here's one to make you smile

[rucky]

Gay Royalty Shares Proud Moment
Suburban Student Body Elects Gay Cheerleader, Jock To Royal Court
NBC-5/Chicago

POSTED: 1:45 pm CDT October 19, 2005
UPDATED: 3:09 pm CDT October 19, 2005

PHOTOS: http://www.nbc5.com/slideshow/education/5126860/detail.html

CHICAGO -- High school is a time when everyone wants to fit in.

On Tuesday, NBC5's Anna Davlantes introduced viewers to two suburban teenagers who say that fitting in didn't matter when it came time to choosing the school's homecoming king and queen.

The choice that students made, however, is attracting attention and causing controversy.

Davlantes said it may not shock people that a jock and a cheerleader were chosen as homecoming king and queen at Buffalo Grove High School, but what surprises some and concerns others is what's different about the two students and what it might say about their generation.

Jen Wohlner and Ryan Cooperman are popular leaders at the school. They're also openly gay, Davlantes said.

So, some people were surprised by what happened in their high school gym a little over a week ago, when the two were chosen as homecoming king and queen.

"The entire gym was completely packed. No one knew who was going to be king or queen," Cooperman said.

Then came the announcement: "I am proud to present to you the homecoming king and queen."

[KSLeftyMom]

1. Too cool!

Applause for that open-minded and loving student body!

:bounce: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[CatBoreal]

2. Good for the kids....

...the kids are alright!

The adults on the other hand....

"It's easy for an adult to say, oh wow, I'm doing the compassionate thing by telling this teenaged boy that he's gay, but they won't be there when the boy becomes a man and comes down with HIV or hepititis B and C." - Illinois Family Institute's spokesman Pete LaBarbera

Firstly, no adult is telling these kids they're gay. They know it. They know it from a very young age.

Secondly, being gay does not necessarily equate with getting an STD. Where is this guy when straights come down with AIDS or Hep B&C? I'd bet the gay community is a lot more supportive of people with these diseases than your average straight/religious community.

Where do these people come from??

[rucky]

3. *kick*

[Gabi Hayes]

4. good for THEM! I live about three miles away from that school

almost every day at my jr. high school I admonish some naive ignoramo for calling somebody/something "gay, faggy, fagGIT, fag, homo, etc"

very very tiring, and almost none of them ever get it

I use the N word analogy, and the African American kids take the most offense to that one

[rucky]

5. you too, eh?

when I sub at mid school, everything is either "gay" or "retarded."

One time I told a kid "my brother is gay and retarded." That shut him up real quick.