"Ms. Ester’s team, your next speaker," said Catherine as the debate session resumed after the break.

Another veiled girl stepped up to the lectern.

"My opponent in her presentation highlighted the technical details of these uniforms, but did you know who manufactures them? They say that these uniforms are designed, manufactured and supplied by The Feminine Professional, but don’t let that fool you. These uniforms, no. These abominations, are made by Sirius Software. The very same megacorporation that colluded with foreign governments to carve out this Sirius Zone from Massachusetts. The same Sirius Software that forces every female employee to totter in stilettos. This same company that puts tungsten nanowire in your blazer, and which is touted as a marvel of engineering, also produced the tungsten bullets that was used by the Saladin regime to butcher countless innocents in Niger! The same company that makes these uniforms, make the weapons that have wreaked havoc in my homeland. Every time you put on that uniform, remember the blood that was shed because of it!" she said.

Adelaide was about to stand, but William put his hand on her shoulder.

"This one’s mine," he said, a fierce resolve shining in his eyes.

Adelaide felt her heart flutter as William approached the lectern.

"Everyone had a good lunch break, didn’t they? Did you pause to wonder how your food got there? No it didn’t materialize by magic on the store shelf. It was the result of a farmer growing and harvesting the crops and vegetables. To do that, you need fertilizer, which needs nitrates. Do you know who discovered the process to make fertilizer? His name was Fritz Haber. He is now hailed as the father of modern agriculture, and the savior who eliminated the famines that plagued the human race. It is directly because of his contribution that we live in a post-scarcity society, and don’t have to fight wars for a scrap of naturally fertile land. However, this same brilliant scientist, also developed poison gas. That same poison gas, was used to wreak havoc in the trenches of the First World War, and then to slaughter Jews in concentration camps during the Second World War. Does that mean that we now boycott and ban nitrate fertilizer, because the same guy made poison gas? Boeing, doesn’t only make passenger airliners. They make bombers, jet fighters, drones and other weapons systems for both the United States military and for our allies. Do we stop taking a Boeing airliner because of that? The same can be said about Mercedes-Benz. They built the engines that powered the BF-109 and the various war machines of the Third Reich. And if you thought Airbus was clean, they were founded from what was left of Messerschmitt and Junkers. Technology can be used for both good and for evil, it all depends on the person, or people wielding it. Coming back to the specifications of the uniform that my opponent dismissed as war crime. Those stilettos? They are not some delicate and dainty items of footwear. They are forged from titanium. Do you know how you have to work with titanium? Unlike gold, that can be melted on a stove-top, or iron that can be melted and forged in a charcoal forge with bellows, titanium needs to be handled inside a sealed room filled with argon gas. Otherwise, it just oxidizes into worthless powder. Sirius Software may not be a perfect company, but no other enterprise is bringing this level of technology into a purely civilian space. Therefore, I implore you. Don’t give in to moral outrage, or misguided attempts at making a stand. This uniform could very well have been cheap polyester. Yet, Sirius Software is enabling us with this futuristic piece of engineering. Don’t throw it away. Embrace it. Protect it," he said, to thunderous applause from the high-schoolers in the audience.

Ester’s fourth team member stepped up to the lectern.

"From where I come, the Sharia laws governing a woman’s modesty is non-negotiable. While the uniform code as it is, provides for a headscarf, it does nothing for the rest of my body. The nipped blazer, the pleated skirt, the pantyhose, all of these items invite temptation from the evil ones, and by law must be covered. Such half-measures strip me, literally and figuratively of the opportunity to study in this institution. It doesn’t matter that I qualify their rigorous criteria, by mandating this uniform code, they create a deep divide between my duty to obey my religious law, and right to access quality education. The uniform code, must be abolished, for it is intolerant, and unjust," she said.

"This bitch is mine," whispered Yasmin fiercely, and stepped up to the lectern.

