Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Same Sex High School Seniors Win Historic “Cutest Couple” Yearbook Honors

Dylan Meehan and Brad Taylor, two seniors at Carmel High School in Putnam County, New York, have become the first gay people to be voted “cutest couple” in the school’s yearbook.

The idea to enter the popular couple into the category came from their friend Chelsea Blaney, who noticed that only straight couples had been entered and approached the principal, Kevin Carroll, about allowing the boys to be entered into the running.

“Kids aren’t hiding anymore,” Carroll told Newsday.” They feel free, and they feel safe in the school — that’s the way it is.”

After the votes were tallied among the roughly 300 seniors at Carmel High, Meehan and Taylor were declared the winners, and an ecstatic Blaney posted a photo last Monday of the two men on her Tumblr.

“Two of my best friends won Cutest Couple of our senior class,” Blaney wrote. “First time in my school history a same sex couple has even been able to run for this category, not to mention winning it. So proud of them, and my school.”

The picture quickly went viral on the site, generating 110,891 notes and comments in just four days.

“This whole thing has been a bit surreal for us because we have been raised to believe that love is love. We never realized that our happiness and openness would inspire so many individuals,” Meehan and Taylor told the Huffington Post in an email. “The support we have received from our family, friends, and even strangers has led us to believe that our affection for each other is normal.”

Blaney said she is trying to persuade Ellen DeGeneres to invite Meehan and Taylor onto her show to help encourage other schools to rethink their policies on yearbook categories.

While happy to be role models, Meehan and Taylor still can’t help marveling at the way their sudden fame came about.

“When we started dating a year ago, the thought of a photo of us traveling throughout the world would be a bit frightening, but now we are proud to be part of the LGBT community,” the two men told Huffington Post.

- See more at: http://bossip.com

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