17 year old Eric Bivins spent an entire school day in a jail cell last week. His crime? Wearing a girl’s outfit to class….
On the morning August 18th, Bivins, a senior at Coffee High school in Douglas, Georgia, rocked the purple printed skirt ensemble shown in the photograph above and he was promptly escorted off campus.
The teen, who is CLEARLY openly gay, says that throughout his academic career, he has always been told to express himself and stay true to who he is, but an act of self-expression is what ultimately led him to the county jail.
Maybe the Mean Girls of Morehouse should organize a march on Coffee County…
News footage + additional details below:
VIDEO: Male HS Student Arrested for Wearing Skirt to Class
The principal claims Bivens was not suspended for violating dress code but for ‘distracting the learning environment.’ Bivens, however, feels his rights have been violated.
“School is supposed to be a safe place where you can express yourself and not be worried about discrimination or anything like that,” says Bivens.
Bivens explained to WALB that other students were dressing up for an upcoming pep rally, but he was told his outfit was inappropriate and was ordered to change clothes. [Sidebar: He also carried a purse that day.]
The student complied but asked the principal, Dr. Greg Tanner, for an explanation:
“He was like girls get to dress like guys because it is acceptable in society but it is not acceptable for me to dress like a girl,” says Bivens.
“That is not my judgement of girls wearing boys clothes, because again this issue was a distraction to learning environment, not dress code,” says Tanner.
Bivens later put the skirt back on, and that’s what got him in trouble.
School Resource Officer Rodney Courson arrested Bivens and he was taken to jail. He is now suspended and faces criminal charges for disrupting school.
First off… I’d like to say Biven’s only crime seems to be his stealing that ugly “A”zz skirt from his Granny. But who am I to judge?
At any rate, do you think the Coffee County High School student should have been arrested for his attire?
[Props to my boo DramaDupree for the tip!]




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Here goes….why wait until your SENIOR year to express yourself, if thats truly what you were trying to do? To me it seemed as if he was trying to be funny because as ATL said the skirt is UGLY.
I say learn to pick your fights and to me this was not one, they gave the young man fair warning to take the womens clothing off and he did so., then WHY would you go back and put it back on!!!!??? You(meaning the young man) was looking for a reaction and he got one a day in jail and suspension from school!!!!!
I think the schools are just being ridiculous!
Let the poor boy wear his skirt! The outfit in which he was wearing was not offensive, just too many closed minded individuals these days!!
Look at people like Miss Lawrence; they wear female clothing and look damn good in it too! Shoot they look better in some of these outfits than the women do!
I support you Eric – Express yourself!
I am so sick of this nasty, defiling spirit that is taken over our young men and extracting them of their masculinity! Takes a deep breathe… Living in this society I can understand why he feels as though he should be able to wear what he wants but him wearing that skirt could have caused some problems at school however, taking him to jail was ridiculous.
Your idea of masculinity is wrong. What men wear also has nothing to do with being gay or straight. Men wore all manner of skirts and fancy clothes for most of history. Your historical education is zero; your knowledge of other modern cultures is zero; the measure of your civility, which is tolerance of peaceful differences, is zero. Yes, you are a zero operator! Newspaper records are full of accounts of women arrested for wearing pants; being accused of mental illness for wearing pants; being denied access to schools, churches, restaurants, airports, social events—for wearing pants! Neither sex is supposed to have a monopoly on pants or skirts.
Yea, if this is indeed the case, they need to stop every single girl, who dresses and comes off as a boy, to stop!!!! It’s not different. I see more girls dressed as boys and acting like boys then I se boys dressing and acting like boys!!! Uuuuugh!
