Education

Transgender Crowned Queen Of Maryland Prom

Emma Colton Deputy Editor
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A Baltimore area high school crowned its first transgender student as prom queen this year.

Born Brandon, 20 year-old Digital Harbor High School senior Destiny Hartis donned a sash, crown and sparkly sequin dress with a plunging neckline on May 15, and explained to The Baltimore Sun that he was destined to be crowned queen.

“It was my day,” Hartis told the Baltimore Sun. “I was going to win.”

The report said that Hartis’s mother and grandmother, Danielle and Debra Mahoney, always knew he was “special” and supported him joining the high school cheerleading squad, and even briefly dropping out of the 11th grade because he was having difficulty with the school work.

According to the article, Hartis started exhibiting a more feminine persona in the 8th grade, and by the 10th grade he began hormone therapy to become more girlish. His former cheerleading coach, Toni Bruce said that Hartis “has always been out of the box,” adding the future community college student is “naturally a leader.”

According to the report, Hartis never felt particularly judged by his peers, yet when he was crowned prom queen, some male students couldn’t control laughing at the scene. The queen responded that he didn’t care much what others thought, saying, “I’m not here for you. I’m here for myself.”

After crowned, Hartis refused to take off his tiara until the following day, his family noting that it was too great an accomplishment and “souvenir” to not wear it longer than the prom.