Florida teen makes history as high school’s first trans reunion queen

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She had been named to her school’s reunion tribunal in Orlando, with enough votes to have her name on the ballot for the reunion queen. She thought she might have a chance to win, although she tried to avoid having high hopes, she said.

“I was pretty excited to walk the reunion court and be a part of it, but I was also nervous even if I had to win, and if people were doing it to make fun of me,” said the player. 17 years. the school principal told CNN. “People are cruel these days. You never know what might happen.”

Those fears faded as soon as she heard the thunderous applause when her name was called out in her high school return game in late September. Bialosuknia’s peers voted to be their reunion queen, the first transgender student at Olympia High School to wear the crown.

Bialosuknia said her coronation made her feel more comfortable in school – and the support of her classmates has shown her that most of them see her as she is.

“It was just, like, a relief from so much anxiety, too,” she said. “Just, like, knowing that I’ve got everyone by my side and [they] are actually there for me … makes this transition process much more enjoyable. ”

Bialosuknia looked like the Olympia High School reunion queen in every way before she was even crowned.

She received mostly positive responses

Bialosuknia is more comfortable in his own skin than most 17 year olds. But her trust is hard-earned, her mother, Marnie, said. Bialosuknia’s transition is a “long and difficult process,” her mother said, a process her family is supporting her.

Since her coronation, Bialosuknia said she has been inundated with messages of support and pride from her peers. She also received hate messages, but said the people who sent her these messages “don’t understand and will never understand.”

“Winning me is not trying to change someone’s mind to accept and understand me,” she said. “It’s just to show that anyone can do anything, and if you’re part of the LGBTQ + community, that doesn’t make you weirder or [more of] a lonely that everyone. ”

Four parents of transgender boys on the challenges and joys of raising their sons in a world that can be hostile
While Marnie Bialosuknia said she was thrilled for her daughter, she acknowledged that many trans teens do not belong to a similarly supportive student body or live in an affirming home. A 2019 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that just under 2% of U.S. high school students are trans, and that trans students are more likely than cisgender students to experience violent harassment and risk of sexual violence. suicide.

“I hope that maybe five years from now this will not be newsworthy,” she said. “Evan is the first, but she won’t be the last.”

Bialosuknia can be seen shining in the images of his coronation. When her name was called, she followed the line of her fellow candidates and hugged each as they enthusiastically cheered. The marching band, standing in a socially distanced formation on the school’s soccer field, applauded. She crouched down so that a school administrator could place the tiara on her head. Her smile never faltered.

“If you present yourself as a strong, outgoing and beautiful person, then this is what you will look like,” she said.

It’s a piece of advice she adopted on her own – and as you project that confidence, she’s starting to feel it, too.



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