An Arizona dad made a bold statement protesting a school board’s decision to relax dress codes for children when he dramatically stripped down to a crop top and Daisy Dukes in front of stunned attendees.
Ira Latham, 39, shocked attendees at the Higley Unified School District meeting in Gilbert, Arizona by storming the podium.
The father of four said he wanted to make a clear argument against the new dress code at the school, which is more lenient and approves anything that does not expose the student’s underwear.
He did this by removing his shirt to reveal a black top that was more than a few sizes too small for him and a pair of Daisy Dukes that left little to the imagination. He said he picked up the bold ensemble at a thrift store.
Latham has three sons in grades 7, 5 and 4 and a daughter in grade 2. He said: ‘The dress code they wanted to get to is just basically dress code for a public pool. Make sure kids cover their underwear and that’s about it,’ Latham said NBC.
Ira Latham, 39, shocked attendees at the Higley Unified School District meeting in Gilbert, Arizona by storming the podium
The father-of-four said he wanted to make a clear case about dress code at the school – and did so by removing his shirt to reveal a black cut more than a few sizes too small for him and a pair of Daisy Dukes that left little to the imagination
He said: ‘The dress code they wanted to get at is just basically a public pool dress code. Make sure kids cover their underwear and that’s about it’
He found the dress code problematic because the main concern is to make sure underwear is not on display.
Before the dress policy was updated, students were not allowed to expose their chest, abdomen or midriff, but the new dress code restricts students to only exposing their underwear.
He said ‘As a father, it’s very concerning for my children as well as everyone else’s children in the district, I wanted to make a clear argument.’
Despite Latham’s brave show of protest, the board voted by a 3-2 margin for the more relaxed dress code.
The concerned father said, “It’s going to be attention in the classroom and it’s going to have some parents wanting to pull their kids out of the district,” though he didn’t specify who he expects to be distracted by what the students choose to wear.
An X user said: ‘Leave teenage girls out of Ira Latham! How embarrassing for you. These policies don’t just target girls, they target certain body types and races.’
Dress code policies usually target girls’ clothing and base the rules on not ‘sexualising’ girls through their outfits. This disparity between school-appropriate clothing expectations for girls and boys begs the question of why school-age girls are sexualized and by whom.
The concerned father said: ‘It’s going to be attention in the classroom and it’s going to have some parents wanting to pull their kids out of the district’
Latham’s wife shared a post on Facebook to show support for her husband’s brave display
Parents at an Illinois high school were left furious in 2019 after dozens of female students were told they violated their school’s dress code by baring their shoulders.
Scores of girls at Glenbard East High School in Lombard, Illinois, were reportedly ordered to wear school supply t-shirts after a female dean claimed they were showing too much skin.
“I was told to cover up because boys were looking at me,” said student Chloe Lynch Fox 5.
“It was very inappropriate, it made students feel uncomfortable, it made them feel sexual and I think it was wrong,” said one mother.
Isabella Villegas, 18, of Kansas was furious after her 13-year-old sister Grace said she received negative comments from teachers for wearing a shirt to school.
The high school senior customized a T-shirt for her seventh-grade sister to wear if she was ever reprimanded for her outfits again.
The custom T-shirt read: ‘Dress code: promotes the objectification and sexualization of young bodies, blames the wearer for the viewer’s perceptions/actions, perpetuates rape culture, is BS (sic).’
Despite Latham’s brave show of protest, the board voted by a 3-2 margin for the more relaxed dress code
After Latham’s protest, Higley Unified School District Board President Tiffany Schultz said, “I understand the concern of these parents. Did his undressing have any effect on me or the meeting? No, it didn’t.
‘He made his statement and we went about our business. We heard from other speakers and moved on. As a council, we have voted to ultimately let parents and families decide what is right for them.
‘It’s the parents and family’s choice and as long as it doesn’t disrupt the school day, it will be a non-issue.’
She added: ‘We want teachers to teach and not have to waste time measuring a girl’s shirt or making a girl feel uncomfortable.’
In a Facebook post, Latham said: “I made my most reasonable argument against the dress code policy, but unfortunately my effort failed to sway the result.”
Sharing a post with his Facebook friends, Latham said: ‘Let me give a little background to explain my new wardrobe. I recently had the opportunity to speak at the Higley Unified School District board meeting, during which they implemented significant changes to the dress code.
‘The new policy is quite minimalistic, akin to a public swimming pool dress code, rather than one suitable for an educational setting.
‘Its main focus is to prevent exposure to underwear and ban see-through clothing.’
He went on to say: ‘The majority of parents in the audience voiced their opposition, but unfortunately there were no attempts at compromise, and the decision was taken against our wishes, This time 3:2 for the new dress code.
“I made my most reasonable argument against the dress code policy, but unfortunately my effort failed to sway the outcome.”