At a Higley Unified School District meeting in Gilbert, Arizona, on a late September evening, 39-year-old Ira Latham drew attention by stripping at the podium. His actions left parents in attendance shocked.
Latham removed his shirt at the podium, revealing a black garment that stretched over his substantial midsection. He mentioned he had purchased this bold ensemble from a thrift store.
The father of four explained that he was making a strong statement against the new, more lenient dress code policy at the school, which allowed for clothing that didn't expose the student's underwear.
Latham, a father of four, including three sons in 7th, 5th, and 4th grade, and a daughter in 2nd grade, took issue against the new dress code policy at the school. He found it problematic as it mainly focused on ensuring that students' underwear was not show
According to Latham, the proposed dress code essentially resembled a public pool dress code, emphasizing the need to cover underwear.
He told to NBC: 'The dress code that they wanted to get to is just basically a dress code for a public pool. Make sure that kids cover their underwear and that’s about it.
The dress code policy underwent changes from the previous version, which prohibited students from exposing their chest, abdomen, or midriff. The new dress code, however, only restricts students from exposing their underwear.
He said 'As a dad, that’s very concerned about my children as well as everyone else’s kids in the district, I wanted to make a clear argument.'
The concerned father said: 'It’s gonna be distracting in the classroom and it’s gonna have some parents that want to pull their kids out of the district.'
Despite Latham's bold demonstration of protest, the school board ultimately voted in favor of the more relaxed dress code, with a 3-2 majority.
Typically, dress code policies predominantly target girls' clothing, often based on the premise of not "sexualizing" girls through their attire. This gender-based disparity in expectations for school-appropriate clothing raises questions about the sexualization of girls at a young age and the reasons behind it.
Tiffany Shultz, the president of the governing board, has brushed off worries regarding the recently established dress guidelines.
She said: “We’re saying that they need to cover up because of the way it might make someone else feel and that is wrong,”
Amanda Wade, known as one of the governing board members, added: “These are kids.
“They’re not at a job and I recognize at the end of the day this is the most job that they have but we need to allow freedom.”
Watching the video below:
