Learning from a homecoming controversy involving a transgender student last fall, Mona Shores High School is eliminating kings and queens from its homecoming and prom activities.

Instead, the high school will have prom and homecoming courts made up of class representatives, none of whom will be crowned.

“It seems fair,” said Mona Shores Public Schools Superintendent Terry Babbitt. “We feel good about it.”

The school was the focus of a storm of attention last fall after officials there discarded ballots on which students had voted for student Oak Reed as homecoming king. Officials explained that rules informed students to vote for boys as king and that Reed is enrolled at the school as a female.

But administrators quickly began examining how they could be more gender neutral in the future, and met with student leadership to discuss changes, Babbitt said. Administrators and students agreed that prom and homecoming courts were the best answer, he said.

“Now, all students can be eligible to be honored or recognized by their peers,” he said.

The American Civil Liberties Union praised the school for making the change, and sent out a press release that included a quote from Reed:

“I’m so glad that the rules have been changed. All I wanted was a chance for all students to participate and be heard. Now my classmates and I can just focus on having a great time at our school dance.”

The ACLU had contacted the school last fall after the homecoming incident.

“Oak is a popular student who is accepted by his peers for who he is,” said Jay Kaplan, ACLU of Michigan Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Project staff attorney. “He had no reason to expect to be treated differently by school officials. We’re glad that the school district recognizes that its treatment of Oak was wrong, and that it has instituted more inclusive policies.”

In a letter written after the homecoming controversy died down, Reed praised the school as "a very nurturing environment."

Among the accommodations the school district has made, according to the letter, were allowing Reed to wear the tuxedo worn by male students for band performances and a navy blue cap and gown for graduation, also worn by boys.

The letter also notes that the district “kindly offered” to have Reed stay in a single cabin at band camp, and that officials “tried with all their might to eliminate the awkwardness of rooming with females.”

E-mail: lmoore@muskegonchronicle.com