Male candidate becomes princess at homecoming

(U-WIRE) LAS CRUCES, N.M. — As the New Mexico State University Homecoming Court was driven around the field at halftime during Saturday’s game, confusion was apparent as some in the audience tried to make sense of the presence of Aaron Shubert, dressed in a shirt and tie and wearing the requisite tiara.

The candidacy of Shubert, who placed third in the race for Homecoming queen, not only led to confused looks in the crowd, it also led to a bill presented at Thursday’s Associated Students of NMSU senate meeting that seeks to “remove the misuse of Homecoming King and Queen positions as a political platform.”

If passed, the bill would require king candidates to be male and queen candidates to be female.

The bill states, “With equal positions available to both men and women, there is no reason beyond political motivations to have men taking positions that have traditionally been held by women.”

The bill also states that the goal of Homecoming is to promote school spirit and should not be used to further personal beliefs or political ideologies. Any use of the positions for political reasons is contrary to the objective of Homecoming.

Currently, there are no regulations in the Homecoming rules for candidates that specify gender as a qualification for entry.

Johnson said the intent of the bill is to preserve the tradition and history of Homecoming and is not meant as an anti-gay statement.

He said if two men hold both positions, it would not be representative of half of the population of the student body.

As far as being a homophobic campus, Johnson pointed to the resolution approved by faculty and the student senate supporting benefits for live-in partners of NMSU employees.