Homecoming season is usually a big deal for high school kids, and the highlight is when the king and queen get crowned. In Columbia Missouri, one school made history when they broke tradition in a way that got a lot of attention.
Zachary Willmore is a cheerleader at Rock Bridge High School, and he became the first male student to be crowned homecoming queen. At first, he did not know whether he should run for king or queen, so he asked his followers online. Most of them said queen, partly because they thought the sash looked better, so that is what he decided.
The moment he was crowned was filmed and posted to his TikTok, where he has over a million followers. The crowd was screaming and cheering while he jumped up and down in a sparkly gold dress. He later said to local news: “It was literally like a dream, for the fact that I, like, wanted it was just really special to me.”
In another clip from that night he filmed himself with friends saying: “We’re live from Rock Bridge, you know, we’re having a blast. In front of all these people … it’s scary as he** and cold as he**! We look gorgeous.” The videos have been seen millions of times and put him in the spotlight.
He explained to the news that he chose to run for queen because of the poll he posted. He said: “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.”
Not all of the reaction was positive though. He admitted: “Online, I did get some hate.” Some told him he stole a girl’s dream but he answered that it was his dream too and pointed out other boys also ran for queen. He said the title is basically a popularity contest and that he won fair and square while adding the hate was really just homophobia.
Willmore has also been pushing back against his school’s dress code. He told the local news that teachers could target students by deciding what was appropriate and he felt singled out more than once. To fight it, he started dancing on TikTok until the administrators took notice, and now he is working with the school to make the rules more up-to-date.
A spokesperson for the district called him a wonderful student who is engaged, active in cheer, and not afraid to raise questions. She said he has challenged the dress code and is helping the school create a modern version that fits today’s students.
