he British class system has always been one of our most enduring sources of comedy. Most notably, the depravity of the aristocracy, and the superficiality of the middle-classes. For hundreds of years we’ve poked fun at it. The world may change, but the British appetite for labels, stereotypes and definitions never does.

It’s little surprise, then, that the notion of a boy in a skirt can cause such outrage even in 2018.

Uppingham School in Rutland, a co-educational institution which commands fees of £36,000-a-year, recently announced that pupils will be allowed to wear the uniform of whichever gender they feel most comfortable with.

While it’s easy to skim over such a story as another quirky tale in a line of schools now pushing for gender-neutral uniforms and stronger acceptance, in the hidden world of boarding school culture, this is a seismic statement.

Life at boarding school at the turn of the millennium was a far cry from what Hogwarts would have you believe. Boys were expected to be boys. Homophobia ran rampant, which many of the staff did little or nothing to discourage.

Coming out would have been unthinkable — those that had were quietly ushered out of the school “for their own safety”. Read more via Pink News