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120 UK Schools Have Adopted Gender-Neutral Uniform Policies

british school uniform protest
Robertvan1/Wikipedia

And the sky hasn't fallen. 

At least 120 schools throughout the UK have adopted gender neutral uniform policies, according to The Guardian--and the sky hasn't fallen.

Dr. Elly Barnes, founder of LGBTQ education charity Educate & Celebrate, told The Guardian that 120 schools have pledged to follow their Best Practice Programme, part of which stipulates gender-inclusive dress codes. And that number is likely much higher when you include institutions that have implemented gender-neutral policies without signing the Best Practice page.

Related | Australian Private School Implements Gender-Neutral School Uniform Policy

The Educate & Celebrate website explains that a major reason their organization is necessary is a lack of knowledge among educators. "53% of schools not teaching about LGBT+ relationships and 49% of schools not teaching the definitions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans+," their site reads. "In fact only 3% of schools said they had LGBT+ activity in 2 or more subject areas, which could explain why 76% of teachers said they'd had no LGBT+ specific training and 44% of schools contacted us initially because staff were not confident in dealing with sexual orientation or gender identity."

Many schools in the region seem to be implementing new dress codes without any backlash. Susie Green, who works for LGBTQ youth group Mermaids, told The Guardian, "Lots of schools are doing it very quietly, very unobtrusively: they're just getting on with it."

The shift in school policy seems to be happening the world over--earlier this year, OUT reported that a private school in Australia had also de-gendered its uniforms of its own volition.

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