When school
officials announce the name of the Fresno [Calif.] High
School prom king on Saturday, Cinthia Covarrubias will be
wearing a tuxedo just like the six boys vying for the
honor. School officials this week added the
17-year-old's name to the ballot for prom king, reversing
a previous district policy that allowed only boys to run for
king and girls for prom queen.
Gay youth
advocates called it a landmark victory for campus gender
expression and said they believe it's the first time in the
United States that an openly transgender student has
run for prom royalty.
Covarrubias, who
sports black-and-white Vans, baggy shorts, and
close-cropped brown hair, sometimes identifies herself as
Tony. Her date, a close female friend, plans to wear a
black dress and red corsage to the prom at an outdoor
reception hall surrounded by man-made waterfalls.
''I would never
have run for anything if I had to wear a dress,''
Covarrubias said.
She considers
herself transgender, an umbrella term that covers all
people whose outward appearance and internal identity don't
match their gender at birth.
''My freshman
year I just started feeling different,'' she said. ''When I
decided to change to be like this, all of a sudden I said,
'Wow, I feel OK. I feel like finally I'm being me.'''
She has no
current plans, however, to permanently alter her gender
through hormones or surgery.
A native of
Jalisco, Mexico, Covarrubias said she has bucked rigid
expectations of how a girl in her culture should behave.
Explaining the meaning of terms like ''queer'' and
''transgender'' to her parents and eight siblings has
at times been painful, she said.
Covarrubias said
she was honored her classmates nominated her for prom
king last Friday, but administrators quickly dampened her
enthusiasm by saying she could run only for queen.
Tiffani Sanchez,
a science teacher who advises the school's Gay-Straight
Alliance, complained.
''Cinthia is
still really learning who she is,'' she said. ''We want her
to know that there's a safe space for her here and we
support her.''
On Wednesday
school officials shifted course, saying the district's
lawyers had recommended adding Covarrubias's name to the
ballot to comply with a state law protecting students'
ability to express their gender identity on campus.
''We always want
to do the right thing by our students,'' vice principal
Sheila Uriarte said. ''This is why we came to this
decision.''
The law, passed
in 2000, requires schools to protect students from
discrimination on the basis of their sexuality, gender, or
gender expression.
Gay and lesbian
advocates say that means creating a comfortable
environment for students like Covarrubias to cross-dress.
''It's really
important for an individual student like Cinthia to be able
to feel she has the same access to participate in this rite
of passage,'' said Caroyln Laub, director of the
Gay-Straight Alliance Network. ''We are growing as a
society to accept much more diversity in gender
expression, and that's a positive thing.''
Some students
criticized the decision to put Covarrubias on the ballot.
''I like
lesbians, but they shouldn't be allowed to run for king,''
said senior Erich Logan, 18, as he stood outside the
stately high school building.
But Leanne Reyes,
16, said Covarrubias had her vote.
''It's not like
the stereotype where the king has to be a jock and he's
there with the cheerleaders anymore,'' said Reyes, a senior.
''We live in a generation now where dudes are chicks
and chicks are dudes.''
Covarrubias is
giddily looking forward to the prom but acknowledged being
a little nervous.
''I'm happy I
actually made a difference about changing the law and the
policy so you can run for your choice,'' Covarrubias said.
(Garance Burke, AP)
