By Ameera S.
Homecoming. Pop culture’s most indulged in after school activity. If the event had a smell, it would be pretentious teens who care more about the highschool social hierarchy than their futures.
You open social media and the first thing you see is,’Vote bla bla bla for homecoming royalty.’ But the more you tap skip, the more cis het couples pop up with their cheesy smiles and hand on hip poses.
You would think that teenagers would prioritize anything that matters. College applications, jobs, AP Lit essays, but the main focus the final weeks of September are on campaigning and shoving “vote for me” posters down people’s throats.
There’s a pattern amongst all running for court. One man, one woman and the desire for public validation. Throughout the entirety of campaigning, not one LGBTQ couple ran. It’s not because there aren’t any LGBTQ couples in the first place, but because Mountain Range lacks inclusivity within the school community.
Instead of inclusive terms such as,”royal one and royal two,” or,”candidate one and candidate two,” students were left to nominate a queen and king for each grade level. What may seem like just words on papers to most is actually impactful diction to others. It’s harmful to students who don’t identify with the term ‘king’ and ‘queen’ and it pushes the heteronormative agenda.
A mountain range student who wishes to not be named says,’It’s really hurtful to me as a member of the LGBTQ community to see that there isn’t a place for me on homecoming court. I think it is definitely important for our school to include all students because it could make them feel less alone.’ Another student says,’It’s 2021. As much as people want to fight it, we live in a world where more people are out and accepting themselves. Especially people our age. It is crucial that Mountain Range creates a more accepting environment.’
It is clear that when a safe environment isn’t being provided, students are impacted. If our community took the steps to include all, such as changing the verbiage on campaigns and encouraging all to run for homecoming court, school would be a better place to be.