing is that its not just thinking different is it?

Why are people so AFRAID of homosexuality? I never understood that. They see it in everything, GAYNESS here, GAYNESS there. Sheesh, they make it like there's a gay invasion going on, snatching up our kids and "gayifying" them.

My guess that lady will be hearing lots of "yee haws" in the middle of the night outside her house as the locals harass the hell out of her for being an idiot.

I'm reminded of an advertizing campaign that tried to drum up tourism for Texas. "Texas, it's like a whole other country" Aint' it the truth.

I'm reminded of an advertizing campaign that tried to drum up tourism for Texas. "Texas, it's like a whole other country" Aint' it the truth.

off topic - that other thread was locked re your question about Switzerland and its democracy....its roots can be traced to about 1291ad....

off topic - that other thread was locked re your question about Switzerland and its democracy....its roots can be traced to about 1291ad....
Thanks. You learn something new every day.

Thanks. You learn something new every day.

I am a font of useless trivia :)

errr the thing is that its not just thinking different is it?Why isn't it?

because its not only thought....there is action as well....

....

A town I lived in as a kid had 'PowderPuff' day. Instead of dressing up and going out on dates and the like, this town and another small town near it shared activities. Through the day people would dress in their girl/boyfriends clothes and take on their duties. That evening, the football players and the cheerleaders would switch places, and the girls from both towns would suit up for a savage game of 6-{wo}man football, while their adoring boyfriends would cheer them on in skirts on the sidelines. It was just a silly thing to do, amusing yes, subliminally homosexual? I don't think so.

...


My first college used to elect an annual drag queen - it was always the (mostly right-wing) rugger buggers who were the most enthusiastic participants in the contest. I remember the (broadly feminist) Women In Science society did indeed accuse them of sublimating their homosexuality. That was an extremely amusing episode.

What I don't get is this automatic assumption that cross dressing = homosexuality. Not all cross dressers are gay and not all gay people are cross dressers. This seems to be a predominantly US-ian belief and I wonder why it is so firmly held.

As for this issue - KIDS DRESS UP! They enjoy it, it's fun for them. It is imaginative play and encourages them to believe they can be anything they want to be - a fairy, batman, whatever. People like this woman need an intracranial injection of lead. They mess up their kids minds more than dressing up ever could.

Its this part that I find scary...

"It's like experimenting with drugs," Davies said. "You just keep playing with it and it becomes customary. ... If it's OK to dress like a girl today, then why is it not OK in the future?"

I suppose they aren't allowed to sing this either.

I'm a lumberjack, and I'm okay.
I sleep all night. I work all day.

Mounties : He's a lumberjack, and he's okay.
He sleeps all night and he works all day.

I cut down trees. I eat my lunch.
I go to the lavatory.
On Wednesdays I go shoppin'
And have buttered scones for tea.


Mounties: He cuts down trees. He eats his lunch.
He goes to the lavatory.
On Wednesdays he goes shopping
And has buttered scones for tea.

Chorus : I'm (He's) a lumberjack, and I'm (he's) okay.
I (He) sleep(s) all night and I (he) work(s) all day.

I cut down trees. I skip and jump.
I like to press wild flowers.
I put on women's clothing
And hang around in bars.

Mounties : He cuts down trees. He skips and jumps.
He likes to press wild flowers.
He puts on women's clothing
And hangs around in bars?!

Chorus : I'm (He's) a lumberjack, and I'm (he's) okay.
I (He) sleep(s) all night and I (he) work(s) all day.

I cut down trees. I wear high heels,
Suspendies, and a bra.
I wish I'd been a girlie,
Just like my dear Mama (or Papa in later versions)


Mounties : He cuts down trees. He wears high heels,
Suspendies, and a bra?!

Chorus : I'm (He's) a lumberjack, and I'm (he's) okay.
I (He) sleep(s) all night and I (he) work(s) all day.

Yes, I'm (He's) a lumberjack, and I'm (he's) ok-a-y.
I (He) sleep(s) all night and I (he) work(s) all day

Texas is no "dodgier" than anywhere else. The only reason there aren't more reports of the craziness that goes on in, for example, LA or NYC is because it's become the norm for people to do goofy things there. The reason this report stands out is because it occurs in Texas, a traditionally conservative State, and because it highlights an aspect of "political correctness."