Wolfman1982
people are hard to please
- Joined
- May 26, 2005
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http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/muskegon_county/No-'king'-title-for-transgender-senior
Oakleigh Marshall not allowed to compete for court
Updated: Monday, 27 Sep 2010, 1:21 PM EDT
Published : Sunday, 26 Sep 2010, 9:47 PM EDT
* By Ken Kolker
MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD) - Some Mona Shores High School students say administrators stole the homecoming king throne from the rightful winner -- a transgender senior.
The controversy is playing out in the school's hallways, and on Facebook.
Some classmates believe the crown belongs to Oakleigh Reed -- who was born as Oakleigh Marie, but who now goes as Oakleigh Marshall, or Oak for short.
In fact, friends have started a Facebook page, titled, "Oak is My King."
"It's the senior class that votes for their representative," Reed said. "What they did was taking away the voice of the senior class."
Assistant Superintendent Todd Geerlings said the issue is simple: The ballots gave two choices -- vote for a boy for king and a girl for queen.
And, in school records, he said, Oakleigh is still listed as a female.
The 17-year-old says the gender struggle has been life-long -- with sports, family and friends, even band camp. After years of counseling, Oakleigh plans a sex change operation at age 18.
Already, the school has made concessions.
"They let me wear a male tux for band uniform, and they're going to let me wear the male robe and cap for graduation."
Teachers, Oakleigh said, use male pronouns.
"They call me Oak, and they say, he, him, his," the teen said.
Oak, an honor student, campaigned for homecoming king on Facebook -- a one-day campaign.
"I just said, 'Vote for me for homecoming king.' I don't see why there's any reasons why someone who's different shouldn't be on court. I thought, 'Hey, why not put myself out there? I have just as much qualifications as anyone else in the school."
The campaign took off.
"I knew I had a lot of votes because people were telling me in the hallway, 'Hey, I voted for you, I voted for you.'"
Oakleigh was overwhelmed by the support of classmates.
Then, last Monday, the principal called Oak into her office.
"They told me that they took me off because they had to invalidate all of my votes because I'm enrolled at Mona Shores as a female," Oakleigh said.
Oakleigh was happy with the support from classmates, but "sometimes it's nice to have something tangible."
The teen's mother says she's angry.
"He was voted for homecoming king and, according to the votes, he should have been homecoming king, and it's just sad, and it just breaks my heart that all these people all voted and it was taken away, it was completely taken away from him."
What the fuck is it with that society over there ?
ACLU may enter school transgender case
http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/muskegon_county/ACLU-may-enter-school-transgender-case
Oakleigh Reed 'willing to talk to them'
Updated: Monday, 27 Sep 2010, 6:33 PM EDT
Published : Monday, 27 Sep 2010, 1:05 PM EDT
* By Ken Kolker
MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD) - The ACLU of Michigan wants to take up the cause of a transgender Mona Shores High School senior who was denied a chance to become homecoming king.
"I'd be willing to talk to them," Oakleigh Reed told 24 Hour News 8 today.
Jay Kaplan, staff attorney for the ACLU's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Legal Project, said he took an interest in the case after seeing 24 Hour News 8's story on Reed , which aired Sunday.
"It raises some concern about how the school has chosen to treat people based on gender," Kaplan said.
Kaplan said he would contact the school, if Oakleigh agrees, to "alert the district to the laws. Hopefully, they'll reconsider the action that they've taken."
Oakleigh, who was born Oakleigh Marie but now goes by Oakleigh Marshall, is still listed in school records as a female. The teen plans to have a sex-change operation at age 18.
The student campaigned for homecoming king on Facebook -- a write-in election that took place on Sept. 17.
Mona Shores Principal Jennifer Bustard said rumors that Oakleigh got enough votes for king are untrue. There is no way to know because they stopped counting Oakleigh's votes.
"In order to be eligible for homecoming king, the ballot clearly states you must be a boy," she said. "For homecoming queen, you must be a girl."
"He, as I use the pronoun correctly out of respect, is not a boy."
When a student advisor told administrators that Oakleigh was getting votes, "we let the advisor know to nullify and not to continue on," Bustard said. "We just stopped (counting) when we noticed an ineligible person was running for that category."
"The school must be consistent when it comes to gender."
She wouldn't say how many votes Oakleigh had gotten before the counting stopped. "He received votes; that's all I'm going to share."
Some students believe the decision violates the school district's non-discrimination policy, which says the district "does not discriminate om the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability in its programs and activities."
Etoile, it is time to get this forum updated to embedding of videos. In certain parts at least, such as this place, that is about news that is centred around the GLBT area. And there are at times videos about it with the articles.
