High School Chooses Male Student As Its Homecoming Queen For The For First Time

Nov 01, 2021

Homecoming season is a special time in the lives of high school students, and the crowning of the homecoming queen and king is a major milestone. But as the world continues to progress, so too must high schools. And this includes the traditions they hold. One leading example took place last weekend when a school in Columbia, Missouri, challenged gender stereotypes related to homecoming court traditions.

Zachary Willmore is a high school student at Rock Bridge High School in Columbia, Missouri, who made history after becoming the first male homecoming queen at his school. A cheerleader on the school's varsity team, the student didn't know whether he should run for homecoming king or queen when the time came around.

Taking his dilemma to social media, where he has garnered a large following, Willmore asked his followers which one he should run for. After the majority said homecoming queen — due in part to the sash being prettier — Willmore decided to do just that.

His crowning was caught on video, which he also posted to his TikTok, where he has over 1.1 million followers. The excitement of the moment is clearly evident, with loud cheers coming from members of the crowd who were also jumping up and down.

But breaking down gender boundaries related to homecoming court isn't the only thing Willmore is doing at his school. He's also been outspoken about the school's dress code, which is rather outdated. He's been using his influence to challenge the dress code and is now working with the school on developing a more updated version. Let's take a look at his inspiring story.

The teen posted a video of the special moment to his TikTok account in which he is dressed to the nines, donning a sparkly gold dress that perfectly complements his short bleach-blond hair. The moment Willmore is announced as Rock Bridge High School's homecoming queen, the crowd erupts into loud screaming and applause while Willmore himself can be seen jumping up and down. 

As the high school's first-ever male homecoming queen, the moment was not only special for him — it also made history. Speaking to local news outlet KOMU 8, Willmore said:

"It was literally like a dream, for the fact that I, like, wanted it was just really special to me."

The clip has been viewed over 3.5 million times on Willmore's TikTok and has since put him in the headlines.

In another video he shared from the night, Willmore is seen reveling with friends. As the video pans across a group featuring him and female students, Willmore says, "We're live from Rock Bridge, you know, we're having a blast," before adding, "In front of all these people ... it's scary as hell and cold as hell!" He adds, "We look gorgeous," before signing off.

Incredibly popular on TikTok, it was actually social media that helped Willmore decide to run for homecoming queen rather than king. He told the local news outlet in the same interview:

"I took a really quick Instagram poll, I was like "Should I be king or queen? They thought 'queen' would look prettier on the sash. And I was like, 'You're so correct.' So I chose queen."

Unfortunately for the teen, his win came with a downside too, as he did receive negative comments and messages on the app. He told KOMU 8, "Online, I did get some hate." This prompted him to make a follow-up video discussing this, where he explains that some people had told him he stole some little girl's dream by winning the queen title. He goes on to add that it was also a little boy's dream, too — his. He mentions that other boys also ran for the queen title, and because the title is "quite literally a popularity contest," he won fair and square. He also points out that comments like those are thinly-veiled homophobia. 

But Willmore's history-making win isn't the only way he's shaking up archaic school rules. For a while now he's been critiquing Rock Bridge's outdated school dress code after he felt "targeted" for a number of outfits he'd worn. He told the local news station:

"Teachers were allowed to make the call of what was appropriate ... Many times I did feel like they could target students, and I did feel targeted in some scenarios."

So he did what any member of Gen Z would do: he began protesting by dancing on TikTok. He was noticed by the school administrators, and since then he has been working with them to update the dress code. Michelle Baumstark, a spokesperson for Columbia Public Schools, told the news station:

"Zachary Willmore is a wonderful student ... He's engaged in school, active in activities, including cheer, and is not afraid to ask questions and identify challenges he sees around him."

She adds that he's "challenged the dress code over his time at Rock Bridge and is working with the school to develop a more up-to-date dress code."

What do you think about Zachary Willmore's history-making win? Let us know in the comments, and pass this on so others can hear about it!