BATH, Maine — When Morse High School administrators announced earlier this week that, in an effort to be sensitive to transgender students, all seniors would wear blue graduation caps and gowns — instead of white for girls and blue for boys — the outcry from some parents, alumni and other students was deafening.
The tight-knit community that boasts the largest alumni association in the country includes many who “ bleed blue and white,” the school colors of the Morse High School Shipbuilders for decades.
Students and others took to social media to express outrage and disbelief that the tradition was ending, and according to some Morse students, the rhetoric grew to include “transphobia and gay-bashing.”
Several students told of a rewritten version of the school song, “The Blue and the White,” that was “very, very offensive.”
Seeking compromise
Within days of announcing the change, Morse High School Principal Jay Pinkerton on Thursday again gathered seniors to announce that instead of everyone wearing blue, seniors could choose which of the two colors their cap and gown will be.
But for Ashton Love and about 10 other transgender students who earlier this year proposed that everyone wear gowns of blue and white, the “compromise” doesn’t solve anything.
“The reason I brought this to the principal is that I don’t identify with the binary gender,” Love, 18, said Thursday. “I didn’t know if they were going to force me to wear white, but I didn’t want to wear blue, either.”
The students found a vendor who would sell the school blue-and-white caps and gowns for “a reasonable price,” Love said, but administrators initially opted for all blue.
Love said that after the change to all blue was announced earlier this week, a student standing beside Love said, “Tell me who it was. I’m going to [expletive] them up.”
But Adam Pierce, a 17-year-old senior from Phippsburg, said changing the school tradition is a mistake.
“My grandmother graduated from Morse in 1969, and they had the blue gowns for the boys and white for the girls,” Pierce said Thursday. “I feel it’s wrong to change such a long-lasting tradition for the handful of people who don’t feel comfortable with it. That’s what our school’s all about, school spirit and tradition … I don’t see what the big deal is.”
“The blue and the white, the colors ever dear to me,” Morse alumnus Brian Hatch said Thursday, quoting the school song.
Hatch graduated from Morse in 1968, began teaching there in 1985 and chaired the English department, coached several teams and served as assistant principal before retiring in 2006. “The problem is, many of us take it literally. To separate the blue from the white, I think that’s what upsets people.”
Hatch, who said, “I’m as big a blue and white guy as you can probably find,” said he sees both sides of the conflict and is comfortable with the administration’s decision to allow students to choose which color to wear.
Hatch attributed part of the outcry to alumni who are already reeling from learning Morse High School will be replaced by a new school.
“For a lot of people that was earth-shattering,” he said. But he said many people don’t know anyone who is transgender and don’t understand why this is important to them.
“I don’t want kids to be hurt, and I don’t want kids to be pressured about it either,” he said. “I don’t think a lot of people understand transgender and the feelings associated with it for young people.”
Tammy Moser Shiers of Bath said her daughter came home earlier this week frustrated that all students had to wear blue because “transgender students don’t feel comfortable.”
“I said, ‘I can understand, but there must be a better solution,’” Shiers said. “I spoke to a couple of my classmates and in a matter of 15 minutes we came up with so many different solutions … what about alphabetical?”
Shiers is also a Morse graduate, and understands the importance of tradition, she said, “But I obviously understand the world changes and we have to make changes.”
Shiers said she was told the question was raised last year before graduation, and she’s frustrated the school didn’t present it to the senior class to research and come up with a solution together.
‘Really awkward’
Gia Drew of Equality Maine has worked with a number of schools in the state on solutions to gender-based graduation colors, “with mixed results.” Last year, Gorham High School struggled with a decision and eventually opted to introduce a third color for those who are transgender, which she said was “really awkward.”
“You’re taking some of the most marginalized people in the community, who are maybe questioning or don’t identify with what we consider the binary, and now they’re put in a position where they’re forced to wear this uniform,” Drew said. “We want to make sure students are safe, and want to celebrate their graduation and be happy about who they are. We need more education around what it means to be transgender, to be gender-neutral, to be gender-queer. I think there’s space for conversation rather than fighting about it.”
Tim Harkins, chairman of the Regional School Unit 1 board of directors, said Thursday that Superintendent Patrick Manuel informed him of the discussion and the decisions by high school administrators. Harkins said it’s not the place of the board to become involved in the decision, but added that he supports the decision made as “a good compromise for this year’s graduation.”
“I think all they are trying to do at this point is be sensitive to the needs of the transgender students while also respecting the traditions that exist at Morse,” Harkins said. “I suspect the conversation will continue, and the school and the community will have discussions leading up to next year’s graduation. I suspect they will end up at a place that hopefully will make everyone satisfied.”
Meanwhile, Love will, reluctantly, wear a blue cap and gown to graduate this June.
“At this point, I’m being forced to pick one [color], so I guess to avoid people thinking I’ve gone back on my transgender choice, I’ll wear blue,” Love said.
But Love plans to stay in touch with members of Morse’s junior class, who are discussing how to approach the issue next year.
“Not all traditions are good ones worth keeping,” Love said. “Society has to evolve. You really ought to change with it. It’s in everyone’s best interest.”