Gay teen voted to Lindhurst homecoming court

Lindhurst High School students on Friday chose Corina Soto-Gonzalez as one of their homecoming princesses, an honor the 17-year-old lesbian is using to champion gay rights.

"People really shouldn't hide who they are," Corina said while wearing a rainbow pride sweatband on her wrist and a T-shirt with "Young & Reckless" written all over it. "They should be proud of it no matter what anybody thinks."

The high school's juniors last week decided against a typical prince-princess selection and elected Corina and Ellie Yang, a 17-year-old straight girl, who agreed to share princess duties with her friend.

As the junior class royalty, Corina and Ellie will represent their peers with princes and princesses from other underclassmen as well as the senior class' king and queen. This week's homecoming events include a rally, Friday night's homecoming basketball game and wraps up with a Saturday evening dance.

Gay or straight, boy or girl — it doesn't really make a difference who gets elected to homecoming royalty, said Lindhurst's principal, Bob Eckardt, who said he didn't think having two princesses was noteworthy. "I don't necessarily care."

Corina came out to family, friends and classmates more than a year ago in November 2010, something that has made her a confidante to others who are still in the closet.

Her advice: "It is who you are. You should come out."

That doesn't make it easy, said Steven Shoup, who works with gay student alliances at Lindhurst and River Valley high schools. One, being a teenager, even one gliding through mainstream heterosexuality, isn't easy.

"You're developing all these hormones and these sensations," he said.

Struggling with being gay adds a whole other layer of complication, added Shoup, who is gay. "If you're not in the hetero norm, there's this feeling of vulnerability of being discovered."

Corina felt that. "I used to be nervous about what people thought and wanting to make my family proud of me," she said.

Turns out, her mother is proud because she came out. By doing so, Corina is not only admitting who she is, she is helping others struggling to come out to do the same, said Quetzal Garcia, a 34-year-old medical assistant.

"Maybe they're ashamed of it or scared of what society will say," Garcia said. "This step she took will help others voice who they are and be more accepting.

"I was very proud of her."

Coming out not only changes the way people see an individual, it also changes how straight people see gay people, Shoup said.

"It's a powerful thing to have someone you know come out. It changes you, the way you look at them and the way you look at others," Shoup said. "They have to re-examine their belief system, and I think that's a healthy thing for a community."

Lindhurst students have done just that over the past eight years, said Michelle Greco, adviser for the school's Gay Student Alliance and a teacher at the school since 2004.

"I've seen a huge amount of progress since then," Greco added. "There's more and more brave souls out there saying, 'This is who I am. You need to accept it.'"

Not everyone accepted Corina when she came out.

She did so with her girlfriend, whose mother got angry and sent her daughter to live with her father in Southern California.

"She didn't want her daughter to be that way," Corina said.

The separation strains Corina, and the couple considered breaking up.

"It was really hard on me. I was depressed a lot," Corina said. "I didn't really know how to take it at the time."

But they've stayed together in the year they've been apart. They talk over the phone and see each other using FaceTime, a Skype-like program. They've met in person once, when Corina went to Disneyland and they ran a 5,000-meter race together.

The day before the race, the couple met for the first time in seven months. Corina's mother had driven her to Southern California, and they were searching for the school, the girlfriend on the phone with Corina.

Then they found the school, and Corina hopped out of the car and rushed toward her girlfriend.

"It was like one of those movie moments where we ran all happy toward each other."

CONTACT reporter Jonathan Edwards at jedwards @appealdemocrat.com or 749-4780. Find him on Facebook at /ADjedwards or on Twitter at @ADjedwards.