EDITOR'S NOTE: Though some media reports have used male pronouns to refer to Tony Zamazal, The Huffington Post editorial policy is to use the preferred pronoun of the transgender individual. If Zamazal has changed her given name, this has not yet been reported.
A Texas-based transgender teen has won the right to wear a dress and heels to the senior prom.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) reports that Tony Zamazal, a 19-year-old student at Houston's Spring High School, will be permitted to wear a dress, pump-style shoes, makeup and a wig to the school's prom on May 11 after having been previously barred from doing so.
Spring High School officials changed their original position after the ACLU and the ACLU of Texas sent a letter explaining why prohibiting Zamazal from wearing a dress was unconstitutional.
"All I wanted was to get to wear a dress to prom, because I wouldn't have felt comfortable at all showing up in a tux," Zamazal is quoted in a press release as saying. "I'm so grateful that my school has agreed to let me be myself on such an important night."
Added Amanda Goad, staff attorney with the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Project: "Like every other student, Tony deserves to feel comfortable and be herself at prom. We're glad that Spring ISD has affirmed Tony's First Amendment rights."
Zamazal's case is merely the latest challenge to high school prom regulations across the country in recent months. Students and staff at an Indiana-based high school tried to quickly distance themselves from international media frenzy over a local group's plea for a "traditional" alternate prom that would ban gay teens.
The most vocal member of that group, special education teacher Diana Medley sparked the most controversy when she compared LGBT teens to special needs students and said she "honestly didn't" feel gay people had a "purpose" in life.
In Missouri, gay teen Stacy Dawson was initially turned down by Scott County Central High School administrators after he hoped to take his boyfriend as his senior prom date, prompting the school's superintendent to reportedly agree to revise a long-standing policy which appeared to ban same-sex prom dates.
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