History was made this year at Orlando’s Olympia High School when 17-year-old transgender student Evan Bialosuknia was elected to be its homecoming queen. Not only is she the school’s first transgender homecoming queen, but possibly the first in all of Florida.
For the teenager, this symbolized something richer than royalty.
“It made me feel like I actually belonged, she said in an interview with WESH-TV. “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?'”
It turns out she had little to fear. Bialosuknia received an overwhelmingly amount of support from her classmates, especially the homecoming king.
“There’s only good energy, just a great person,” she said of her king. “He just made me feel like any other girl.”
Bialosuknia started her transition a few months ago and is in the first year of living aligned with her true identity. She admits she still has “a long way to go and more change is coming,” but she is pleased with her progress so far.
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“Looking back it doesn’t even feel like that’s me,” Bialosuknia recalled. “I played football for like six to eight years and I remember during practices I would stare at the cheerleaders because I wanted to be with them.”
She says she could not be her confident self without the love from her family.
Bialosukina ran for homecoming queen because, “I wanted to have that moment of glory,” but she still worried whether or not she made the right decision. Obviously, she did, and through all the excitement of winning came a certain comfort.
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“It just made me realize I was not alone and don’t have to go through this alone,” she said.
She hopes she can share that comfort with others who may struggle finding their way as she continues a journey of her own.
“I have to just keep my head up and know that it’s going to take time and it’s going to take patience,” she said.
