How Much Has America Changed Since I Was Young?

The PJ Tatler links to this rather bizarre news story and asks, "I wonder what would happened if he showed up wearing a cross on his tie."  (At least across the river in Oregon, that was actually illegal because of a Klan supported law passed by popular vote in the 1920s and which was only struck down in part in 1986.)

VANCOUVER, Wash. - Parents of some Vancouver sixth graders are worried about what to tell their kids after a male substitute teacher showed up at school this week in women's clothing.

...

Students said it was obvious that their substitute teacher was a man dressed in women's clothing and from what we understand, some of the kids had a hard time settling down because they were laughing and making jokes. Some were eventually pulled out of class.

Well, I mean it seems bizarre to me, but I am a primitive.  The school district concluded that there was nothing that they could do about it; it did not violate their dress code.  The comments on the article seem to be pretty evenly split between the liberal "isn't that wonderful?" and "Someone has a problem."

That whole part of the country is getting a bit weird; my sister told me that the assistant principal at one of the public schools in Beaverton had a bone through her nose.  Not an earring or a stud: a bone.  I suppose as long as she doesn't go cannibal on the students, who would care?