--- In [email protected], "John" <jr_...@...> wrote: > > To All > > Read and weep. See details below:
Are you a bigot, John R? > > LOS ANGELES An openly gay teen was voted prom queen at Los Angeles' Fairfax > High School in a campaign that began as a stunt but ended up spurring > discussion on the campus about gender roles and teen popularity. Sergio > Garcia, 18, was crowned queen Saturday night at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. > > "I feel invincible," Garcia said in his tiara and charcoal-gray tuxedo. > > A few days earlier, he gave a speech that won over some cynics and led to an > ovation and his unlikely victory. > > "At one time, prom may have been a big popularity contest where the > best-looking guy or girl were crowned king and queen. Things have changed and > it's no longer just about who has the most friends or who wears the coolest > clothes," Garcia told a gymnasium full of seniors. "I'm not your typical prom > queen candidate. There's more to me than meets the eye." > > Garcia assured the crowd he wouldn't wear a dress on prom night. > > "I will be wearing a suit," he said. "But don't be fooled, deep down I am a > queen." > > The school, which sits at the end of the rows of chic shops on Melrose Avenue > and was once attended by members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, has long been > a haven for students who would be considered outcasts at many schools. > > Garcia said he saw fliers advertising the prom and the election, and they > didn't specify that the queen must be a girl. He thought the role would suit > him better than prom king. > > "I don't wish to be a girl," he told the Los Angeles Times. said. "I just > wish to be myself." > > Senior class president Vanessa Lo said she and many other students were > initially against the idea but were won over by Garcia's speech and became > convinced he wasn't just an attention-seeking clown. > > "It just goes to show how open-minded our class is," Lo said. > > Seventeen-year-old Unique Payne called the speech "great" and said she voted > for Garcia "because I support the gay community." > > Other students weren't as happy, and suggested many voted for Garcia just to > see the spectacle of two boys dancing together at the prom. > > "I'm not really happy about that," said 17-year-old Juan Espinoza. "He > should've run for prom king." >
