San Diego’s Patrick Henry High School, where girlfriends Rebecca Arellano and Haileigh Adams were crowned the first gay couple elected homecoming king and queen on Saturday, has received a deluge of hate-filled calls and emails in response to the historic election.
“We have a lot of support, but there are also a lot of people who are angry about it,” Adams says. “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 have the right to run as a couple.”
Administrators at Patrick Henry haven’t released details about the messages but San Diego School Superintendent Bob Kowba told the L.A. Times that those contacting the school were “demonstrating such a lack of tolerance and are presenting such a negative role model for children with their hateful comments… If these calls and emails were from students, they would face disciplinary measures.”
The situation stinks, but we’re glad to see those in charge taking the right attitude.
And as for Adams and Arellano—hold your crowns high, ladies.
Joe
What kind of fucking adult actually gives a shit about who a high school’s homecoming couple is?
Little Kiwi
Oh please, you know that angry parents have been making bigoted calls to high schools for years over brown people and “mixed kids” being crowned as well. This Is Not News – old bigots from a bygone era calling into schools to express their fury that the world has moved forward.
*yawn*
B
No. 2 · Little Kiwi wrote, “Oh please, you know that angry parents have been making bigoted calls to high schools for years over brown people and “mixed kids” being crowned as well. This Is Not News – old bigots from a bygone era calling into schools to express their fury that the world has moved forward.”
What might be news, however, is that the ‘angry parents’ are from all across the U.S. The cries of anguish from the “old bigots” (as Little Kiwi calls them) will continue longer than it did in the past because web sites geared to them can give them things to whine about and keep in touch. Previously, the holdouts were much too isolated to do anything at all, even as little as sending a letter as they’d never find out to whom to send the letter, much less that something of which they disapproved had happened.
Little Kiwi
true dat, B. Not only that, but we have scumbag politicians who are working theid damndest to keep anti-LGBT bigotry alive, as it is indeed their only way of getting votes.
we all know how it works – dumbass conservatives who don’t know what “foreign policy” means or what “the economy” is actually about, but they sure do know that they hate gays and, like, abortions. so we get lame-ass politicians who say “i hate gays and abortions too!” and then they get the plebeian votes.
shameful.
the crustybastard
Sounds like the work of God’s gentle, loving people.
Carl
These hateful messages are disgusting, I urge everyone to send the school messages of support to show them that these haters are a tiny minority. This page has the direct email addresses for all of the school staff – http://www.sandi.net/contact-henry
Personally, I have sent an email directly to the principal congratulating her and her school
David Gervais
Thank-you Carl. I have done the same.
Carl
@David Gervais: Glad to help, David – the principal and the school in general need to know that the country – and the world, I am in the UK and heard of this story on a UK based gay news site – is behind them, that the haters are a tiny if vocal minority.
xander
@Carl : Message sent, thanks for the idea.\
Over at the LA Times, there are over 170 comments about this couple’s win and the ensuing harrassment. Lots of neg. comments, but what’s encouraging is the pushback from Q people and our allies. So much hate on display.
Carl
@xander: Sadly, mainstream media sites tend to attract the haters, bigots and trolls in a way that almost no other kind of website can manage. I’d discourage posting the link on their, could give the haters ideas (I doubt most of them are net-savvy enough to use google to get the info lol).
erasure25
The students voted. Why is it that it is ok to vote on marriage equality and the bigots always say “well we voted so accept it!” But in this case, the went went the other way and now the bigots don’t want to accept the vote.
Carl
@erasure25: Hypocrisy, erasure25, plain hypocrisy. And they don’t even try and hide it any more!
Deluno
An exceptionally good school, great students, an adorable couple, it’s sad what was stirred up. At least the ugliness is visible to be better dealt with than if unknown.