fbpx
Politics Foreign Affairs Culture Fellows Program

Red State Royalty

In Tennessee, the homecoming queen is a dude in a dress

This just happened in a so-called Red State:

A gay high school senior in Tennessee was crowned to his school’s homecoming court Friday night while wearing a dress, which was met with widespread support from school officials and fellow students.

White Station High School in Memphis, Tennessee, posted a photo Friday congratulating Brandon Allen, 17, on his victory.

The image, which has been liked and shared thousands of times on Facebook and Twitter, showed Allen covering his mouth in shock and wearing a gold sequin off-the-shoulder gown, diamante tiara and holding a floral bouquet awarded to members of the royal court, a gender neutral title that the school introduced this year in place of the traditional Homecoming King and Queen titles.

“Thank you to everyone who has contributed to me becoming queen,” Allen, who identifies as gay, wrote on his Instagram profile. “You guys truly looked stunningly beautiful and I am so honored to have been able to walk with you guys!!”

Junior Emmett Campbell, 16, who shot the photo and identifies as transgender, told NBC News: “It was such an incredible thing to witness. It was a moment of acceptance and validation for the LGBT+ community from our entire school.”

Note well that the students of the school voted to change the rules to make it possible for a biological male to run for homecoming queen (now “homecoming royalty”). It is at this point that the leadership of a rightly functioning institution says to the students, “No, young people, despite what you’ve seen on TV, males cannot be queens.” But we don’t have these institutions anymore, not like we used to.

The school’s principal, Carrye Sowell Holland, wrote on Facebook:

Here’s the thing: it’s Brandon’s right to run for homecoming court under Title IX. It’s the students’ choice of who they want to support as homecoming royalty. I’m exceedingly proud to be the principal of our amazing school. You don’t have to agree but disrespectful comments will be deleted. WSHS loves and supports everyone regardless of who they are or what they believe. Thank you for the love and light from so many of you.

Title IX is the federal law that prohibits discrimination based on sex. One imagines that Brandon, who wears a dress, identifies in some way as female. What else could the principal’s words mean?

In any case, this is being celebrated by media and school officials as another glorious milestone on the road to utopia.

This is why I remain skeptical of my friend Sohrab Ahmari’s “fight” plan. Where is the army we are going to take into battle? This stuff is happening in what is supposed to be the culturally conservative part of America. I would not be all that surprised if it happened in my own city, which is basically Trumpistan. I think our position, as religious and social conservatives, is dramatically weak. I would love to be proven wrong. I’m not kidding. If you have solid reason to show that I’m wrong about this, please post it in the comments.

Eventually, Nemesis will come. Nature will reassert herself, and it’s not going to be pretty.

UPDATE: Reader Kevin Burke:

I attended an October fest celebration in a small town in a suburb of a northeast city last night. One of the activities featured a great local band playing some fun dance music and most of the dancers were young children there with their parents. They danced in the streets to the music with that joy and abandon that is beautiful thing to see. Parents enjoyed a beer as the kids danced. Idyllic night right?

A few hours in and man dressed in drag (looked like he was doing Divine from those John Waters Movies – he was as large as Divine as well) He was dressed in a very tightly fitting glittering dress, copious clownish make-up, and wild wig.) At first I thought he was there as a joke, for early Halloween action or whatever. But no. He had various children’s gifts and fun trinkets to hand out. He was part of the borough’s activities just like the craft beer stalls.

Here’s the thing that saddened me. The parent’s all brought their little children over to this demonic looking figure to receive the goodies. I thought, my Lord in Heaven, most people are truly sheep formed by our media and entertainment overlords, who do the bidding of the social revolutionaries.

Five or ten years ago, parents would have snatched up their children and avoided this man. They would have at least been highly suspicious and likely notified local law enforcement. Now this is celebrated as a sign of how understanding, tolerant and compassionate we are. I felt like I was suddenly immersed in a live experience of one of your columns…which often seem far away and more fringe events that while important, in ways you articulate well, was not so close to home.

Last night, it was in my backyard…and I was probably the only person that disapproved of this evident by all the selfies being taken with this guy. It reinforces once again your Benedict Option message to create communities that serve as a support, that empower us in moral and spiritual truth, and are a buffer to this insanity.

UPDATE.2: Reader Jason Whitworth:

This battle is dead, dead, dead, and over. This is my son’s school. He reports that Brandon has a really fantastic personality and is very much loved and supported by all the students. Challenge this and your kids will think you’re a hate-filled Neanderthal Nazi. You might as well jump on board. PS: The principal is actually reasonably conservative.

This is why I have grave doubts about Sohrab’s “fight” strategy. It’s not that I’m against fighting; it’s that I think the decadence is much more widespread, especially in the younger generations, than he perceives.

Advertisement