"Clinically normative mental health professionals," which is to say, Holy Roman Catholic Inquisitors, Protestant witch hunters, Nazi Storm Troopers, and Red Maoist Cultural Guards, dropped their agenda to stop women wearing pants by calling them "ill." Majorities, you see, cannot be persecuted—and calling someone sick due to their choice of attire IS persecution! No one commits nearly as many civil rights violations as psychiatrists and psychologists. But, I will AGREE that all female psychologists and psychiatrists, are seriously mentally ill, and in need of court ordered, police enforced, treatment, for their fetishistic, transvestic mental illness of wearing PANTS!
yes
No No No No!!!
WTF? No.
No
The school systems are fucked. I think it’s more distracting when a girl dresses like a dude because you’re wondering if that’s a boy or not.
No
A definite NO.
Ridiculous! What crime did he commit???
Ridiculous! What crime did he commit???
He committed several crimes—1)anyone not a member of law enforcement IS a criminal (according to cops)!; 2)the female fashion monopoly cannot tolerate competition from the other sex; 3) people can’t stand peaceful nonconformity, Rome threw men in pants OUT in AD393 and seized their property.
No, and plus there’s kids in the school bullying and posing more of a danger than him and his outfit. The fact he put it back on was not criminal enough to go to jail and get a record for under the classification of disturbing the peace so to speak.
NO!! Would they arrest him if his pants were SAGGING???
NO!! Would they arrest him if his pants were SAGGING???
NO!! Would they arrest him if his pants were SAGGING???
No
Hell yeah
Smdh…
Even if it wasn’t for a pep rally, I still would say he shouldn’t have been arrested. And they ask why kids are confused when you tell them “be them”, but put in exceptions. Just very few are smart enough to challenge what is considered the “norm”.
Not arrested but shown the schools dress and etiquette rules. If need be a meeting with council and parents.
I would rather see him in that then them boys with sagging skinny jeans
What everyone has failed to address is that this is South Georgia and they just aren’t going to put up with this type of behavior. Douglas is a small town and this young man can do a lot of harm to his family. Dressing that way does disrupt the learning environment for such a small town. Lastly, if he continues to dress like this the school has to ensure that he will be safe from attacks. I think the school is just trying to cya.
"The wearing of trousers by women would be an intolerable shock to the public nerves," New York Times, October 31, 1881, page 6. You are a nauseating moron with no grasp of history. Tolerance is the ONLY test of civilization! Why don’t you bring your reactions under control instead of trying to assert you have a "right" to control someone else’s body? Because everyone—not women only—should have a right of choice in clothes. Men don’t quite have that right due to mentalities like yours; therefore, men lack full control of their own bodies, as clothes are direct extension of the body. "Your ignorance makes me ILL and ANGRY!"—David McCallum in "The Outer Limits"
@KH There are plenty of things "adults" and people in the real world can do that students/children cannot. The school has rules that children must follow. For instance girls skirts and shorts have to be a certain length at school but this rule does not apply for Adults. Yes the school may have went to far by locking him up, but like I said before pick your fights.
Also, I think it is kind of hard to apply this rule to the girls because lots of females do not dress "feminine" is that to say they are dressing like a boy…now if a female came to school with her pants sagging then she should be punished according as well.
They shoulda called the fashion police! Wooooo pull ova! Pull ova!
That’s what went on with YOUR sex wearing PANTS!! Spend several weeks reading about it in the New York Times online archives! Now that your group has rights, will you help men to have rights also? Hell no, you want to OBSTRUCT them!
yes__ children are too ignorant to accept a guy doing girl things openly
When is rocking a skirt and purse against the law ,what about these girls who ass hangs and cracks shows ,am just saying …put them in jail
He need an ass whipping instead!! Walking around here with a johnson hanging under a skirt!! Disgraceful…people stay in your lane…
I don’t think the student should have been arrested unless the school rule call for such after being insubordinate. Also, I’m sure this young man and his parents signed the Code of Conduct w/ consequences at the beginning of the school year, so…
Also, I’m sick of everyone going along w/ BS just b/c society accepts it. That’s what’s wrong now, oh men showcase themselves in women clothing on tv and show students that it is okay and women showcase unacceptable attire too. Shit is ridiculous!