"Let’s talk about that Sharia law shall we? First, a little context. For those of you who don’t know. The Middle East and North Africa, where Islam developed and flourished, does not have the cool temperate climate of Europe, nor does it have the mild Mediterranean climate except for the coastal regions. It is a hot dry sandy mega-desert. In this region, the first nomadic tribes wandered with flocks of goats and what few camels and cattle they had, in search of scraps of desert grass and what few waterholes and oases they could find. Tribe and clan conflict was commonplace, and driven by pure survival instinct in a region of limited food and water sources. The modesty laws that my opponent touts, was a practical solution to the problems plaguing them at the time. The caftan and veil helped protect women not from men, but from the glare of the desert sun, and the roughness of the desert sand. As the Islamic world civilized and urbanized, that same garb helped women navigate public spaces which didn’t offer the same protection from the elements as stone and brick walls. Islamic discourse and law thus codified the practical aspects into a rigid rule of a woman’s modesty. That law has been reinterpreted and reformed over the centuries. My opponent called for the reform of the uniform code to allow for this garb. However, this is not the Middle East where we are at the mercy of sandstorms and the harsh desert sun. We are in a climate controlled auditorium, in the temperate climate of the US Eastern Seaboard. Just as the uniform code can be reformed, so can the Sharia rules governing women’s dress. Furthermore, this is an institution run by the Society of Jesus, a Roman Catholic priestly order, and is committed to providing a secular education. They are under no legal or moral obligation to accommodate or enforce Sharia law. If my opponent, or anyone else wishes to study in an institution where such a framework is enforced and upheld, there are plenty of institutions in the Middle East where they can go. If you compel this institution to change its rules according to a religious law, then this administration is well within its rights to enforce Catholic religious law, and forcibly baptize and convert all who enter," she said.

Ester’s final teammate came up to the lectern. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"The St. Ignatius uniform code is not a simple set of arbitrary rules. It is a malicious, and calculated attempt to force a diverse student body into a strict gendered binary. It rigidly enforces skirts for female assigned at birth students. In doing so, it invalidates a host of gender expressions and identities. The pseudo-meritocratic admission requirements are bad enough, but to impose a heteronormative, binary and exclusionary system such as this uniform code, proves that this institution is still stuck in the harmful, archaic and barbaric philosophy of the 19th and 20th centuries that brought about unspeakable horrors and atrocities. Let’s face it. This uniform does not map to diverse identities and body types, no matter how much you tout its tailoring and specifications. It is built on the flawed assumption of a binary gender classification, and is specifically engineered to fit exactly one body type, the hourglass cisgender female body type. For anybody else, it is a symbol of exclusion, of trauma, and of a backward and unfeeling administration," said the veiled girl, in an artificially high-pitched voice.

"I’m taking this one down," thought Adelaide as she approached the lectern.

"Since trauma dumping has been all the rage in this debate, let me share with you all one of mine. Before I came here, I was enrolled in a public school. On a perfectly normal Red day, I went into the clearly labeled women’s restroom. Guess what I encountered? A fully grown man, wearing a bright pink dress, with panties down his legs and dabbing at a gaping, foul smelling wound between his legs. Naturally, I panicked and screamed. Do you know what happened next? I was given an ultimatum. I had to either apologize to that person as they oh so politely called him, or face expulsion. With my mother’s support, I chose the latter, and we moved here. When I found out about St. Ignatius, I enrolled here, despite my mother’s panic and objections over the cost of tuition, and worked hard to crack the entrance test, because I realized that this institution would never, ever tolerate or condone such an action. So, to any boy who feels the burning urge to wear the uniform skirt. More power to you, king, just don’t try to come into the girl’s locker room, or complain when our straight male boyfriends and peers beat the crap out of you. This uniform, and this school, is designed and built to provide a safe and controlled environment where we learn vital skills and are given vital knowledge to prepare us for the rigors of adulthood. This is not the place for exploring sexual and gender expression. That stuff is between you, your private home, and your parents or therapists. We are here to learn algebra, calculus, World history, economics, and have some fun along the way with the various clubs and sports activities. We are not here to find out who we like to sleep with, or whether we like to cross-dress and pretend. You may call me insensitive, intolerant, transphobic or whatever else. But know this. I will not stand for any bending of a binary rule to appease a non-binary minority. There is a place for you here, but keep that part of you between yourself and your doctors. If you want a safe space, there is always the rest of Massachusetts out there, and perfectly respectable, and even affordable public schools, like the one I was thrown out of. But here? You stay in that so-called closet, or so help me God, my scream will be heard from the heights of heaven to the depths of hell," said Adelaide, her eyes wet with tears.