- Students at the Homestead High School chose transgender Nikko Nelson and crowned her as their school’s prom queen.
- For Nelson, it was a dream come true especially that she faced real struggles growing up to be accepted as who she is.
- With claims that the Trump administration are rolling back protection for trans students and the general political controversy surrounding transgender identity in the United States, the students chose to look pass the issue.
Students from a high school in Wisconsin voted a transgender female student for this year’s prom queen.
According to a recent transgender news article by KCCI De Moines on April 29, students at the Homestead High School, located in Mequon, a suburb in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, chose transgender Nikko Nelson and crowned her as their school’s prom queen.
Dream come true
For Nelson, it was a dream come true especially that she faced real struggles growing up to be accepted as who she is.
“I didn’t like realize that I wanted to be a girl. I just noticed that I mostly had girlfriends, and I participated in most of the girl activities,” she said.
Wearing her first ever dress in her eighth grade graduation and planning to have a career in fashion, she shared how she discovered the news that she was voted to be the prom queen.
“I was going to wear these shoes because it’s a pop of color,” she explained. “I was talking to a person on prom committee and they said you won prom queen, and I was like are you being serious?”
Her family remarked that she grew up as a little boy with preference for things mostly associated with girls. It was in her junior high school year that they decided to deal with the issue.
“This was before Caitlyn Jenner. This was before everything was in the news, and Nikko kind of educated us about it,” her mother said. “As much as Nikko is a transgender girl, she is our daughter.”
Journey
When asked if she considered herself as trailblazer, Nelson answered, “I just like to think of myself as a normal person, but at the same time I realize that I do have a different quirk to me.”
Nelson’s support system in her journey was her family and her bestfriend India.
Recalling her friendship with India, Nelson said, “I was a boy when I met her and when I started transitioning she didn’t think of me differently.”
“People love Nikko, love her,” India shared. “I am like glad people can see her the way I see her as just a normal friend, normal person.”
India’s post on social media urging the community to vote for her friend received mostly supportive response, but there were a few that weren’t as accepting.
“Do you mean king?” one comment said.
With claims that the Trump administration are rolling back protection for trans students and the general political controversy surrounding transgender identity in the United States, the students in her high school chose to look pass the issue.
“I didn’t win prom queen for being a transgender girl. I won prom queen for being Nikko Nelson,” she said.
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