Waukegan High School Crowns Gay Homecoming King And Queen
By Lisa White in News on Oct 9, 2013 8:20PM
Source: Opposingviews.com
The school body crowned Eric Irizarry and Ariana Reiff as their king and queen, two openly gay students. As quoted by the Sun-Times, Irizarry said “Ariana and I are both out and open about our sexuality. Our attitude is we are who we are and if that bothers people, that’s OK, but we have so many friends who accept us for who we are.” Reiff added that “there are some people saying we shouldn’t have won, or that we won because we are gay, but I think our classmates chose us because they know us, and they chose us just as people.”
Kudos to Waukegan High students for picking nice friendly people for homecoming court instead of defaulting to the stereotypical jock and arm candy combo. And it is nice to see a student body that overall doesn’t seem to let things like ones sexuality factor into friendships, which hasn’t always been the case in what can be the sometimes cruel politics of high school hallways. Steven Hamlin, director of Waukegan High School’s Washington campus, stated that “our students are very accepting of each other’s differences in a great variety of ways.” When asked what it says about the students voting for a gay and lesbian classmate, he was quick to point out that the this issue is “something adults are more likely to contemplate than teenagers.”
It is a win for diversity and a nod to a younger more progressive generation, but we think Irzarry summed up the most important part of winning perfectly:
“Winning this makes me feel good, because it shows me that people care for me. They understand who I am, and they’re giving me respect. That makes me happy.”