<p>It is interesting that sstrugglingteen questioned this with the analogy of a person claiming to be of another race on a college application. One of my students told me today that a Caucasian friend of his is from Africa so he put down that he was African American on his college apps and benefited from it.</p>
<p>This child is a boy. Pre-surgery, post-surgery, doesn’t matter. The surgery (if the child eventually decides to have it) is just cosmetic surgery to make his body agree with what he already is, namely a boy.</p>
<p>Why do they have to say “King” or “Queen”</p>
<p>Can’t they just say Homecoming Rep or Homecoming Royalty or some other name that is gender neutral?</p>
<p>Is it that they want to have only one male and one female each for the top title?</p>
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<p>It is not so simple as that. Gender is not just based on individual declaration.</p>
<p>Maybe I identify with elephants and feel that I am an elephant trapped in a human body, but I am not going to have much credibility if I announce that I am an elephant.</p>
<p>[Transgender</a> student has kind words for Mona Shores schools | MLive.com](<a href=“http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2010/10/transgender_student_has_kind_w.html]Transgender”>Transgender student has kind words for Mona Shores schools - mlive.com)</p>
<p>There’s not a ton of controversy here at ground zero. Ultimately there will be thoughtful conversation in a very good school system about this and I remain convinced that the outcome of further discussions will be appreciated by all in time. I do believe this caught everyone off guard and I do believe this was not a “knee jerk” reaction. It’s a blip of national news about a very specific event that the national news knows little about.</p>
<p>Let this thread die a peaceful death.</p>
<p>I had a friend years ago with a hermaphrodite child and I do believe you “decide” on gender when they are an infant or at least quite young.</p>
<p>How silly for some people to think one would “choose” to identify with a particular gender or race. You are what you are! Oh wait, we are starting with the premise that biology is perfect right? Meaning that it would be impossible for a person to be born missing limbs, or blind, or deaf, or downs syndrome, etc. I am sure a person could “choose” to be deaf or blind (does anyone really know?–what if they are just faking it for some personal gain), put it down on a college application and benefit from it. </p>
<p>We should probably have a law that says if you have ears and eyes you may not claim to be deaf or blind. If your DNA is XX you may not claim to be male–these “mistakes” just don’t happen!</p>
<p>Being a homecoming king or queen at our h.s. is downplayed, really not a big deal, but a few years back, an outgoing and out gay senior told his classmates he wanted to be the homecoming queen, and his classmates elected him queen. (That was the year the administration quit announcing the homecoming court during the homecoming football game, though.)</p>
<p>*
Maybe I identify with elephants and feel that I am an elephant trapped in a human body, but I am not going to have much credibility if I announce that I am an elephant. *</p>
<p>Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t. :)</p>
<p>Frankly, I really don’t know what to make of what people “feel like”. </p>
<p>On one hand we say there’s no difference between men and women except for genitalia, and then on the other we say a person of one sex can feel like another. WE need to be consistent. Either men and women are different or they’re not.</p>