It's not many schools that can say they struck a blow against discrimination by naming its prom queen, but for Trenton High School in Ontario, their end-of-year party ended up meaning much more.
Connor Ferguson, an 18-year-old transwoman who was born male, received the crown at her high school on June 22, reports the National Post.
"I was really surprised,” she told The Trentonian. “It was pretty surreal actually. If I remember correctly my jaw hit the floor and we all started laughing because it was so crazy. I walked up and the crown didn't fit my hair, so I had to hold it.”
Ferguson, who has lived as a transwoman for four years, emphasized the support and acceptance of her peers and teachers at school in helping her live normally. Still, she notes, it wasn't perfect.
“A couple of the older students would yell stuff at me in the hallways, but I definitely didn’t care," she told QMI Agency. "I didn’t feel the need to waste teachers time with telling them about it if it didn’t make me upset."
While Ferguson expressed a lot of surprise at receiving the prom queen vote, it comes on the heels of a far more public contest involving a transgender contestant -- Jenna Talackova's bid to become Miss Universe Canada. Though Talackova did not win the competition, her questioning of the terms "natural born woman" opened up the option for other transgender people to pursue their dreams in this area.
As for Ferguson, she's loving the spotlight and hopes it shines in the right direction.
“If you know me in person you probably know I love the attention, but in this case its for all the right reasons,” she said to the Trentonian. “I like being able to touch lives and change people's perspectives on trans woman.”
