Hollywood school crowns gay teen 'prom queen'

LOS ANGELES - A Los Angeles teenager has been thrust into the centre of a media circus after classmates controversially voted for him to receive the signal honour of being crowned as his high school "prom queen".

Sergio Garcia, 18, said he felt "invincible" when he won the contest, which saw him handed a tiara and invited to kick-start proceedings at last Saturday's event by dancing with the male pupil who had been voted "king" by the school's student body.

"At one time, prom may have been a big popularity contest where the best looking guy and girl were crowned. But things have changed," Mr Garcia told reporters. "This is something that I just feel was meant for me. I mean: I am a queen. It suits my personality, too, because deep down inside, I am of course very effeminate."

Proms, formal dances that every American teenager attends to mark their graduation from high school, are an important rite of passage. The prom "king" and "queen" are typically the most distinguished students of a year group and their election often follows hard-fought campaigns.

Photos of Mr Garcia winning the contest n he wore a charcoal-grey tuxedo rather than the traditional prom queen's dress n were posted on the LA Times website and rapidly went viral.

The decision by students at Fairfax High School in West Hollywood to choose Mr Garcia over his eight female rivals has drawn praise and outrage in equal measure.

Supporters of gay rights said that his story proved that young Americans took a progressive view on contentious issues like gay marriage, on which California's Supreme Court confirmed a ban this week.

"This indicates where society is at right now," said Virginia Uribe, who runs Fairfax High's support group for gay and lesbian students. "Gender bending is just kind of in."

Many inhabitants of Middle America criticised the move and reacted angrily to the flurry of subsequent newspaper and TV news reports.

"It's just sickening," read a typical comment on the USA Today website.

"When I was in high school, the prom Queen was the prettiest girl in the freekin' school and the King was the captain of the football team. That's the way it should be. This school should have police tape around it: 'Crime Scene'."

- INDEPENDENT