Photo via Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School

Photo via Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School

There may not be one king and one queen in this year’s Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School homecoming court.

As annual homecoming festivities approach, the school told students that they can vote for gender-neutral candidates, which will erase the traditional male and female associations with crowning a king and queen, The Washington Post reports.

At the school’s homecoming game on October 7, two students from each grade will be honored based on who gets the most votes from their peers regardless of their sexual orientation or gender. Those chosen can decide whether they want to be called a king, a queen, or “royalty.”

“It provides an opportunity for all students to be involved in something that was exclusionary,” Jacob Rains, president of the schoolwide Student Government Association, told The Post. “It is really not our job, especially with a gender-neutral and transgender population at B-CC, to tell people that boys have to be kings and girls have to be queens.”

The announcement comes amidst growing visibility and controversy over transgender rights. In June, a Fairfax school board meeting grew tense as outbursts disrupted a hearing about proposed changes to regulations that would allow transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice. “You stay away from my kid,” a parent shouted at a transgender coach who spoke at the meeting.

A month earlier, 11 states filed a lawsuit against the federal government over guidance that told public schools to let transgender students use whichever bathroom aligns with their gender identity.

But Bethesda-Chevy Chase has already addressed the bathroom issue. In fact, in addition to announcing the gender-neutral court, the school also told students that officials are adding another gender-neutral bathroom on its third floor, according to The Post.

While other Montgomery County high school have adopted gender-neutral graduation gowns, Bethesda-Chevy Chase’ homecoming decision is the first for any high school in the county. The school joins others across the country that have made the switch, including West High School in Madison, Wisconsin. The decision for West High’s “Regent Court” came after the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance gathered about 1,000 signatures on a petition last year that demanded a gender-neutral court.

Bethesda-Chevy Chase’s change was enacted after a 4 to 1 vote by student government officers.

Filed Under: bathrooms, Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, chevy chase, homecoming, homecoming court, montgomery county, public schools, transgender,