Pennsylvania: Trans student won’t be allowed to run for homecoming king

Kasey Caron was told he could run for homecoming queen instead

Following news that a California transgender teen was named homecoming queen at her high school, a transgender high school student in Pennsylvania has been told he can’t run for homecoming king, even though he identifies as male.

According to a New York Daily News report, Richland School Board administrators say Kasey Caron can run for homecoming queen only, upholding a decision made by a previous board.

Caron told NBC 10 Philadelphia that the current board is “sweeping this problem under the rug” by not making its own decision.

Caron’s driving licence now reflects his preferred gender identity, but school board solicitor Timothy Leventry says a person’s gender reassignment must be certified by a physician for the state to recognize the change, Pink News reports.

At one point, the homecoming committee told Caron he could run on the male ballot, but his school’s administration later told him he couldn’t because it would be illegal.

“To have a door opened for me, one that was a huge step into being accepted by my peers and in society, and then have it slammed in my face left me feeling shattered,” Caron told the Daily News.

Natasha Barsotti is originally from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. She had high aspirations of representing her country in Olympic Games sprint events, but after a while the firing of the starting gun proved too much for her nerves. So she went off to university instead. Her first professional love has always been journalism. After pursuing a Master of Journalism at UBC , she began freelancing at Xtra West — now Xtra Vancouver — in 2006, becoming a full-time reporter there in 2008.

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