Manuel Ortega and Borja Velázquez, teachers aged 37 and 36, went to school with skirts. They did it to give a lesson – a little different from the usual ones – to their pupils, who attend the Virgen de Sacedón elementary school, in Pedrajas de San Esteban, Spain: clothes have no gender. This is also the name of the campaign they launched: # LaRopaNotieneGénero.
20 years ago I suffered persecution and insults for my sexual orientation in high school where I am now a teacher, many teachers, they looked the other way. I want to join the cause of the student, Mikel, who has been expelled and sent to the psychologist for going to class with a skirt. #LaRopaNoTieneGenero pic.twitter.com/5PEN9vityY
– Jose Piñas (@joxepinas) November 9, 2020
It all started when Ortega heard that some boys were talking in the classroom homophobic insults to a comrade who wore a shirt with manga designs. The targeted child ducked his head and, ashamed, ended up taking off his t-shirt. The teacher was alarmed and decided to intervene: he talked about it with colleague Velásquez. From the next day, the two teachers went to school in skirts to open a debate on tolerance and diversity and make it clear that “words can hurt.”
Ortega and Velázquez ensure that they have noticed changes in their boys: more respect for those with different views and a greater propensity to acknowledge their mistakes and apologize for them.
A very fragile masculinity. Let us educate children in a new masculinity, free from prejudice and homophobia. #StopHomofobia #StopLGTBIfobia #DiaContralaLGTBIphobia https://t.co/W0U4fvL7MJ
– Borja Velázquez (@borjamusico) May 17, 2021
But it is not the first time that, in Spain, the school has become a tool for teaching inclusiveness. A few years ago a teacher from Seville, Manuel Sánchez, had worn a pink sweater to go to class: he had been told it was “for girls.” The teacher took the opportunity to explain to the children that colors do not belong to any gender and that the garments are not reserved for men or women: just take Scottish-style skirts or women’s trousers as an example. When Sánchez realized he was a model for his students, he also began to paint his nails: little by little – he assures – the boys learned to see diversity as normal and to feel more self-confident.
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