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Man won’t be allowed to be prom queen at Park
Journal Times ^ | 5/02/08 | PAUL SLOTH

Posted on 05/04/2008 8:00:02 AM PDT by Libloather

Man won’t be allowed to be prom queen at Park
BY PAUL SLOTH
Journal Times
Friday, May 2, 2008 11:55 PM CDT


Uriel Gomez poses Thursday outside of Park High School. Gomez, a senior, is openly gay, and was on the ballot for both prom queen and prom king. On Friday, school officials said his name will not be allowed on the girls’ side of the ballot. Photo by Mark Hertzberg of The Journal Times

RACINE — A Park High School student who thought he might have a shot at being prom queen could still get crowned king.

School officials have said they won’t allow Uriel Gomez, 18, to stay on the girls’ ballot for prom court, which could have put him in the running for queen.

Park students started voting for prom court early this week. With a little encouragement from Gomez and his friends, he ended up getting enough votes to get on the girls’ ballot.

Classmates had nominated Gomez for prom king, too. He might have to settle for a crown instead of a tiara.

“Right now it’s kind of confusing. All I know right now is, I’m on the guys’ side,” Gomez said.

Gomez, a senior at Park, insists the push to keep his name on the list of senior girls who might be chosen prom queen has nothing to do with grabbing “15 minutes of fame.”

When Gomez learned he had enough votes that he might get elected to the prom court — on both the boys’ and girls’ sides — he asked a teacher if he could stay on the girls’ side.

The teacher told Gomez, and his friend Matthew Harris, to talk with Jim Kerkvliet, the school’s activities director.

Park officials weren’t thrilled with the idea that Gomez wanted to run for prom queen, regardless of his reasoning.

A former high school football star recently donned a skirt as a joke during a homecoming contest. Gomez didn’t see any difference. School officials did.

“The school is standing with the regular policy,” Kerkvliet said. “It’s the same for everything. Boys are boys. Girls are girls.”

Gomez, who is gay, said that isn’t the biggest reason why he asked to stay in the running for prom queen. He was never really given a good reason why he couldn’t, he said. If his classmates voted for him, why not, he figured. Friends agreed.

Whether school officials change their stance, Gomez has support from friends and classmates.

“I don’t think the student voice should be shushed just because (the school) doesn’t agree with it,” said Amanda Peterson, a Park senior and one of Gomez’s friends. “Prom is supposed to be fun, anyway. I don’t see what the problem is.”

Kerkvliet said earlier this week that he did not know anything about Gomez’s sexual orientation.

Gomez did not tell the school’s activities director that he was gay when he asked to keep his name on the girls’ ballot.

Gomez’s friend, Harris, has stuck by his friend’s side the whole time. The two knew that Gomez’s request wouldn’t necessarily be a popular one.

“I don’t understand how people can be offended by this when it’s not their prom,” Harris said. “King and queen is the tradition and people don’t like it when you mess with a tradition. If anything, we’re accepting the tradition. We’re just kind of putting a 2008 tweak on it.”


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: gay; homosexualagenda; prom; queen
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To: Libloather
Image hosted by Photobucket.com Prom Thing...
21 posted on 05/04/2008 7:24:23 PM PDT by Chode (American Hedonist ©®)
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To: Libloather

The policy of “boys are boys and girls are girls” is actually very good.

It would be hard to dispute. Simple chromosome test.


22 posted on 05/04/2008 7:49:28 PM PDT by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain -- Those denying the War was Necessary Do NOT Support the Troops!)
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To: rickmichaels
For some reason this story reminds me of the time a bunch of us drilled holes in the wall between the boys and girls changerooms in high school.


23 posted on 05/04/2008 7:51:50 PM PDT by dfwgator (11+7+15=3 Heismans)
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To: darkangel82

Sometimes, the puns just write themselves...


24 posted on 05/05/2008 9:19:51 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly.)
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To: Grizzled Bear

And could a fellow student tell the King/Queen (without being penalized) to have sexual intercourse with himself?

It’s the ultimate in diversity dontcha know.


25 posted on 05/05/2008 9:57:45 AM PDT by relictele
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To: burroak

Openly Gay means there’s going to be a parade and you’d better applaud. That aside, Gay boys insisting on being Prom Queen betrays the Gay Advocate’s snide dismissal of women.


26 posted on 05/05/2008 12:52:55 PM PDT by massgopguy (I owe everything to George Bailey)
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To: Smokin' Joe

Let’s see how Amanda feels when a scholarship set aside for a girl goes to a Gay boy.


27 posted on 05/05/2008 1:00:07 PM PDT by massgopguy (I owe everything to George Bailey)
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To: Libloather

Forget which side of the ballot he should be on - that guy is toe up! Who the heck voted for him to be Prom anything? He ought to be the school mascot.


28 posted on 05/05/2008 1:04:33 PM PDT by TightyRighty
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To: Kimmers
This is why people have issues with gays when they pull crap like this.

Yep. And, believe it or not, many gays shake their heads in dismay at these kinds of publicity stunts. They know they aren't doing anyone any good to help their cause and win them allies.

29 posted on 05/05/2008 1:17:58 PM PDT by Drew68
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