Male Tempe student loses bid to be prom queen
Posted: 04/20/2012
By: Eric English
http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_southeast_valley/tempe/male-tempe-student-wants-to-be-prom-queen (http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_southeast_valley/tempe/male-tempe-student-wants-to-be-prom-queen)
TEMPE, AZ -
River Flanary challenged the system. The 17-year-old senior at McClintock High School wanted to be part of the school prom's court. He lost his bid Saturday night to be prom queen.
The young man, who sports long hair and a full beard wanted to be the prom queen and change the way students are elected..
He said the idea of a gender specific king and queen is outdated, and wanted to change it.
Flanary has even gone so far as to wear a dress to school at times.
Administrators said a strapless dress he wore was too much, and was a violation of the dress code.
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Male Student Wanted to Wear A Dress to Prom and Run For Prom Queen
by Cullen and Dykman LLP on 5/2/2012
http://www.jdsupra.com/post/documentViewer.aspx?fid=4a0faef0-6a84-4493-b03d-91890dde4c9c (http://www.jdsupra.com/post/documentViewer.aspx?fid=4a0faef0-6a84-4493-b03d-91890dde4c9c)
River Flanary, 17, claims his rights were violated when school officials from McClintock High School told him he could not run for prom queen. Flanary designed his own dress for the prom, and states that in an effort to comply with the school dress code, he "jerry-rigged some rope to it [the dress] so that it's not strapless."
Although Flanary is a heterosexual male, he wanted to run for prom queen in order to support the LGBT community and to show his sympathy for the plight of gay, bisexual and transsexual students. When asked by reporters why he wanted to run for prom queen, Flanary said he wanted to "stand up for those who maybe weren't bold enough to stand up before and maybe put that courage in their hearts a little." By having a somewhat unorthodox platform, it was Flanary's goal to inspire other students to follow his actions in the future if they so desired.