A two-month-old controversy may be put to rest this week after University of North Texas students vote on whether to allow same-sex couples to run for homecoming court.

The Student Government Association called for the student referendum after the association’s senators — 45 members elected to represent students in the various schools and colleges — first debated a proposal that would allow two men or two women to name each other as partners in the popularity contest.

“There were a lot of open-ended questions that couldn’t be answered,” said Jamaal Sanders, association vice president. “Our senators took a lot of heat for that.”

The association’s bylaws, which primarily address the organization’s officer, meeting and committee structures, contain a small section that provides for the tradition.

The bylaws specify that a man files to run for king and a woman for queen. They also specify that the man and the woman name each other as partners when they file for the campaign.

The team receiving the most votes is named king and queen; second place, prince and princess; third place, duke and duchess; and fourth place, lord and lady.

Initially, the Student Senate had voted to not allow same-sex couples to compete for homecoming court. That decision led to protests from some students.

The senate reversed itself by approving the referendum at its Oct. 21 meeting.

UNT students are voting online this week, using their student ID and password to access the ballot at the association’s Web site.

Neither Sanders nor the association’s adviser, Melissa McGuire, knew Tuesday what percentage of the student body had voted so far.

The Student Government Association will receive the results some time after the close of voting at 5 p.m. Friday, and certify and release the results at the end of the day on Monday, Sanders said.

If students approve the change, the Student Senate is bound to implement it in time for the university’s 2010 homecoming celebration.

Sanders, a 23-year-old social work major from Austin, said the association knows it can’t please all 36,000 students, regardless of the outcome.

“Some will be happy and some will be mad,” he said. “But we can ask the majority what they want. To accommodate the minority, we need to ask what we can do to help you feel comfortable with the situation.”

He was pleased, however, that university leaders had not taken a stand on the ongoing controversy.

“The administration has done a great job letting the students figure this out without making any kind of power call,” Sanders said.

Even though homecoming is a campuswide event, the homecoming court is not a university issue, McGuire said.

“It’s a student issue, and the students need to address it,” she said.

As the student government’s adviser, McGuire said, she found that it was better if she provided a listening ear rather than the answer.

“College is a place where people come to discuss issues and challenge old ideas,” McGuire said.

For his part, Sanders said he and the student government president, Dakota Carter, are anxious to get the issue behind them so they can work on more pressing issues, such as campus accessibility.

Meanwhile, UNT’s association has received encouraging words from student government groups on other college campuses.

“It’s nice to know that someone’s out there, rooting for you — even if it’s just to get through the situation,” Sanders said.

The Dallas Morning News contributed to this report.

PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com.