[News] [UK] Oxford dress laws to suit transgender students

[Stephanie Stevens]

The Independent, UK


Oxford dress laws to suit transgender students

Sam Masters

Monday 30 July 2012


Oxford University has revised its strict academic dress code to cater
for transgender students, allowing men to attend formal occasions in
skirts and stockings and women in suits and bow ties.

The university said it had rewritten laws governing academic dress
following concerns that they "did not serve the interests" of
transgender students. New laws are due to come into force this week.

Under the new regulations students taking exams or attending formal
occasions will no longer have to wear ceremonial clothing that is
specific to their gender.

The changes follow pressure from the university's Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, Trans and Queer Society. "In future there will be no need
for transgender students to cross-dress to avoid being confronted by
invigilators or disciplined during their exam," said Jess Pumphrey,
the society's executive officer.

The old laws governing academic clothing were known as subfusc and
required male students to wear a dark suit and socks, black shoes, a
white bow tie and plain white shirt under their black gowns.

Female students wore a dark skirt or trousers, a white blouse, black
stockings and shoes, and a black ribbon tied in a bow at the neck.

A spokesman for the Oxford University said last night. "The
regulations have been amended to remove any reference to gender, in
response to concerns raised by the student union that the existing
regulations did not serve the interests of transgender students."

Students will no longer have to wear ceremonial clothing specific to
their gender


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