Students at C.C. Winn High School in Eagle Pass, Texas made history this week when they defied tradition by electing two homecoming queens and no king.
The two queens, Jennifer Mijares and Eileen Hernandez, told News 4 San Antonio that it was all part of a grassroots effort to show support for gay rights. The pair represented the high school's chapter of the Gay Straight Alliance and are the first members of the same sex to be dubbed the "Royal Couple" of the Homecoming Court.
Hernandez reportedly identifies as a lesbian, while Mijares stood beside her fellow queen as a straight ally and close friend.
"I'm sure a lot of little girls always dreamed of being Homecoming Queen," Hernandez told reporters, "but to know we were making a difference as well, it's just amazing."
The pair received overwhelming support from the student body, claiming that every negative comment they received was met with ten positive responses, Fox San Antonio reported. C.C. Winn High School Principal Jesus Diaz-Wever told the Eagle Pass Business Journal that “it is important for all persons to be respected and treated with dignity and the students...certainly understand that all persons are equal.”
The victory for these two queens comes on the heels of a series of other groundbreaking LGBT Homecoming Court victories at both high schools and universities across the country. Last week, Steven Sanchez became the first individual identifying as "gender queer" to be crowned Homecoming Queen at his northern Iowa college to the sound of thunderous applause from his peers. In early October, Ray Ramsey, a transgender male high school student living in New Hampshire received the title of Homecoming King by a reported "landslide" victory at the hands of his peers.
Additionally, 16-year-old Cassidy Lynn Campbell won the title of Homecoming Queen at her local high school in late September. However, the teen became the target of online bullying and harassment immediately following her win, inciting her to post a tearful online video declaring that she was "so distraught." Campbell went on to take a stand against anti-LGBT bullying and pose for the "NOH8" campaign a few days after the incident.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified the city in which C.C. Winn High School is situated. This has been corrected.
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