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Winona State University Has Gender Neutral Homecoming Court

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Homecoming will be a little different this year for one Minnesota university.

For the first time, Winona State University is making its homecoming royalty court non-gendered. That means students of all gender identities can become royalty and the school is foregoing the traditional King and Queen.

Royalty will be chosen by the student body and is based on who best represents school values.

"We wanted all of our students to feel very welcome and included into our honor and ceremony, and so since not all of our students identify as being male or female, we wanted to make sure that they knew that they were definitely invited to participate," Tracy Rahim, the associate director of student activities and leadership, said.

Officials said the change allows all school clubs to nominate any individual they would like to potentially become royalty.

Homecoming is Friday and Saturday at the university.

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