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FERNDALE, Wash. -- The election of a lesbian as Ferndale High's prom king has prompted consternation among adults in this small community and a change in school policy -- future prom kings must be boys and queens girls.
Prom attendees were given a ballot and told to write in their choices for king and queen. Senior Krystal Bennett says she voted for herself as king partly as a lark and partly because she wanted the title. Friends voted for her, too -- and she won.
The election "imposes something on society that, if truth be known, our society is not yet ready to accept," said parent Tina Mauler. "These types of things ultimately will lead to chaos."
The prom queen, whose boyfriend was runner-up for king, has a more laid-back take on the April 28 election.
"It's high school," Kara Johnson said. "Let it go."
It's not clear whether the vote was intended as a joke or a political statement.
"I guarantee the vast majority of our school thinks there is something a little bit disgusting or very wrong about homosexuality," said student body president Landin Fusman. "(But) if you think it's wrong, try to change them in a loving fashion."
Bennett, the school's only openly gay student, has endured her share of name-calling in the wake of the vote.
She's chosen an activist role -- lobbying to increase the number of books in the school library that deal with homosexuality and criticizing the school's annual Peace Week for failing to address discrimination against gays.
"To me, it's the same kind of thing as the civil-rights movement," she said.
Still, the fuss over her election has caused Bennett to reconsider staying in Ferndale, population 8,000, in northwestern Washington.
"I'm not sure if I want to surround myself with that negativity," she said.