Oakleigh Marshall not allowed to compete for court
Updated: Monday, 27 Sep 2010, 1:21 PM EDT
Published : Sunday, 26 Sep 2010, 9:47 PM EDT
* By Ken Kolker
MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD) - Some Mona Shores High School students say administrators stole the homecoming king throne from the rightful winner -- a transgender senior.
The controversy is playing out in the school's hallways, and on Facebook.
Some classmates believe the crown belongs to Oakleigh Reed -- who was born as Oakleigh Marie, but who now goes as Oakleigh Marshall, or Oak for short.
In fact, friends have started a Facebook page, titled, "Oak is My King."
"It's the senior class that votes for their representative," Reed said. "What they did was taking away the voice of the senior class."
Assistant Superintendent Todd Geerlings said the issue is simple: The ballots gave two choices -- vote for a boy for king and a girl for queen.
And, in school records, he said, Oakleigh is still listed as a female.
The 17-year-old says the gender struggle has been life-long -- with sports, family and friends, even band camp. After years of counseling, Oakleigh plans a sex change operation at age 18.
Already, the school has made concessions.
"They let me wear a male tux for band uniform, and they're going to let me wear the male robe and cap for graduation."
Teachers, Oakleigh said, use male pronouns.
"They call me Oak, and they say, he, him, his," the teen said.
Oak, an honor student, campaigned for homecoming king on Facebook -- a one-day campaign.
"I just said, 'Vote for me for homecoming king.' I don't see why there's any reasons why someone who's different shouldn't be on court. I thought, 'Hey, why not put myself out there? I have just as much qualifications as anyone else in the school."
The campaign took off.
"I knew I had a lot of votes because people were telling me in the hallway, 'Hey, I voted for you, I voted for you.'"
Oakleigh was overwhelmed by the support of classmates.
Then, last Monday, the principal called Oak into her office.
"They told me that they took me off because they had to invalidate all of my votes because I'm enrolled at Mona Shores as a female," Oakleigh said.
Oakleigh was happy with the support from classmates, but "sometimes it's nice to have something tangible."
The teen's mother says she's angry.
"He was voted for homecoming king and, according to the votes, he should have been homecoming king, and it's just sad, and it just breaks my heart that all these people all voted and it was taken away, it was completely taken away from him."
What the fuck is it with that society over there ?
ACLU may enter school transgender case
http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/muskegon_county/ACLU-may-enter-school-transgender-case
Oakleigh Reed 'willing to talk to them'
Updated: Monday, 27 Sep 2010, 6:33 PM EDT
Published : Monday, 27 Sep 2010, 1:05 PM EDT
* By Ken Kolker
MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD) - The ACLU of Michigan wants to take up the cause of a transgender Mona Shores High School senior who was denied a chance to become homecoming king.
"I'd be willing to talk to them," Oakleigh Reed told 24 Hour News 8 today.
Jay Kaplan, staff attorney for the ACLU's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Legal Project, said he took an interest in the case after seeing 24 Hour News 8's story on Reed , which aired Sunday.
"It raises some concern about how the school has chosen to treat people based on gender," Kaplan said.
Kaplan said he would contact the school, if Oakleigh agrees, to "alert the district to the laws. Hopefully, they'll reconsider the action that they've taken."
Oakleigh, who was born Oakleigh Marie but now goes by Oakleigh Marshall, is still listed in school records as a female. The teen plans to have a sex-change operation at age 18.
The student campaigned for homecoming king on Facebook -- a write-in election that took place on Sept. 17.
Mona Shores Principal Jennifer Bustard said rumors that Oakleigh got enough votes for king are untrue. There is no way to know because they stopped counting Oakleigh's votes.
"In order to be eligible for homecoming king, the ballot clearly states you must be a boy," she said. "For homecoming queen, you must be a girl."
"He, as I use the pronoun correctly out of respect, is not a boy."
When a student advisor told administrators that Oakleigh was getting votes, "we let the advisor know to nullify and not to continue on," Bustard said. "We just stopped (counting) when we noticed an ineligible person was running for that category."
"The school must be consistent when it comes to gender."
She wouldn't say how many votes Oakleigh had gotten before the counting stopped. "He received votes; that's all I'm going to share."
Some students believe the decision violates the school district's non-discrimination policy, which says the district "does not discriminate om the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability in its programs and activities."
Etoile, it is time to get this forum updated to embedding of videos. In certain parts at least, such as this place, that is about news that is centred around the GLBT area. And there are at times videos about it with the articles.
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