Thousands of people have signed an online petition seeking to have a transgender student's name placed on the Johnson High School Prom Court ballot.
According to the petition at Change.org, entitled Allow transgender boy to run for Prom King, the student was elected as a male representative on the Prom King ballot.
The petition identified the student as Dex Frier.
Organizers said Hall County School Superintendent Will Schofield told the JHS administration that Frier could be listed on the Prom Queen ballot or be removed from consideration for the court.
"Prior to Mr. Schofield's interference, we, the Johnson High School student body, elected Dex Frier to represent us as a male member on Prom Court—this was a free-response, purely democratic election system in which Dex was one of six males who received the most votes," the petition reads.
Organizers classified Schofield's decision as "transphobic." They are demanding that Frier be named "as a male member of Johnson High School's Prom Court."
Schofield provided an email statement on the petition.
"I do not respond publicly, in any manner, to a situation that has the potential to single out any student in any way. We protect the privacy rights of our student body," Schofield wrote. "On a broader note, I am not interested in being responsible for placing our school district (by acts of commission or omission) in the middle of a national social, societal and legal issue which would have the potential to substantially disrupt us from our core mission of providing an education for the boys and girls in our community. Prom should be a time for students to fellowship together and celebrate their local school."
At the time of publication, the online petition had more than 11,000 signatures.
