It was a first last weekend, both for San Diego, California’s Patrick Henry High School and for the nation. On October 30, the school’s student body crowned self-described lesbian Rebeca Arellano their homecoming “king” at a school pep rally, naming Arellano’s “girlfriend” Haileigh Adams, also a student at the school, homecoming queen. The bizarre turn of events apparently marks the first time that a pair of homosexuals have been crowned royalty in the peculiarly American homecoming tradition.
“Thanks to every single one of you!” Arellano wrote on her Facebook page, according to ABC News. “You guys made this happen and we are all part of something huge. I can’t fully express how grateful I am. I am completely shocked that this happened.” Added Arellano of Adams, “My girl looks absolutely flawless.”
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Predictably, the pair received overwhelming support both locally and nationally, with Arellano’s Facebook page covered with congratulations, reported ABC. Teachers at the school made sure their approval was apparent as well, with one teacher telling Arellano, “Today school is a bit better because of you girls.”
But the school’s “king” noted that she and Adams received some negative comments as well, telling ABC: “Anonymous Patrick Henry students are saying they’re embarrassed and that it’s wrong for a girl to take the spot of king. But there’s no other way for us to run as a couple. It’s not really fair for us not to have the right to run as a couple.”
As reported by the Christian Post, an online comment from one detractor read: “What a disgrace. Unbelievable how sexually confused our children are becoming due to the social pressures stating that it is ‘normal.’ ”
Another critic wrote: “Okay, this isn’t fair by any means because the definition of a king explicitly states it’s ‘a male sovereign or monarch….’ This individual here is a female, thus she ought to be considered as a queen which is ‘a female sovereign or monarch.’ All these manipulations in these high school homecomings are beginning to become a joke every year.”
Fox News reported that the school’s superintendent, Bill Kowba, addressed the deluge of criticism his district received regarding the “non-traditional” homecoming pair, telling reporters: “I am disappointed that this happy and positive event has received national media coverage, which has attracted what I can only call a slew of hate calls and e-mails.” Added the superintendent: “I stand behind our students and school staff in supporting the Patrick Henry homecoming king and queen.”
To those who place value on tradition and moral values, Arellano responded like a seasoned homosexual activist, writing on Facebook: “For all the girls who think tradition should be continued, go back to the kitchen, stop having sex before you’re married, get out of school and job system, don’t have an opinion, don’t own any property, give up the right to marry who you love, don’t vote, and allow your husband to do whatever he pleases to you. Think about the meaning of tradition when you use it in your argument against us.”
Arellano did not specify in which particular culture, time, and place the behaviors she cited (except for remaining chaste before marriage) were “traditional.”
