Friday, February 7, 2014
My high school doesn't have a football team, so our Homecomings aren't the usual American high school homecomings. We obviously don't have a Homecoming football game, so our homecoming court doesn't walk out on the field or anything like that. Instead, the court is voted on the week before, and is not announced until the Homecoming dance takes place. The court is always kept a secret until then.
Last year, my senior year of high school, the school administration wasn't sure how to handle the court. As votes started coming in, it looked like a transgender boy, my friend Aiden, was going to win Homecoming king. Our principal called Aiden in to her office and sat him down. She told Aiden that it looked like he was going to win, but they weren't sure what to do about that. Aiden didn't understand what she meant, and neither did the rest of his friends when he told us that part of the story. What our principal meant was that if Aiden did come out to be the winner, she wasn't sure that she would announce him as our king--she would announce the runner-up and nobody would ever have to know. As she told Aiden this, she realized what she was saying and seemed to doubt herself.
Between this day and the night of Homecoming, all we could think about was Aiden winning. The problems were; if Aiden wasn't announced as king, would it be because he actually didn't get the votes, or because the principal decided to give king to the runner up? If he did win, would it be because he actually won or because the principal felt guilty about what she had said?
Aiden did end up winning homecoming king, and I won queen. Our schoolmates had no problem with this whatsoever, the backlash came from adults in the community and students from other schools. People said all sorts of things like "What is it like having two queens?" or "Clare, what was it like having to dance with her in front of everyone?" We all tried not to pay any notice, but it obviously didn't sit well with Aiden.
I think the school did the right thing letting Aiden win fair and square. Normally, the homecoming court is announced with a picture in the city's paper. This was not done my senior year.
I suppose the question I have for all of you is this: what would you have done as the school administration? I, as I assume many of us would, would just have announced Aiden as king if he had won and not announced him as king if he hadn't-just as you would had it been anyone else. I also would have put the Homecoming picture in the paper-just as you would had it been anyone else. I have been trying to understand why the school didn't do this for the past year. Friends of mine have told me that the school was just trying to avoid controversy, which I suppose I understand, but do not think is a good enough reason.
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What I think is most interesting about this story is that the principal called Aiden in to talk to him about this… That sounds out of line. If it were an issue, the topic of "concern" should not have been approached. If he wasn't, you guys never would have known there was an issue. While I am glad that they granted the award based on the will of the people (a democratic right), I am not surprised by the administration's reservations in doing so or in publishing it in the paper. I have been raised in the Tipton County School System (county North of Shelby) and have gotten pretty cozy with it at times hearing some of the politics of it since my mother is a teacher. This sort of thing happens quite often and doesn't always end like it did for Aiden. We had an award my senior year of high school (along with the traditional Most Likely to Succeed, Most Athletic, etc.) that was Best Swagg (two g's intentional - learned that the hard way…). My mother was the student council advisor in charge of the voting and informed me that a white student got the most votes. She was a little perplexed by this since we expected a black student to win it, but after some discussion we decided that was totally okay and that was what the majority wanted.
ReplyDeleteAside from academic or conduct reasons, which for us were stated as prerequisite requirements to receive such titles (we don't want the school trouble-maker to be honored as Mr. BHS), the will of the students should prevail. If it doesn't, what does that say about the world - or the country - we live in? Obviously, your senior class liked this Aiden kid - despite or because of his transgenderedness. Why shouldn't he win?
I don't know if your school was a public or private institution, but I can relate to the administration's unwillingness to publicize this particular Homecoming King. While I don't agree, I can relate. It was unfair to both you and Aiden, but I think we should take the fact that he won as a baby step toward greater change.
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ReplyDeleteThis is an extremely interesting anecdote, but given the way you've told it, it seems as although there was a moral gray area in the principal's meeting with him, it seems almost possible that given the general controversy (used loosely in the context of this situation), that the principal would have had a substantive amount of guilt in awarding Homecoming King to somebody else had that other person won, despite the conversation she had with Aiden. In a situation that is becoming more and more common, but still lacks a general precedent and can cause issues with publicity (even though it shouldn't), it would have been relatively easy to turn the other cheek and give the title to one of the other cisgender nominees.
ReplyDeleteI, of course, am so glad this wasn't case. Instances of trans teenagers being voted Homecoming king and queen, which pops up in the news more and more often, are a great reflection that trans high school students are not only being accepted by their peers, but being seen as role models and leaders. And although this doesn't lessen or negate the ever-present threat of violence against trans people of any age, it may signal a positive shift in attitude towards trans people as the current generation of young people become adults.