Girls can wear dresses or pants. Right? Apparently not at prom. Sex, Etc. magazine recently reported that a 17-year-old girl in Indiana wanted to express her gender by wearing a tuxedo to prom. She was denied this right, because her school’s dress code required girls to wear dresses to prom. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit that resulted in the elimination of clothing restrictions based on sex.

You might be quick to blow this off as a rare occurrence, but issues like this come up more than you would think. At all-male, Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA, there’s a new “Appropriate Attire Policy” that prohibits students from carrying purses or wearing dresses, makeup or high heels. A few weeks ago in Wesson, MS, a female student wore a tuxedo in her school picture, but the school would not allow her photograph to be published in the yearbook.

It is very discouraging that so many people and institutions are not accepting or understanding of how people choose to express their feelings of being male or female. Sadly, people often do not approve of things that they are not used to. There are many people in the world whose gender expression does not match our expectations of how guys or girls should act or dress. If we keep educating people and exposing them to the different ways that people choose to express their gender, perhaps we can eliminate the kind of discrimination these students faced.

-Melanie Johnson, 17, Staff Writer

This past weekend, teens celebrated Halloween—the “sweetest” time of year with candy, mischief, scary spirits—and sexy costumes?!

For some teen girls, Halloween is a fun, harmless opportunity to take exciting risks. From “naughty schoolgirls” to “sexy cops,” girls dressed up in provocative outfits to flaunt their wild sides and show off their bodies. Teens who normally aren’t all caught up in being sexy chose to wear revealing costumes that were tinier, tighter and shorter than ever.

A recent article from the campus newspaper at Northwestern University taught readers how to “skankify yourself this Halloween” with tips and rules. As Cady from Mean Girls has said, “Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.” Hmmm…so the point of Halloween is to look like skanks and wear as little as possible? Don’t get me wrong, being able to comfortably express our sexy sides and explore personal boundaries can be incredibly empowering. But when does it go too far?

Check out this photo of Audrina Patridge in a genie costume at her recent Halloween party. “Audrina Patridge: Making Every Man’s Wish Come True” reads the headline from a celebrity gossip blog. The headline seems to suggest that the purpose of dressing up is to please others—especially men—rather than ourselves. Why isn’t there a picture of a male celebrity “making everyone’s wish come true” with his costume? What’s up with the double standard?

It’s fine to try out what it’s like to be sexy. But in today’s highly sexualized culture, where women are all too often valued only for their sex appeal, we’ve got to remember there’s a lot more to girls and women than just being sexy.

—Cynthia Lam, 16, Staff Writer

Name: Adam Lambert
Age: 27
Hometown: Hollywood, CA
Claim to Fame: American Idol runner-up
Sexual Orientation: ?

For a while, there was speculation about whether American Idol’s latest runner-up was gay, but never any confirmation—until now. Lambert has officially come out in Rolling Stone magazine, saying “I don’t think it should be a surprise for anyone to hear that I’m gay.” But why all the fuss in the first place?

Maybe it started with Idol’s season two runner-up, Clay Aiken, who kept the fact that he was gay a secret. In an interview with People magazine years after he was on Idol, Aiken credited his newborn son as the inspiration to stop hiding about his sexual orientation.

Perhaps then, Lambert’s coming out is a step in the right direction: he neither shied away from the rumors nor made his orientation a huge deal. And whether he planned to or not, this can be seen as encouragement to gay, lesbian and bisexual people—during Gay Pride month, no less—to be out and proud.

Want to make a safe space for teens to be out and proud at your school? Check out Nick’s story on forming a gay-straight alliance (GSA).

—Anita Modi, 17, Staff Writer

President Obama has proclaimed June “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month.” We’d like to kick off LGBT Pride Month with the true story of 18-year-old Sergio Garcia. He ran for—and won—the title of prom queen at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, CA.

You might be scratching your head and wondering how can a guy be the prom queen? The title of prom king didn’t feel right for Sergio. According to him, being the prom queen was a better fit for his personality—the title matched his gender expression. Of course, some people had reservations about having a guy as prom queen. But in a speech to his senior class Sergio defended his decision:

“I will be wearing a suit,” Sergio said, “but don’t be fooled, deep down inside, I am a queen!”

Sergio’s campaign for prom queen got students talking about gender roles and gender expression. Was it right for a guy to run for a traditionally girls-only title? Some people thought Sergio was pulling a stunt and that it was unfair to girls competing for the title. But most of his senior class as well as the school’s principal eventually showed their support, and Sergio won the crown.

What do you think about Sergio’s story? Do you think it was right for Sergio to run as prom queen? Or should he have stuck to prom king? Leave us your comments!

Halloween is the one day of the year when everyone can escape their everyday lives and dress up as anything they want—real or not. But there’s a growing trend in women’s Halloween costumes; they’re becoming racier and sexier than ever before.

Take a look at some costumes we found online:

We found these in the “sexy” category of costumes for women. But the truth is most of the women’s costumes could be in the “sexy” category. And there’s no “sexy” category for men. What’s that about?

Browse the costumes and you might notice a pattern: Guys can be pirates, ninjas, vampires or even something more ordinary, like firefighters or athletes. Girls, on the other hand, don’t get to be pirates, firefighters and athletes. No, girls get to be “pirate wenches,” “sexy firefighters” and “babe athletes.”

You might see nothing wrong with sexy Halloween costumes for women. But do they send the wrong message to young girls? If a girl or woman is going to dress up for Halloween, does she have to be “sexy”? Isn’t there more to women than just being sexy? Or are sexy costumes just a harmless opportunity to show off your wild side?