He’s gay, not a girl

Re “An unusual prom queen,” May 28

The fact that an openly gay student is one of the most popular kids at Fairfax High is yet another welcome sign that our sons and daughters will make this world a better place. But I wish the young man had run for prom king.

He’s not a woman -- he’s gay -- and there’s nothing about being gay that makes you less of a man.

Tommy Moran

Encino

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The paramount truth of the politically correct dogma is that “how you feel “ is all that matters.

If the boy at Fairfax High School feels like one of the girls, then of course he should be allowed to run for prom queen.

I await the mass hemorrhaging that will result when this same “open-minded” crowd is forced to stifle its hypocrisy on the day he demands to use the girls’ locker room because that’s where he “feels” he should be.

Count the seconds until a gender discrimination lawsuit is filed on his behalf.

Randy Peterson

Laguna Hills

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As a gay supporter, including of same-sex marriage, I believe we have finally pushed the envelope too far.

What did Sergio Garcia accomplish by winning a female competition? Was it to embarrass females, who lost to a male in a female competition? Did he win because of sympathy votes, or did he win because individuals thought it would be funny to have a male win a female contest?

For years, Garcia has been accepted in the community as openly gay, for which I applaud him. But Garcia is a male, not a female. He should have run for prom king and, if he had won, would be a gay prom king. I am upset with the Los Angeles Unified School District and, in particular, very upset with Fairfax High School for letting his name be added to the ballot.

All of us, gay or straight, are entitled to live a healthy and happy life and do what we want with our lives, as long as we do not hurt any others, physically or emotionally.

I assume the females who lost to Garcia may be distraught over losing a female contest to a male participant. A prom queen contest is for female participation only -- not for males who want to be females.

Daniel Marinoff

Studio City

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I do not regard it as sad that a male has been chosen to represent Fairfax High as its prom representative.

What is sad is that our adult educators and the supposedly educated students are so willing to abandon centuries of our English language. The term “queen” in the English language refers to a female. Although the student is a homosexual, he is nonetheless a male.

Jeremiah Flanigan

Long Beach

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Once upon a time, the last names of students interviewed in reference to the election of a young man as Fairfax High’s prom queen would have read like a membership list at Temple Sinai: Levine, Cohen, Goldstein. Today, the names have changed: Mendoza, Washington, Parsons, Brown.

But only the names are different. The courageous spirit at the school remains as undaunted as it was when our generation protested the treatment of blacklisted Hollywood writers and directors, or begged our parents to vote for the progressive candidate, Henry Wallace.

I remember the kids at Fairfax as idealistic and avant garde. The class of 2009 has demonstrated that while the demographics have changed, the Fairfax Lion is as feisty as he or she was 60 years ago.

Carol Nahan

Palm Desert