Women
WATCH: Calabasas High School Crowns Girlfriends as Homecoming Queens
Times are changing...
TracyEGilchrist
November 04 2013 1:54 PM EST
December 09 2022 9:12 AM EST
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Times are changing...
When girlfriends Lili Cohen and Greta Melendez were announced as Homecoming Queens at Calabasas High School in Calabasas, Calif. this weekend, the crowd, comprised mainly of high school students, roared in approval. The couple became the first same-sex couple to be crowned Homecoming royalty in the school’s history.
“I was just shocked because it’s just amazing to see how much our school has changed in the past four years,” Melendez tells KTLA. “When I was a freshman, we wouldn’t have gotten that reaction. I went through a lot of bullying.”
One student at Calabasas High credits Melendez with helping to change hearts and minds throughout her tenure at the school, as he said she's worked tirelessly as the president of the school’s Gay and Straight Alliance.
On why she thinks she and her girlfriend Cohen were nominated and then voted in as Homecoming Queens, Melendez says that the more marginalized kids at the school finally have a voice.
“We think the reason that we were picked to win is because, usually the homecoming king and queen are the most popular in their group of friends — whereas we are friends with all the little groups of people,” Melendez says. “And they’ve never had a voice. They’ve never had someone to vote for.”
Watch the happy couple below!
Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP, Executive Producer of Entertainment for the Advocate Channel. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.
Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP, Executive Producer of Entertainment for the Advocate Channel. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.