Prom THING!!!
Posted on 10/28/2007 3:35:36 PM PDT by mngran2
Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the royalty of Davis Senior High School's junior class: Brandon Raphael and his prince, Kiernan Gatewood. For what appears to be the first time in school history, the Davis Senior High student body has elected a gay couple into homecoming royalty. With each boasting a white sash declaring his title as "Prince," the two 16-year-olds rode through the city of Davis on a recent Friday afternoon in the school's annual homecoming parade.
They stood in the back of a pickup truck, arm-in-arm, smiling warmly despite the rain.
"People were so excited for us," Gatewood said of the couple's victory, announced a few weeks ago. "We were a little surprised, but Davis ..."
"Is a liberal town," interrupts his boyfriend of four months, Raphael. "Go 10 miles in any other direction and you'll get some other feeling."
Indeed, the news might surprise few in Davis, a city embraced and, at times, mocked for its liberal leanings.
But students and adults cheering on the boys recognized their election as a meaningful milestone.
Lai-San Seto, advocacy coordinator for the San Francisco-based Gay-Straight Alliance Network, said the Davis Senior High homecoming election is not the first case of gay students bucking tradition.
But it remains far from the norm, Seto said.
And usually by the time she hears about such things, they've become a controversy within their community.
"It's a sign that LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgenderand queer) people are getting recognized everywhere," she said. "LGBTQ are considered vital members of the school community and are able to participate in school events in the same full way that their straight fellow students are able to." Seto applauded the Davis Senior High student body for their acceptance — and the school administration for being "open-minded."
In the weeks since officials announced the homecoming court, there's been no public outcry — not by campus leaders, not by students and not by the community.
Students said they were encouraged that the election was not an issue for campus administrators. They said they were less surprised that a gay couple would win than they were that officials allowed it to happen.
"I thought the administration would have more to say about it," Raphael said.
Principal Michael Cawley declined to comment on the boys' election, saying only that he hoped to keep the issue "low-key."
Students, however, were eager to talk. They piled atop floats and lined the parade route to show their school spirit, armed with air horns and fistfuls of candy.
Some have been celebrating their friends' landmark victory for days.
"I think it's just such a good thing for our school. Just knowing that the other kids recognize them as a couple and would vote for a gay couple to be prince and prince of homecoming. ... I don't know, I just think it's awesome," said senior Chandler Fox, co-president of the campus Gay-Straight Alliance. "I want people to know about it so maybe it can happen at another school."
Decked out in Davis Senior High's colors of blue and black, sophomore Charlotte ter Haar and two friends agreed that the election was significant because it came straight from the students — Raphael and Gatewood won in a write-in ballot election.
Couples could campaign for their class titles — king and queen for seniors, prince and prince(ss?) for juniors, etc. — but no names appeared on the ballot. Students wrote in their own candidates.
"The students voted for who they wanted to win," ter Haar said.
Parent Lorna Bernard said she was taken aback by the news — only because in her day, a gay couple stood to be harassed by their peers, not elected.
But Raphael and Gatewood, she said, are "not just accepted, they're popular — popular enough to be elected as homecoming princes."
And that, she said, is "really cool."
As for the boys, they said they campaigned hard in anticipation of the election. But their goal, they said, was not to make a political statement.
"We wanted to be nominated and win," Raphael said.
Added Gatewood: "Just like anybody else."
Don't you find that appalling, and insulting to the girls at that school? Should guys be allowed to enter beauty pageants, or show up as cheerleaders wearing the girls' uniforms? Why does every wholesome thing have to be wrecked to gratify these weirdos?
What bothers me is that we are assuming that these two boys are having gay sex and we do not necessarily assume that the homecoming king is sleeping with the homecoming queen
Beat me to it! They should have been the Homecoming Queens for the Day!
The student body thinks they are too clever by half........nothing but political correctness run amok.
Apples and oranges.
Straight couples are, on the face of it, exhibiting normal, healthy relationships, and until fairly recently teenagers were at least expected to conform to societal restraints.
Homosexual couples, on the other hand, are exhibiting abnormal, unhealthy, deviant, disturbed behavior, and, since their very relationship is in defiance of societal taboo, societal restraints are less than even a minor inconvenience to them. Perverted sexual congress is implicit in their declaration of poofterhood.
Who leads during their dance?
how to raise perverts
Probably because they didn't get in your face about it...I just don't want any of this stuff waved about in my face or my childrens. If someones sexual preference is the same sex, please leave it in the bedroom. I'm sick of seeing these idiots make fools of themselves "prancing" around the Keys,NY City,S.Fran or in New Orleans with an agenda to flaunt...I have very good friends who are gay and hate the fact that these flaunters flaunt!
You replied: Yes, Puroresu, there are Boy Cheerleaders at most high schools.
I think you missed the point.
What bothers me is that we are assuming that these two boys are having gay sex and we do not necessarily assume that the homecoming king is sleeping with the homecoming queen
I make no such assumption. However, I do find it appalling that yet another tradition is being destroyed for no better reason than to normalize a deviancy and to deconstruct our society into a nihilistic wasteland.
Homosexual couples, on the other hand, are exhibiting abnormal, unhealthy, deviant, disturbed behavior, and, since their very relationship is in defiance of societal taboo, societal restraints are less than even a minor inconvenience to them. Perverted sexual congress is implicit in their declaration of poofterhood.
You do realize that there are straight couples that exhibit behavior that could be considered "abnormal, unhealthy, deviant and disturbed?"
No one should be in my face flaunting their sexuality to me. I do not care if they are gay or straight, keep it in the bedroom where it belongs!
Most importantly, Keep the Nanny State out of my bedroom and out of my gay neighbor’s bedroom.
Homecoming elections are not a tradition, they are instead a popularity contest.
Then why do they have them every year?
You must have passed Cultural Marxism 101 with flying colors.
“you guys”
Now, while I was certainly disgusted by their dress(es) and behavior, I never physically harmed anyone.
I just knew about it.
One of the best Python routines ever, if not THE best.
No, never took that one at UT but do strongly believe that you should not care what I do in my bedroom, I should not care what you do in your bedroom and the government should not care what either of us do in the bedroom.
Prom THING!!!
What on earth does what anyone does in their bedroom have to do with whether or not the homecoming king & queen tradition should be perverted to gratify two boys who want to be "princes"?
Nah...Translation: “I've got no balls"
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.