Teen fights to graduate in kilt

LETHBRIDGE, Alberta, May 24 (UPI) -- A Canadian teenager with Scottish roots said he is fighting school officials for the right to wear a kilt while walking in his late June graduation.

Hamish Jacobs, 19, of Lethbridge, Alberta, whose family moved to Canada from Scotland in 1965, said he found his uncle's blue-and-green tartan kilt, representing the Forbes clan, fits him perfectly and decided to wear the item as a tribute to his family history during his graduation from Raymond High School, the Globe and Mail reported Monday.

"I want to wear it out of respect for my ancestors, and because it's just what Scottish people wear to formal things," Jacobs said.

However, he said principal Mark Beazer denied his request to wear the kilt during the ceremony.

"I find it funny. The school teaches you to respect your heritage, be different, be yourself. And so I am going to be different, being myself. And they don't like that," he said.

Jacobs said Westwind School Division superintendent Doug Bennett sided with the principal and he is now considering appealing to the school board in early June.

The Globe and Mail said school officials could not be reached for comment Sunday.