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
“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?
[Props to my boo DramaDupree for the tip!]