Homecoming Drag Queen Honored at George Mason Basketball Game

George Mason University's basketball team is known mostly for getting to the Final Four in 2006, but now it will be getting some attention for something else. At a George Mason game last weekend, a drag queen was chosen as the school's homecoming queen.

The drag queen was Ryan Allen, a senior at George Mason who performs in drag at nightclubs in the region. He told the Associated Press he entered the homecoming court election as a joke, under the name Reann Ballslee. But enough people went along with his joke that he won:

"I was very touched by how Mason was so supportive through the whole process of allowing a boy in a dress to run for homecoming queen," Allen said in a phone interview. "It says a lot about the campus that not only do we have diversity but we celebrate it."

University spokesman Dan Walsch told the AP the school is "very comfortable" with Allen's selection. Although Allen's title is "Ms. Mason," the contest rules say nothing about the winner having to be female.

"It's just that if you're a man who runs for Ms., you've got to dress the part," Walsch added.