It’s “homecoming season,” and high school and college students across the country are set on the annual choosing of the homecoming court. Some student bodies will have some fun with it and pick a gay guy as homecoming queen or a lesbian as homecoming king. But not at the University of North Texas. There, the student government voted to not allow same-sex couples in the homecoming court.
Five of the senators at the meeting voted Thursday to amend the Student Government Association’s bylaws, 10 voted against and eight abstained. Jason Howeth, a junior who represents the College of Music, said he voted against the proposal because of opposition from parents who threatened to remove their children from the school and alumni who said they would withdraw their financial support.
Parents removing their children and alumni withdrawing financial support because of a stupid homecoming court? It’s so assinine, a big part of me doesn’t believe it.
Hat tip to Towleroad.
on Oct 5th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Ummm…when I was college I don’t think anyone even knew when homecoming was until you showed up to the game and they started doing “homecoming stuff” at halftime…
on Oct 5th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Actually, given the importance of Homecoming at Texas schools, even one with a weak alumni culture like UNT, this doesn’t surprise me at all that alumni contributions were cited as a concern.
What annoys the h*** out of me is that the vote was 5 for, 10 against, and 8 abstain. C’mon, senators, have the courage of your position.
And the campus newspaper’s article is at:
http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2009/oct/01/unt-senate-votes-down-same-sex-homecoming-bill/
on Oct 5th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Where does it say that gay couples are banned?
on Oct 10th, 2009 at 5:13 am
The U of North Texas used to be very diversity-friendly. For a number of years, the campus hosted an annual women’s diversity conference at which I was usually one of the key speakers. Lesbian and transgender issues were on the agenda, along with racial, ethnic, domestic violence and workplace issues that face women. It was the kind of event that you just didn’t expect to find in Texas, and I always felt very excited to participate.
The conference is still being held, though it looks (from the press releases I’ve seen) as though the discussions of sexual orientation and gender issues have disappeared. The event now looks like it focuses on issues that concern heterosexual women of color, both black and Hispanic. Yet according to the school’s website, there is still a GLBTA group on campus, that is very active and attended the “Creating Change” event in Dallas.
If the uproar about the Homecoming Court is a sign that homophobia is becoming more prevalent on that campus, this is very sad news. It’s a step backwards for acceptance of open LGBT people in Texas.