A Florida high school student made history when she became the first transgender person in her school’s history to be crowned homecoming queen.
“It made me feel like I actually belonged,” said 17-year-old Evan Bialosuknia of Olympia High School in Orlando, Fla. “Not just like a joke.
Cause that was one of my fears, I was in bed one night like, ‘What if they were just doing this to laugh at me?’”
Bialosuknia started her transition a few months before she was elected queen of the homecoming court, said WESH 2. Before she started to live life as her true self, Bialosuknia played football for years. She told reporters that she would stare at the cheerleaders during practice, wishing she could join them.
“Looking back, it doesn't even feel like that's me?” Bialosuknia said. “I played football for like 6 to 8 years and I remember during practices I would stare at the cheerleaders because I wanted to be with them.”
When Bialosuknia first decided to run for the homecoming court, she didn’t know what to expect, but she knew she wanted to try for a moment of glory.
Soon, she was getting support from her classmates on social media.
When Bialosuknia found out she had been elected homecoming queen on her school’s football field, tears of joy filled her eyes, according to USA Today. She could hardly believe it was real.
“When I heard them say Evan, I was just like ‘holy moly, no way that they just said my name,’” she said.
As she accepted her title in a shimmering gold dress, people on the field cheered.
“I know it’s not the biggest deal, but, to me, it just felt very like ‘wow, that’s a relief,’ and a weight lifted off my chest knowing that I’m not disliked.”
According to the National Center for Transgender Equality, transgender people have faced “extraordinary levels” of violence in school and work environments. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released in 2019 said 35 percent of transgender students are bullied at school and nearly 2 percent of high school students identify as transgender.
According to a Pew Research Center poll from this year, more people than ever personally know a transgender person. More than half of people under age 30 said they personally know someone who is transgender, said the report.
Bialosuknia said she was able to make her transition and to be confident with her self due to her family’s love.
“When we were there Friday night and they announced her name, it was really wonderful. I don’t know how to put it into words,” said Marnie Bialosuknia, Evan’s mother and a registered nurse. “As a parent, you just want your kids to be happy, healthy. You want them to just live their best life, and you want your kid to be accepted for who they are.”
Support from classmates has made Bialosuknia’s has made her journey even better.
“It just made me realize I was not alone and don't have to go through this alone,” Bialosuknia said.
Support from the homecoming king helped as well.
“There's only good energy (from him), just a great person,” she said of homecoming king Lucas Fanhaa. “He just made me feel like any other girl.”
Bialosuknia hopes her story can serve as an example and bring comfort to others as she continues on her own journey.
“I still have a long way to go and more change is coming,” said the teen, who plans to attend college next year.
Marnie Bialosuknia told USA Today that she hopes her daughter’s experience shows transgender kids that “other people have been through it, and you can be a queen. You can be whoever you want to be.”
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