Most school rules clearly states that any attire, behavior, or hair style that disrupts(brings attention to the persone wearing) learning is against school rule. Stop encouraging these young folk to look like fools. You can be who you are w/o all of the flaming ish!
If he broke school rule, then he should be punished!
he knows better than that.. it sounds like he just wanted some attention, and he is definitley getting it now..ugh
Hell yeah
No Not Arrested, But Should Have An Opportunity To Change Clothes Or Escorted Off School Property, Thier Is A School Dress Code’ Unless He Is Deemed A Physical Female By Court Or Birth….The Same Thing Happens If You Have Inappropriate Shirts Or Attire…
He is not "CLEARLY" openly gay as the writer put it. I could see this kid on the street not know he was gay. The writer is CLEARLY showing a tinge of homophobic influenced bias. Grow the fuck up ATLIEN.
I don’t think he was just "taken to jail because of what he wore" I think being he was told about his entire he made a big scene.. there has to be more to this story then what he is saying… and another thing as stated in previous comments why wait tell you Senior year to "Express yourself" please.. you wanted to make a scene and this is what happen.
Arrested No. ALL schools should have uniforms, elem-hs
4UK YEAH!!! SCHOOL IS FOR LEARNING, NOT A FASHION SHOW… ITS HARD ENOUGH AS IT IS, LAST THINGS STUDENTS NEED IS MORE DISTRACTIONS… (should`ve pepper sprayed his a$$ and hit em wit da billy`club) PWA HA HA!!!
He deserves to be arrested. Coming to school looking like a freaking clown and causing distraction and disruption! He is a "BOY" and does not need to dress like a girl. If he wants to be viewed as a girl, which would be hard given how ugly he is, then he should abide by the rules of his school and upon graduation he should get gender re-assignment surgery. I never can understand boys who don’t like girls but want to dress like girls. WTF? Girls are yucky to you but you want to wear their clothes?
Whatever happened to going to school to learn reading, writing, arithemitic, and history? I guess GLAAD and RuPaul are going to descend upon this town like locusts and try and get everybody to "accept" them and "change" for them. F*cking ridiculous! Satan is fast at work. Either that or Georgia has something terribly wrong with their water.
Emma Snodgrass was arrested in Boston in 1852 for wearing pants! Mary Walker was arrested multiple times! Evelyn Bross was arrested for wearing pants in Chicago in June 1943 and ordered by a judge to see a psychiatrist for six months! You have no possible conception of decency or civilized conduct! Satan is at work? Yes, somewhere. It is NOT about a man in a skirt, in Luke 7 Christ said the Roman centurion had the greatest faith of anyone. Those soldiers wore skirts you ignorant know nothing idiot!
In 1979, my middle school classmate Miss Marvin was sent home for rocking a fabulous cocktail dress with a plunging neckline and some fierce ankle strap pumps. Every one of us “Fruit Flies” were outraged at this “fashion injustice!”
In 1979, my middle school classmate Miss Marvin was sent home for rocking a fabulous cocktail dress with a plunging neckline and some fierce ankle strap pumps. Every one of us “Fruit Flies” were outraged at this “fashion injustice!”
No, that’s extreme! But everyone knows you don’t have as much freedom of expression in high school & he know that !
No, that’s extreme! But everyone knows you don’t have as much freedom of expression in high school & he know that !
When I was in highschool, which it has been a while, we had to adhere to school rules and dress code rules. If the rules state that males have to dress in slacks or shorts, I would faithfully abide by the schools rules and that’s that.We can not dress how we want to, even if we feel like it’s liberating "us" in our senior year.True story, a guy was receiving his diploma and he decided that he would twist and sashay on down the aisle and receive his diploma.This guy was repremanded and detained by the school authorities for disrespecting the "pomp and circumstance" of he occassion.Although we live in America, we still must abide by rules, even if we like it or not.If you want to dress like that, May is just around the corner….. you can wait until then.Lord, we are in trouble…real talk.
