Members

It wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision that drove Brewster High School student Michael Loscalzo to go to school dressed as a girl.

"Years of taking judgment made me decide to stick up for myself," said Loscalzo, 17. "All my life, people either said I was weird or that I was gay."

The Brewster High School sophomore recently revealed his secret about his desire to become a woman by going to class wearing makeup and feminine attire. His choice has reverberated through the halls.

Loscalzo said school officials warned him Friday that he could be suspended if he continued to cross-dress, a claim that administrators denied yesterday.

In a show of support, several students have organized an "Equality Protest" this week, by showing up to school dressed in garments of the opposite sex.

Yesterday, about a dozen teens gathered at a local deli with boys wearing skirts, wigs and dresses and girls donning caps, cargo pants and T-shirts. They said about 60 students cross-dressed yesterday, though school officials said the number was far less.

"We want Mike to feel more comfortable in his surroundings," said senior Shannon Dodd, 18, one of the organizers. "We're letting the student body know that it's OK to dress this way."

Administrators stressed yesterday that there were no plans to suspend Loscalzo for cross-dressing. Brewster High School Principal Matthew Byrnes said Loscalzo did have a conversation with a school official about inappropriate attire after he had come to school wearing a camisole.

"First of all, no one has been suspended in my four years for cross-dressing," Byrnes said. "We want all students to be accepted regardless of what they choose to wear and what their sexual orientation is. We are still always going to have rules on what our expectations are on the appropriateness of what people wear."

Loscalzo said he never wore a camisole to school. Yesterday, he had on a lace-trimmed tank top with a cropped sweater, jeans and women's boots that he accessorized with a green choker, matching bracelets and heavy black eyeliner.

A bra could be seen under the spaghetti-strapped top that he stuffs with gel-like pasties.

When he cross-dresses, he usually wears similar-looking tank tops, he said. Loscalzo has been cross-dressing for nearly a month.

The transition has not been easy at school, as many kids have made fun of him and called him a "freak," he said. One student, he claimed, recently punched him in the stomach for his appearance.

Yet the trouble has not stopped Loscalzo from being who he wants to be.

"I honestly just don't feel comfortable as a male," he said.

Loscalzo intends to get a sex-change operation by age 21, he said, and is now undergoing counseling to get approved for hormone therapy injections. He said he has been attending therapy sessions for four years.

His mother, Anne Loscalzo, said she learned about her son's decision three months ago. The school, she said, has not called her to discuss his cross-dressing.

Though she has serious concerns about a sex-change operation and his safety, she backs him up, she said. Michael, she said, has gotten picked on in school during the past four years for "being different."

"I've always encouraged him to be who he is," she said. "So if this is who he is, then I support it."

Brewster Schools Superintendent Jane Sandbank reiterated that the district stresses respect and tolerance of all people.

"The school has been supportive of Michael and helping him work through his issues," Sandbank said. "Undergoing a sex change is a major choice for a young man to make. We would hope that the school would give appropriate guidance and ensure that he's not ridiculed or bullied."

Loscalzo said it was in the seventh grade when he realized that he wanted to be a girl. He is an only child, he said, and was adopted from the South American country of Colombia at age 4.

"I'm not going to let anyone stop me from doing this. It's who I am, and it's what I believe in," he said. "It's not something that you wake up one day and say, 'I'm going to have a sex change.' You're born with it. You don't choose."

Yesterday, the gender-bending students got a glimpse of what Loscalzo has been going through.

"The faces I got were not just disgusted but horrified," said senior Robert Gewirtz, 17. "I'm wearing a skirt. It's not like I have leprosy."

"It shows you exactly how someone in Mike's situation would feel," chimed in senior Christopher Motta, 17. "What I'm hoping that this does is show people that it doesn't matter what you wear, you can express yourself however you wish."

Loscalzo said he was overwhelmed by the support. As he stood outside the deli on Route 312 across from Henry H. Wells Middle School, students driving by honked their horns and shouted out, "Hey, Mike."

"I'm surprised because I didn't know that many people cared," he said. "I'm truly delighted."

Members

Your Score: Much Ado About...

You scored 24% = Tragic, 55% = Comic, 44% = Romantic, 28% = Historic

You are the World

Many peers back cross-dressing student