Lambda Legal filed papers Dec. 12 in the Northern District Court of Indiana,charging that a Gary, Ind., school violated a student’s rights when itstopped a male student from entering his prom because he wore a dress.Kevin “K.K.” Logan attended West Side High School and “expressed a deeplyrooted femininity in his appearance and demeanor,” according to a LambdaLegal press release. During this time (his junior and senior years),classmates and teachers supported Logan. However, at the May 19, 2006,senior prom, principal Diane Rouse stretched her arms across the door whenLogan attempted to enter, blocking his access to the facility. The pressrelease also stated that classmates and friends “rallied to his defense tono avail tuxedo.” Rouse has supported a school policy that bans “clothing/accessories thatadvertise sexual orientation, sex, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, profanity [and] negative social or negative educational statements.” Jim Madigan, a staff attorney in Lambda Legal’s Midwest Regional Office,told Windy City Times said that the plaintiff’s case has two facets.”There’s an aspect [that] is the First Amendment,” Madigan said. “The factthat they shut him out by virtue of wearing this dress students to wear gender-non-conforming clothing, particularly females intuxedos a male to wear a dress)that the principal didn’t like. We think that herreaction to that message and the challenge to that convention [are] whyshe shot him down.” The other element, according to Madigan, is “an issue ofwhether they violated the rules that prohibit sex and genderdiscrimination.” He also said that the legal team representing Logan asked the schooldistrict for all of the “reasons and policies [regarding] what happened to[Logan],” and simply received the policy stated above. “They sort of,quite frankly, gave us the brush-off,” Madigan said. “They didn’t send anyexplanatory letter other than [the] policy.” Madigan added that subsequentrequests to discuss the situation have yielded no response. When questioned about what is being sought, Madigan responded that theyare seeking compensatory and punitive damages as well as a declaration fromthe court “that the school’s policy is in violation of the First Amendment.” The case is Logan vs. Gary Community School Corporation et al. Madigan is handling the case along with Cole Thaler, staff attorney forLambda Legal’s Transgender Rights Project and co-counsel from the Chicagolaw firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal. Windy City Times contacted the school corporation’s superintendent, Dr.Mary Steele-Agee, but had not received a response by the time the newspaperwent to press.