A Pennsylvania high school is coming under fire after administrators ejected a lesbian student from her prom.
Aniya Wolf reports she was barred from Bishop McDevitt High School in Harrisburg after arriving in a suit instead of a dress.
Wolf, a junior, told media outlets she identifies as a “masculine” lesbian and feels more comfortable in pants than “girly” clothes.
The Catholic school maintains it informed students and parents several months ago of its prom policy that girls must wear “formal dresses” and sent a reminder a few weeks before the May 6 event. Wolf’s mother contends the original notice was ambiguous, and the follow-up didn’t give the family enough time to find new attire.
According to a statement from the school after the incident, administrators learned Wolf planned to wear a suit a few hours before the prom and “contacted her mother in hopes we could resolve the situation.”
It is unclear if the school reached Wolf’s mother that day.
Wolf reported that, when she and her date arrived at the prom venue, a teacher pulled her aside and told her she couldn’t enter and said she would be arrested if she didn’t leave the premises.
In its statement, the school defended its dress-code policy.
“Without question, we love, respect and cherish all of our students,” the statement said. “Bishop McDevitt will continue to practice acceptance and love for all of our students. They are tremendous young men and women. We simply ask that they follow the rules that we have put into place.”
After the dustup, William Penn High School in neighboring York extended an invitation to Wolf and a date to attend its upcoming prom.