Oakleigh Marshall, a FTM trans student at Mona Shores High School in Muskegon, Michigan, is registered under the name Oakleigh Reed. Last September when he mounted an impromptu campaign to be named homecoming king, Oakleigh won — and was then told by his principal that, because he was born a biological woman, and registered at the school as such, he would have to surrender the title. Flash-forward five months, and Mona Shores High has a new solution to gender-specific superlatives: do away with them. Which is why at this year’s prom, there will be no king nor queen, but a pair of gender-neutral crown holders for both juniors and seniors. “I’m so glad that the rules have been changed,” says Oakleigh in a statement. “All I wanted was a chance for all students to participate and be heard. Now, my classmates and I can just focus on having a great time at our school dance.”
EdWoody
See, your title made it sound like we should expect another Constance McMillan situation, where the school was going to stamp their foot and throw a tantrum because they couldn’t discriminate. But it’s actually much better than that. So again, you’re deliberately misleading your readers, and not even in a misguided attempt to be funny.
The Bony Man
Agreed that the title is misleading, but the non-gender-specific royalty is a great idea. Opens up all sorts of options.
B
No. 2 · The Bony Man wrote, “Agreed that the title is misleading, but the non-gender-specific royalty is a great idea. Opens up all sorts of options.”
Talking about royalty …
Once heard that Willie Brown, while mayor of San Francisco, visited the Clinton White House. In talking about his visit, and following his custom of never missing an opportunity for a wisecrack, Brown (who is an African-American) said, “I had a choice of staying in the Lincoln Bedroom or the Queen’s Bedroom, so I went with the guy who freed me instead of the voters who elected me.”
Brown could get away with saying just about anything – he made wisecracks so often that it was more or less expected of him. Once when asked if he had actually made some outrageous statement, he replied, “How would I know?” (He made so many just to be funny that he couldn’t possibly remember them all.)
He never pretended to be a paragon of virtue, so no one expected it of him. When he announced that his long-term girlfriend was going to have a baby, he just stated that the child would be well cared for. The only raised eyebrows were from people who asked why they didn’t use birth control (maybe they did – it is no 100% reliable). After it, it was in San Francisco.
Paul
Wow… I almost fell off my chair….. Queerty has a positive take on a story…..did it hurt? I am so proud that you finally have a nice story to read.
THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH!