AUSTIN, Texas (LifeSiteNews) — Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is refusing to allow gender ideology and sloppiness to dictate the workplace by requiring his employees and interns to dress according to their sex and in a professional manner.
“An employee’s appearance should reflect the culture, dignity, and professionalism of the Texas Department of Agriculture,” the memo states. It was released on April 13 but The Texas Observer and other media only first began reporting on it this week. “All employees, regardless of assignment, are expected to present themselves in a professional manner that cultivates a favorable impression from coworkers, other government officials, agency customers and the general public.”
“Employees are expected to comply with this dress code in a manner consistent with their biological gender,” the memo stated. “Basic elements for appropriate attire across the board consist of clothing that is in neat and clean condition.”
Men should wear ” a long-sleeved dress shirt, tie, and sport coat worn with trousers and dress shoes or boots” while women could wear “tailored pantsuits, businesslike dresses, coordinated dressy separates worn with or without a blazer, and conservative, closed-toe shoes or boots.” There are exceptions for different jobs in the department that might require more hands-on work, given that it’s the agricultural department.
Employees should also not wear Crocs, flip-flops, revealing clothes, or tattered jeans.
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Examples of inappropriate clothing include:
Clothing that is too tight or revealing; clothing with rips, tears or frays; or any extreme style or fashion; pajamas, workout clothes and sweats; T-shirts, shirts with inappropriate slogans, tank tops, team jerseys, muscle shirts, camouflage and crop tops; shorts, camouflage pants, baggy or sagging pants or pants worn below the waist or hip line; flip-flops, slides, slippers or crocs.
Predictably, media reports called the policy “anti-trans.” The Hill called it an “anti-trans dress code,” for example, while the Texas Observer called it “transphobic.”
An LGBT advocacy group also criticized the dress code but, to judge from their comments, did not actually read the policy before launching into criticism.
“Are women no longer allowed to wear suits? Can men wear necklaces?” Ricardo Martinez of Equality Texas told the Texas Tribune. “While this policy was clearly designed to target transgender employees, it will have a negative impact on everyone. Any policy that is designed to target a specific group degrades the whole department. Texans deserve better.”
The policy clearly allows for women to wear pantsuits.