He looks like a damn fool!Fact is he’s not a woman and in America skirts is not normal for men to wear.I agree with the person in the clip that says his dressing in such a way is a distraction.
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I don’t think he should have been arrested but I DO think he should have been locked in the gym and the football team should have been made to line up and punt him dead in his azz til all those leaves or flowers fell off his skirt.If he’d learn anything from that,maybe it would inspire him to wear a solid color.
LMAO!!! NO HE SHOULDN’T HAVE.
lmaooo! No I guess not.
Just this morning on Good Morning America they had a ten year old caucasian male whose parents allow him to dress, act and pretty much consider himself a female. In his room hung a sign stating "no boys allowed.’ His/Her father stated that when others ask about his children he know tells them that he has two daughters instead of a daughter and son. I just don’t know anymore…
There’s something very evil in most people, and it’s very deep seated, and that is—the wish to persecute anyone who is different, including nonviolent differences which cause no financial loss nor property damage. People can’t STAND anyone being different! Unless that attitude is subordinated to tolerance, civilization will NEVER arrive, no matter the technological status. FYI—everything bad said about males in skirts—absolutely everything—was previously said about women in pants—"crime—sin—deviance—mental illness—disorder—threat to the family unit—etc." Rome sent men in pants into exile in 393AD and confiscated their property! There ARE no female garments except bras and narrow tailored underwear! No difference of anatomy = NO SEX DIFFERENCE! Greek soldiers wear SKIRTS TODAY! So do policemen in Fiji!
I dont think he should have went to jail or suspended. Where is his mother? If u are a boy dress like a boy if you are a girl sress like a girl..Its a time and place for everything ….That was unexceptable….:(
The officer who arrested the boy is a Nazi! No wonder we have an increase in cop killings in this country!
this is why schools should stick to uniforms!
saha wrote:
"If u are a boy dress like a boy if you are a girl sress like a girl."
The problem is, girls dress like boys and nobody says anything. Yet if a boy dresses like a girl he gets put in jail! What does that tell me? That in our society, women have more rights than men, and the men in our society must be gutless cowards to allow women to have rights they themselves won’t stand up for.
I AM TOTALLY ON HIS SIDE.SOCIETY IS LOADED WITH SEXIST HIPORITES.ITS OK FOR ONE GENDER AND NOT THE OTHER ? RIGHT ON ERIC,YOU ARE ONE COOL DUDE..I wear a skirt everyday,to work and when im not at work.I am just the same person as if i was wearing jeans,which i dont wear but maybe once a month at most.You should try it some time,then you would know why guys like skirts.And just a FYI,women adopted the skirt from the mens wardrobe,AND it wasnt until the 1930’s or so til women wore pants when women first started wearing pants,and they had the risk of being arrest.Do a google search on the history of the skirt.Dont be affraid.And most women like to see a guy in a skirt.As of last night i was standing in line at the cash register,the was a woman behind me and she said,” i really like your skirt” i then said ” thanks”.I told her “im was tired of just wearing pants”,she then said“i dont blame you,skirts are much better”….so give it a try,you will see what i am..ERIC,KEEP ON WEARING YOUR SKIRT,ITS CALLED FREEDOM OF CHOICE….IM A MALE ANDI WEAR MINE,AND NOBODY IS GONG TO TELL ME I CANT WEAR A SKIRT..SKIRT ON GUYS !
It’s all about education. This school is an example not to to educate their students correctly. First of all, a skirt is formerly a ONLY male garment, students should learn that in their history classes.
Secondly, clothes can express the personality, but most schools uniform it instead let them be creative.
The main point is that our society sexualize clothes for business reason but most people don’t know that. It only counts what people on the street saying, wearing or doing.
I like that this boy talked openly what he thinks about, and he is right. Fade excuses from principal could not bring the reality in front. Girls distracting much more with their kind of dressing, most called "cute" lessons or male students.
It is clearly a gender and sex discrimination.