This Cagayan de Oro School's Uniform Announcement Went Viral for Being Gender Inclusive
Their announcement has gone viral online.
(SPOT.ph) The typical Filipino upbringing includes going to a school that had a very strict dress code, but one high school in Cagayan de Oro is changing with the times. An announcement posted by the Senior High of PHINMA Cagayan de Oro College has earned praise online for giving their students the option to wear whichever uniform aligns with their gender identity and expression.
What looks like a totally typical Facebook reminder on the community page of the school, posted on July 25, has gotten 4,000 likes and been shared more than 17,000 times. All that in barely a week. So what caught people's attention?
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The announcement itself is pretty standard, with the caption explaining what sort of uniforms are scheduled for which day. What is rather new is that there were two pictures for the co-ed school's standard uniform, with one showing that students could exercise their right to express themselves. You can spot a reminder that they must still have an issued slip from the CSDL, or the Center for Student Development and Leadership, to be able to wear it.
The second picture has gone more viral than the OG post itself, having been shared more than 36,000 times and with 174,000 reacts as of writing. Sure, there are still the standard rules of always having your ID on, skirts below the knee, natural-colored hair, and whatnot, but it's clear in the comments that the inclusivity is appreciated. There were tons of applause emojis, and many saying "Kudos" to the school.
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LGBTQIA+ activist and actress Mela Habijan shared the picture online, too, captioning it "THE SCHOOL UNIFORM ANNOUNCEMENT THAT WE NEED!", emphasis original. Habijan lobbied for the Department of Education to reinstate the Gender Responsive Basic Education Policy in 2022, following several instances of trans male students being stopped from attending classes or even their own graduations for wearing dresses or skirts.
The policy will ensure that “education institutions remain learner-friendly and are progressively working towards gender equality in educational outcomes,” said the Commission on Human Rights.
Several schools in the Philippines have already made the move towards gender-inclusive practices when it comes to uniforms. The Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Manila dropped their sex-based guidelines on uniforms in November 2022; Colegio de Sta. Rita de San Carlos in Negros Occidental, Valencia National High School in Bukidnon, Southern Luzon State University in Quezon also have inclusive policies in place. PHINMA Cagayan de Oro college is a new and clearly welcome addition, as seen by the online response.