Castleview Primary School in Edinburgh has found itself the topic of a radio phone-in this morning and has received coverage in the national press after encouraging all of its pupils to wear a skirt to school - but the school is not alone.
We take a look at why male teachers and students in Spain started wearing skirts to school last year, and why Castleview Primary decided to join the movement.
How did 4 November become Wear a Skirt to School Day?
Today was designated “wear a skirt to school day” after a Spanish teenager, Mikel Gomez, wore a skirt to class to support diversity and feminism in October last year, but ended up being expelled and referred to a psychologist.
In a TikTok video that went viral, Mikel explained what had happened and what he was trying to achieve, prompting other male students in Spain to wear skirts in solidarity.
That gave rise to The Clothes Have No Gender (#LaRopaNoTieneGenero) movement and 4 November became Wear a Skirt to School Day.
When did teachers start to get involved?
In November 2020 Spanish maths teacher Jose Piñas became one of the first teachers to wear a skirt to school.
Hace 20años sufrí persecución e insultos xmi orientación sexual en el instituto en el q ahora soy profesor, muchs profes, miraron para otro lado. Quiero unirme a la causa del alumno, Mikel, q ha sido expulsado y enviado al psicólogo por ir a clase con falda. #LaRopaNoTieneGenero pic.twitter.com/5PEN9vityY
- Jose Piñas (@joxepinas) November 9, 2020
More recently Manuel Ortega and Borja Velaquez of Virgen de Sacedon Primary School in Valladolid ditched their trousers for skirts.
Un cole que educa en el respeto, la diversidad, la coeducaión y la tolerancia. ¡Vístete como quieras! Nos sumamos a la inicitiva #LaRopaNoTieneGénero @CEIPVdeSacedon @educacyl @cfievalladolid @FTriangulo @fecylgtb pic.twitter.com/GgnoejXe2N
- Borja Velázquez (@borjamusico) April 29, 2021
They joined the campaign to educate their pupils about “respect, diversity, co-education and tolerance” after one of their pupils was subjected to homophobic bullying for wearing a T-shirt featuring an anime character.
What prompted Castleview Primary to join the movement?
Pupils in P6 at the school have been learning about the importance of breaking down gender stereotypes. They wrote to the school’s senior management team to ask if they could support the #ClothesHaveNoGender campaign and have organised their own “wear a skirt to school day” to raise awareness of the movement.
The school said in a tweet: “We promote respect, tolerance and understanding and we want our school to be inclusive and promote equality.”
SO proud of our P6’s who after reading @HappyNewspaper wrote to our leadership team to ask if we could support #clotheshavenogender #LaRopaNoTieneGenero We promote respect, tolerance and understanding and we want our school to be inclusive and promote equality. pic.twitter.com/lCWqt2l3SY
- Castleview Primary (@Castleview_PS) November 3, 2021
P6 teacher Miss White said in a thread on Twitter that the class was hoping “to get as many staff and pupils wearing skirts as we can” and encouraged families to send in spare skirts for pupils to wear, but she added that “we absolutely do not want to force anyone to wear something they’re not happy with”.
P6 have been learning about the importance of breaking down gender stereotypes. We have organised a ‘Wear a Skirt to School Day’ to raise awareness of #LaRopaNoTieneGénero campaign. This will be on Thursday 4th November and we’d love everyone to get involved! ? @Castleview_PS pic.twitter.com/Bby6JKzUJz
- Miss White (@MissWhiteCV) October 27, 2021
Today, Miss White posted pictures of her P6 pupils taking part in Wear a Skirt to School Day.
So proud of our P6 pupils who made the choice to support Mikel Gomez and #LaRopaNoTieneGenero campaign by wearing skirts to school. Our pupils are free to wear the uniform that best suits them EVERY day of the year ? Our pupils are incredible for organising this ? pic.twitter.com/76oGFO0LIJ
- Miss White (@MissWhiteCV) November 4, 2021
What has the response been?
Some newspapers have been reporting that some parents are angry about the initiative, and say the school should “let kids be kids”. But other parents have been showing their support for the campaign and posting pictures of their children taking part.
Ethan showing support for #LaRopaNoTieneGenero today at @Castleview_PS so proud! Also what an amazing school to support this cause! Well done! pic.twitter.com/nrkysxtZwP
- Nicola Taylor (@NicolaT22) November 4, 2021
The school’s teachers have also been getting behind the campaign on Twitter.
@Castleview_PS P2 and P3 team supporting #LaRopaNoTieneGenero #clotheshavenogender pic.twitter.com/riOcP577Js
- Miss Jess (Chapman) (@MissChapman_CV) November 4, 2021
