Male Teacher In Spain Wears Skirt In Support Of Student Expelled For Fashion Choices

Students and teacher show their emotional support to their classmate after he was embarrassed with homophobic comments. And now the movement is all over social media.

Male teachers and students in Spain have been wearing skirts in support of a colleague after he was expelled for wearing one in November.

The incident took over social media and called the attention of other media channels under the hashtags #LaRopaNoTieneGénero, and #ClothesHaveNoGender.

Manuel Ortega and Borja Velázquez, teachers at the public school Virgen de Sacedón in Valladolid, Spain decided to wear skirts after hearing one of their students saying homophobic comments about another classmate for wearing a hoodie with manga motifs.

The student in question felt embarrassed after hearing the insult and ended up taking off his hoodie and lowering his head down.

Manuel Ortega came up with the idea of wearing skirts to show his support to the student who was bullied and brought the idea to the school’s head of studies, Borja Velázquez.

Ortega’s goal was "to show that we should be open to change and that words cause harm."

After being interviewed by many papers, their movement took off and took over social media, reaching viral status. This, however, isn’t new. In October 2020, students and teachers from various schools across Spain have been wearing skirts in solidary to another incident.

Mikel Gómez, a 15-year-old student was expelled from class and forced to see a psychologist after he chose to wear one himself.

Gómez shared a video on TikTok explaining the incident and it became viral, reaching over 2 million views.

Gómez’s teacher, who started the movement at their school, also shared a message on social media:

Even many months later, the movement is still alive and over social media. Students and teachers continue their support and condemning fashion choices and dress codes as an exclusive standard to gender. As the hashtag says, #ClothesHaveNoGender.

Fortunately, the viral movement took a step further from being an isolated movement. As a result, Carballeira Institute of Secondary Education has implemented a course on gender equality.