Dinnah Escanilla got her transphobic wish. Andy Moreno will not be in the running as one of the three finalists for homecoming queen.Moreno received the news today along with the students of North Dallas High. She's justifiably upset and suspicious of the results and frankly she has every right to be after the transphobic remarks from the principal and stonewalling of the media that even Richard Nixon would be proud of.
Speaking of Nixonian, the coverup may be underway.
According to Andy's sister Daisy Moreno, she told the Dallas Voice Instant Tea blog that according to poll watchers and friends on the counting committee, Andy received more votes than at least one of the three finalists. However, based on Escanilla's decision. school officials didn’t allow votes for Andy to count. The Dallas Independent School District is claiming the results and vote totals in student elections are 'protected information' while at the same time talking out the sides of their necks and repeating like a mantra the increasing mockery of a statement that DISD has the 'most progressive anti-discrimination policies among school districts in the state.'
Yeah, right. DISD also said in the statement that they still support Principal Escanilla.
Can you say lawsuit boys and girls? Thought you could.
Speaking of lawsuits, Ken Upton, a senior staff attorney at Lambda Legal in Dallas stated to Instant Tea that it's unclear if Andy brought legal action against the school and DISD that she'd win her case..
Upton said recent federal court rulings have supported students’ right to dress consistently with their gender identity in other contexts, but he couldn’t recall one that dealt specifically with homecoming.In Indiana, the Gary School District recently changed its policies and settled a case brought by trans student KK Logan who wasn’t allowed to wear female attire to her 2006 prom.
“In this type of a situation, there would probably be some federal arguments you could make,” Upton said. “It would depend a lot on the circumstances of the homecoming event, and whether it was truly just extracurricular or whether it was related to the curriculum of the school. But as a general rule, the federal law has been in some cases protective of students who kind of buck the gender norms or bend the molds and administrators don’t like it.
“I think it’s something we’re seeing more and more of, because students are increasingly becoming comfortable in their own skin in situations where five or 10 years ago, they would have been scared to death to be themselves.”
But stay tuned. The latest episode of North Dallas Homecoming is coming up and will probably be played out in a courtroom before it's over.
