A group of student activists at Edina High School are calling for the abolition of “heteronormative” homecoming courts.
Student activist group Edina Truth — which “strives to hold space for marginalized bodies, educate people on crucial issues such as sexual assault, and dismantle harmful cultures” — has begun a petition proposing the changes.
The petition, hosted on Change.org, is seeking at least 100 signatures.
“The structure of dance courts and royalty at Edina High School is heteronormative and discludes [sic] students who don’t identify as a boy or girl,” the petition says. “Our traditions at Edina High School are also perverted and mildly sexual and that is not ok. Pep fest before a dance usually consists of ‘boy chase girl’ and Heteronormative displays of minors.”
For reference, Oxford Languages defines the term “heteronormative” as follows: “Denoting or relating to a world view that promotes heterosexuality as the normal or preferred sexual orientation.”
Terms like “heteronormative” are common parlance in social justice political spheres and among far-left academics and their research.
The Edina student activists’ petition includes the following suggestions to replace the so-called “heteronormative” homecoming courts:
- “We propose the future dance courts at EHS to be inclusive of all genders and sexualities through removing the strict boy/girl sectors.”
- “We propose to remove the sections of ‘king’ and ‘queen’ from the courts. These two sections of Edina royalty don’t allow for any, of the many students who are, non-binary, gender non conforming, and genders that aren’t included in the gender binary.”
- “We also believe that by eliminating the two groups of girls and boys, dance courts would be open to having two kings, or two queens, or two royals, or any mix of those. This would be inclusive to the many students who are members of the LGBTQ+ community, who also have pride in their class.”
The petition says the EHS student council would be in charge of “regulating representation” of all “sexualities, genders, ethnicities, and races.”
Edina Truth’s Instagram page, where a link to the petition was posted, is a repository for anonymous stories from EHS students. One student complained about 30% of students in a particular class who thought “racism” isn’t a “problem,” while a female student complained about a group of high school boys discussing the attractiveness of their female peers.
Evan Stambaugh
Evan Stambaugh is a freelance writer who had previously been a sports blogger. He has a BA in theology and an MA in philosophy.
