Transgender Student's Homecoming King Bid Canceled By Red Lion High School Principal

One bright morning Red Lion Area Senior High School student Transman Issak Oliver Wolfe happily made his way to the ballot box the on first day of voting for homecoming King looking forward to casting his vote.

Issak Oliver Wolfe was elated he was running for homecoming king and had reason to believe he could win. He is well liked, far down the road on transition and active in school programs. But Issak arrived at the ballot box only to find his name had been removed.

Issak recalled the morning in a email: "I made flyers to hand out and when I went to vote I did see my name had been removed." When Issak asked why he was told by a vice Principal he couldn't run for Prom King because "it was based on sex not gender and he would not allow me to."

Blindsided, Issak recalls "No one warned me. I didn't speak with the new Principal, Mr Shue at first out of fear. I was told by someone with inside knowledge that it wouldn't help me at all so I didn't to save my self the intense stress. They closed voting the next day for court so I didn't get the chance to appeal."

Principal Shue is interviewed in this video by student Ben Otte upon taking the reins at Red Lion High School. Mr. Shue should follow his own advice.



Frustrated Issak appealed to social media "My family and girlfriend started a facebook support page Issak Oliver Wolfe for Red Lion Prom King because we didn't know what else we could do. I feel so cheated."

Issak talks about how this might affect his remaining school year. "I have not been treated differently so far at my school but as soon as local media has gotten statements from me I think they might. I don't think any teacher here would treat me differently. All the teachers I interact with are great people."

You can imagine how dehumanizing and devastating this would be for a young man. Heartbroken Issak asked principal Mr. Mark Shue later why the name and categories were changed. Issak was told by Mr. Shue his reasoning for not allowing him to run for prom king with his authentic name and gender was because he 'felt uncomfortable with it.'

Please support this young man by signing the petition "Mr. Mark Shue: Issak Oliver Wolfe for Prom King and his name read at graduation"

Louisiana Lawmaker Seeks To Strip Transgender People Of Federal Title VII Protections

Rep. Alan Seabaugh (R) seeks to invalidate Title VII, the ground breaking and ONLY federal protections transgender people have against workplace discrimination. It's been a long hard battle to get this far. We are putting Seabaugh on notice. We aren't going down without a fight.

Source: Think Progress:Louisiana state Rep. Alan Seabaugh (R) doesn’t care if LGBT citizens are ever discriminated against by employers, if his newly proposed bill is any indication. If passed, HB 402 would prevent LGBT people from ever seeking judicial protection if they’re refused hire, denied promotion, or fired because of their sexual orientation or gender identity:

Provides that suits filed for employment discrimination for any reason other than age, disability, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions, sickle cell trait, and genetic discrimination shall be dismissed and considered frivolous.

As Equality Louisiana points out, not only would their complaints not be heard, but then disenfranchised workers would also be liable for damages to their discriminating employers and court costs. In other words, if an LGBT individual is a victim of employment discrimination, the state would actually punish them with a financial burden for even trying to object.