Girl Gets Kicked Out of Prom for Having the Nerve to Wear Pants

For whatever reason, prom season has become a marker both of how far we have come as a society and of how far we still have to go. Signs of advancement (a Massachusetts high school elected a transgender girl prom queen in 2013) are regularly met with opposition to progress (a group of Indiana high schoolers joined together to try to ban gay classmates from a “traditional” prom).

Today’s story that will make you feel right at home in your poodle skirt? A North Carolina senior was asked to leave her prom because she dared to wear… pants. And not just any pants. Skinny jeans. If you can handle this BSFW (barely suitable for work) photo, here’s how Shafer Rupard looked at her Cherryville High School prom:

There are many obvious problems with this situation, not the least of which is that Cherryville High School didn’t even have dress code requirements for its prom (which the school acknowledged to Rupard’s mother Shawn McQuaige, although never actually apologized for).

Beyond that, as McQuaige put it to WBTV News, wearing pants is just the way Ruparb “feel[s] comfortable in her own skin… We want to put out the message to all teenagers that you should be allowed to be yourself.”

(WBTV)