Wouldn’t it be fun to have your best friend escort you and dress up with you? The students elected for homecoming court have the right to choose who escorts them and they should not be afraid of any judgment or restriction against it.

  There is not a written rule you must have a male escort, but it is recommended since it is too “controversial” to have a person of the same gender as an escort. No one has broken this tradition mostly because some students are afraid of judgment from their peers.

  “No one has seen a girl and a girl walking together, so it’s one of those things where no one wants to break the tradition or they think they aren’t allowed to,” senior homecoming queen, Catelyn Conover said.

  Co-advisors for Cabinet, Mrs. Harris and Mrs. Highfill, have stated they are always open to students’ opinions and the Cabinet won’t shut anyone down who wants to have a female escort. Senior Class President, Kya Johnson, says it wouldn’t go unnoticed but would bring more awareness to the subject.

  Homecoming has become so traditional that one little bit of change would totally shock the student body. As a result, students part of the LGBTQ+ community who want to run for homecoming court are afraid of being judged negatively by the fraction of the student body that is homophobic.

  Cabinet took a field trip to Parkview High School and Hillcrest High School to attend their homecoming assembly. Most of the court attendants at both schools had female escorts during their homecoming festivities. Obviously they have accepted the fact it would be okay to have same sex escorts.

  The student body is still so afraid of change that it has become socially unacceptable to have same sex escorts even when they’re just friends. 

  “It has become so stereotypical to the point where it feels like you have to have a guy that you’re somewhat interested in as your escort,” sophomore court attendant Emma Pearcy said.

  If someone were to break this tradition, they would just have to talk to the homecoming coordinator so they can figure out what the escort should wear to still fit the theme of the dance. This just proves how easy it is to have an escort of the same gender, if a student is confident enough to do so.

  If homecoming court attendants started having students of the same sex as their escorts, this could open the door for LGBTQ+ students to be more confident in running for court and having an escort of the same gender.