High school picks girl to serve as king

[tryton]

Teen stirs debate by seeking homecoming seat

By Elizabeth Schainbaum, STAFF WRITER

HAYWARD -- Girls rule Hayward High School!

Proof is in the regal display at the school's annual homecoming parade winding through downtown today.

Atop the senior class's float is one girl wearing a dress. The other girl -- a pantsuit. Both waving and smiling. One is homecoming queen. The other king.

"A lot of people didn't want to see us here, but step back and make way for the royalties," said homecoming king Angela Anthony, 17.

She and homecoming queen Iesha Miller, 17, affectionately called "the terrible twos," are used to being different. Sophomore year, they were the only ones wearing baggy pants with boxer shorts peeking over the waistline. Everyone else wore pants tight.

Best friends since they were knee high, they do everything together.

But the two girls both couldn't be queen, and they didn't want to compete against each other, so Anthony went for king. "Some things change. Why not change this?" said Miller.



Change, however, isn't always simple. The she-king created a schoolwide debate over gender politics, raised questions about what makes a "king" and unearthed prejudices no one thought were there, students said.

Angela never meant to make a political statement. Her running for homecoming king was a joke, hatched over giggles during lunch.

Then she did it. Angela won the most nomination votes, defeating all her male competitors.

With only three nominees allowed, Angela took a spot traditionally given to a senior boy. The senior class chose a king from the three candidates.

"It's been a huge issue," teacher Trudi Hebert said a few days after Anthony was nominated for king. "Obviously, the king is traditionally the male position on a royalty court."

Chris Gradillas, 17, said he voted for Angela because he thought a girl king was amusing.

"I've never seen that before," he said. "I thought it was interesting."

Initially, senior Chris Eckert, who tried for king, didn't like the idea of a girl running. He said each gender should have an equal chance at the throne, a sentiment others share.

The next day he changed his mind.

"How do you know she doesn't identify with the male, the king position?" he said. "I'm not saying Angela feels that way. But she opened the door and all sorts of things came flooding through."

When Angela's nomination was questioned, student activist groups adopted the cause.

"We felt that once a girl runs for king, it becomes a gender issue," said teacher Mike Dwyer, co-adviser for Hayward High's Gay and Straight Alliance. "As long as some people don't fit neat definitions of gender, there's going to be gender inequality, gender discrimination, sexism and heterosexism.

Hayward High has no rules defining the gender of homecoming king and queen. Students and teachers consulted the dictionary, which suggests a king is male.

Despite that definition, Principal Debra Calvin ruled that Angela could try for king.

http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Storie...750996,00.html

[Johnson]

ROFL

[Turbostang]

I am thankful for every day I no longer have to live in that state.

[CatDancer]

That is just stupid and watch - some boy's parents will sue now!!! If they had made a guy the queen - the girls would be rioting in the streets!

[jadatrack]

that would never happen in my school. ever. a girl wouldn't even be able to get on the nomination lists. i think i'll try to become homecoming king though. just to see if i can. and i'll try to get some of those cross dressing folks for run for queen.

[Kyle Gridley]

As if high school wasn't a big enough C.F. and popularity contest already