THE NEW TAIPEI Municipal Banqiao Senior High School announced earlier this month that starting from next year, both male and female students will be allowed greater say in their choice of uniforms. As such, male students will also be allowed to wear skirts as part of their uniforms if they so desire, whereas previously it was only female students that were allowed a choice of whether to wear skirts or pants. The decision to allow male students to also wear skirts was made last month by school authorities.

The announcement comes two months after a weeklong action in May organized by male students at the high school in which they wore skirts and earrings to class. The action, which took place during the school week from May 6th to May 11th, was timed to take place one week before the legislature was set to vote on whether to legalize same-sex marriage or not.

Some teachers also took part in the action, which was framed as commemorating the 73rd anniversary of the school’s founding. The action was supported by president Tsai Ing-wen, who referenced it in comments that week commenting that Scots also wear skirts.

Spokespersons for the Ministry of Education have stated that they welcomed the recent decision by the high school, while school representatives have emphasized that they did not aim to encourage male students to wear skirts, but simply were respecting the democratic will of students, attempting to promote gender equality and that teachers and parents were also consulted before the decision was arrived at.

That being said, it may not be surprising to note that some parents’ groups have protested the school in the wake of the announcement, including the Kaohsiung City Parents Alliance, the Parents Association, and the Taiwan Mothers Shield Alliance, with the claim that the school was promoting inappropriate attire. Likewise, such groups claimed that the school’s actions would lead to male students eventually being allowed to use female restrooms and the breakdown of boundaries between male students and female students. Read more via New Bloom Magazine