Mich. school won’t have homecoming king, queen
Muskegon’s WZZM13 reports a West Michigan high school that attracted criticism last year for disqualifying votes for a transgender student as homecoming king won’t have a king or queen this year.
Seniors at Mona Shores High School instead will vote on two finalists among eight chosen as class representatives.
Last year, the school tossed out ballots voting Oak Reed as homecoming king. Reed identified himself as a young man. But school officials said rules informed students they were to vote for a boy as king, and Reed was enrolled as a female.
Foo Fighters perform for Westboro protesters
Advocate.com reports rock band Foo Fighters warmed up for a Sept. 16 concert in Kansas City, Mo., by performing on a rolling rig dressed as redneck truckers for Westboro Baptist Church picketers.
The antigay church was picketing before a concert of the band, which recently released a homoerotic video for its song “Keep It Clean (Hot Buns).”
During a break in the song, bandleader Dave Grohl said, “God bless America! It takes all kinds. I don’t care if you’re black or white or purple or green, whether you’re Pennsylvanian or Transylvanian, Lady Gaga or Lady Antebellum … But what I’d like to say is, God bless America, y’all!”
Students want gay dorm floor
The Sioux City Journal reports gay and lesbian students at the University of Iowa are seeking their own floor in a residence hall on the Iowa City campus.
Quentin Hill, of the GLBT Allied Union, is working with the university to open the floor for the 2012 school year.
Hill, a freshman from Eagle Grove, says the group asked University Housing and Dining to offer the option on housing applications ahead of the current year, but only 10 students signed up.
Iowa has more than a dozen dormitory floors designated as “communities” that focus on specific areas of study. University spokesperson Kate Fitzgerald said an LGBT floor would be such a community.
— compiled by Larry Nichols