Michael Melo wanted to make a bold statement about transgender tolerance at his high school. So, last week, the Grade 11 Kingsville student slipped into a formal evening dress and trotted off to class.
It was picture day and the self-described jokester expected to be ridiculed by his classmates. He expected school administration to send him home. Instead, he received overwhelming support from everyone.
Openly gay friends stood by Melo as photographers questioned his decision to wear a dress for his photo shoot. The school principal did the same.
In the end, Melo’s social experiment illustrated growing acceptance of transgender issues. But even with the open-minded culture he discovered in the hallways of Kingsville District High School, experts warn that trans youth have a long way to go before they can escape the physical violence and overall discrimination they so often endure.
“Research shows that youth who are transgender are still subject to sexual harassment, they’re physically attacked and suffer significant bullying,” said Betty Barrett, a women’s studies instructor at the University of Windsor.
She questions whether there was a better way to highlight transgender issues at Melo’s school, but Barrett says, at the very least, his stunt has started a conversation.
Melo has experienced his share of bullying and harassment because people often assume he’s gay. He said his high-pitched voice and feminine mannerisms made him the target of a lot of abuse throughout elementary school.
Michael Melo, 16, a student at Kingsville District High School is shown Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2015, in the dress he wore for photo day at the school. He expected to be ridiculed for showing up to class in a dress. But instead his stunt illustrated the culture of tolerance found in the hallways of the school. (DAN JANISSE/The Windsor Star)
Because of his experience and his alliance with gay and transgender students, he’s not worried people will misconstrue his experiment as an attempt to make fun of anyone.
“I’ve been called the F-word, I’ve had people scrawl hateful stuff on my locker,” he said. “So, I have a soft spot in my heart for the homosexuals in the school just because I know what they’re going through and I know that it’s pretty crappy how they’re treated.”
His experiment started when he showed up to class on Sept. 23 just like he would any other day, but this time sporting the black dress. A few teachers and a handful of students looked at him “weird,” but overall there was no teasing, no taunting.
The biggest hiccup of the day started when the photographer initially wouldn’t take Melo’s photo because the dress was perceived as a traditional picture-day prank by a class clown. That didn’t stop other students from coming to his defence.
“People were shouting: ‘Let him wear the dress. It’s his right’,” Melo said with a smile on his face. “A lot of students were actually quite liberal in thought and were really stoked about it. It was really quite refreshing to see.”
He eventually got approval to be photographed when he spoke to principal Dina Salinitri, who promotes a culture of acceptance at the school.
“There may have been some confusion at first about whether he was serious,” Salinitri said. “Students will try to wear hats for picture day as a prank and (the photographers) weren’t sure if he came to school dressed like that or if he was wearing it as a joke.”
Once Salinitri learned Melo wore the dress to school that day, she immediately approved the photo shoot.
“Absolutely, because we are an inclusive school. We are an inclusive (school) board,” she said. “I’m not here to control the thoughts of our students. Who am I to make an assumption that he’s wearing a dress as a joke?”
Members at Windsor Pride appreciated the level of acceptance Melo received, particularly with an increase in the number of people in the community wanting to openly identify with whatever gender they’re most comfortable with, said Lorraine Sayell, 70, who lived as a man until she was in her 60s.
Windsor Pride increasingly hears from trans youth and their parents looking for information about how to find support in the community, says Sayell. But as more people come to terms with living openly in their true gender, there’s still a risk for discrimination.
“All trans people who are out face the danger of being ridiculed,” she said. “That’s why young people need to be supported.”
A recent national study from the University of B.C. demonstrated the rampant abuse suffered by Canada’s trans youth. Released earlier this year, Being Safe, Being Me showed that 70 per cent of trans youth reported experiencing sexual harassment, while about 33 per cent said they were physically threatened or injured in the past year.
Figures like that give Barrett pause when it comes to talking about the acceptance levels for trans youth.
“The reality is, for many people, there is still a significant risk of being harassed and physically abused because of who they are,” she said.
