Judge blocks Texas school district's ban on boys having long hair: Seven students including a nonbinary 11-year-old sued district for 'explicit gender discrimination'

 A federal judge temporarily blocked a Texas school district's enforcement of a grooming policy that prohibits boys from having long hair.

Chief US District Judge Lee Rosenthal's ruling on Monday came days after seven students, ages 7 to 17, sued the Magnolia Independent School District.

The students alleged 'explicit gender discrimination' over the policy that bans boys - and not girls - from having long hair.

According to the district's dress code, male students are not allowed to have hair longer than the bottom of a shirt collar. 

Rosenthal's ruling covers a small group of students who she said were being harmed by the policy.

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According to the Magnolia Independent School District's dress code, male students are not allowed to have hair longer than the bottom of a shirt collar

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Chief US District Judge Lee Rosenthal temporarily blocked the Magnolia Independent School District's grooming enforcement 

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Tristan Berger, a student at Magnolia High School, had to cut 16 inches off of his hair because he did not want to miss classes. 'If he had kept his experience as he liked it with the long hair, he would've been excluded from all of his honors classes. He's a very good student. He's in the top five percent of his class,' said his father 

The district has said its grooming policy complies with state law and is in line with community values. 

Tristan Miller, 11, who identifies as nonbinary, is one of the students affected. 

Danielle Miller, his mother, told ABC 13 that she had been called by the assistant principal on the second day of school and was told Tristan's hair was out of the dress code. 

'When I was told that we would have to cut Tristan's hair, I was met with trauma from Tristan,' she said. 

'Tristan is absolutely not getting an equal education at all,' Miller added.  

When Tristan refused to cut their hair, he was placed in suspension. 

Michael Berger also told the outlet that his son had to cut 16 inches off his hair. 

'If he had kept his experience as he liked it with the long hair, he would've been excluded from all of his honors classes. He's a very good student. He's in the top five percent of his class,' said Berger. 

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'Tristan is absolutely not getting an equal education at all,' said Daniel Miller, the mother of an 11-year-old nonbinary student who was placed in suspension after refusing to cur his hair 

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'When I was told that we would have to cut Tristan's hair, I was met with trauma from Tristan,' Tristan Miller's mother said 

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Miller's and  Berger's son and other five boys by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the ACLU Women's Rights Project and three major Houston law firms.

Three of the boys kept their hair long and ultimately stopped attending school as a result of the policy. Rosenthal ordered the district to let them return to class.

Tristan, who sometimes wore barrettes and clips in their locks, was allowed back in class under an exemption set to expire this week.

Another student was placed in suspension for five weeks and then sent to 'a disciplinary alternative education program' for seven weeks after refusing to cut his hair. The 9-year-old Latino boy, wore a ponytail like his father and uncle, Out reported.  

Attorney Brian Klosterboer, from the ACLU of Texas, said he spoke with the students´ parents and they said the young plaintiffs were 'so happy to go back to school.' 

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The lawsuit was filed on behalf of six male and one nonbinary student by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the ACLU Women's Rights Project and three major Houston law firms

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'I mean it feels dehumanizing to have a school government force me to cut my hair and meet their expectations of appearances,' said Magnolia High School student Daniel Hoosier

'We have warned the district repeatedly that its gender-based hair policy violates the Constitution, but the district continues to derail students' lives and deny their right to a public education free from discrimination,' Klosterboer had said previous to Rosenthal's ruling.   

'I mean it feels dehumanizing to have a school government force me to cut my hair and meet their expectations  of appearances,' said Magnolia High School student Daniel Hoosier.

Rosenthal said she would determine at the next hearing what to do about the other three plaintiffs, like Hoosier, who reluctantly cut their hair at the start of school in August but are growing it back.

That hearing, which is set for November 10, will address a preliminary injunction being sought by the plaintiffs. If granted, such an order would last until the lawsuit is resolved, and could potentially extend to more children.