Once upon a time, women weren’t allowed to wear pants (trousers, for you Brits). In our more enlightened age, women are free to wear pants, or dresses, or even colorful bits of string. Meanwhile, men have taken to trotting around in dresses all the time — very, very manly men included.

Yet, when it comes to the high school prom — that pinnacle of teenage sobriety and good manners, that sanctuary of moral upbringing where no hoochie mama may set foot — a boy wearing a dress is still off-limits. So says the principal of a high school in Gary, Indiana, who prevented a male student from coming to his prom last week in a slinky fuschia dress and heels.

She did let in a female student dressed in a tuxedo, however. And, a few other students who were “half-naked.” But boys in dresses? No way. That would be sacrilege against the prom gods.

“Girls can dress like a boy and they are just seen as tomboys,” pointed out Taleisha Badgett, the female student who wore a tuxedo to the prom. “It’s not a big deal. But if boys wear girls’ clothes, it’s a problem.… That’s not right.”

“I already had approval to go to the prom,” said the de-prommed student, Kevin Logan. “I do have constitutional rights. I asked [the principal], ‘Why are you doing this to me? This is my prom. This is like the most important night of my life.’”

Well, it may not actually turn out to be the most important day of your life, Kevin — think of it instead as the one day in your life you’ll ever see a wrist corsage — but that fuschia dress probably didn’t come cheap. Luckily, the state ACLU chapter is on the case.

Victor Tan Chen Victor Tan Chen is In The Fray's editor in chief and the author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Site: victortanchen.com | Facebook | Twitter: @victortanchen