This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

I am an alumna of Salt Lake School for Performing Arts, which, for its first several years, was housed inside of Highland High School. During my time there, I made the discovery in my student manual that, in accordance with the Salt Lake City School District, discrimination based on homo/heterosexuality is not banned.

Now, three years after graduating, they have prohibited something else: leggings. Their reasoning is that "clothing should be of modest design… and provocative clothing will not be allowed." In placing this restriction on an everyday clothing item, the school is effectively turning something ordinary into something taboo. Now, instead of being leggings, they are sexual leggings. This is a problem that is constructed by the school's administration, which does not exist in the "real world."

On the other hand, gay discrimination is a perpetual issue, which the school district does nothing to condemn. Harassment that's directed toward homosexuals is a matter that exists in all areas of life, both in and out of high school. The pants one chooses to wear is not.

Sahara Hayes

Salt Lake City