Hail to the King and Queen

The kids are all right:

On June 5, what began as a lark turned into a celebration of their courage to attend high school as openly gay young men. Seniors Charlie Ferrusi and Timmy Howard were crowned Hudson High School's prom king and queen in an open vote of their classmates.

"It was so cool when they called our names. Kids were screaming and cheering for us," recalled Ferrusi. "I gave Timmy the biggest hug ever. I was shaking with excitement. People were taking our picture. Everyone was going crazy."

"It was wonderful and totally surprising," said Howard. "It started as a kind of joke among our classmates. Instead of electing the typical king and queen, they voted for me and Charlie, these two gay guys."

...Ferrusi and Howard won by such a wide margin that principal Steven Spicer and Superintendent John Howe could only salute the outcome. They also had more time to prepare since Ferrusi and Howard went through proper channels and announced their intentions beforehand... "The principal and I are in full support of the outcome of the prom vote," Howe said. "The students had a great time and they selected the prom king and queen they wanted. We are a diverse student body and we celebrate our diversity."

...Ferrusi chose to wear the king's faux crown and Howard accepted the tiara and bouquet of flowers as queen. They posed for cellphone shots with ear-to-ear grins.

The jubilant winners joined 40 others who had hired a bus and paid $5 for a ride to the prom.

Laughter and hurrahs for the king and queen filled the big yellow bus on the way home. The driver happened to be Ferrusi's grandfather, Dick Tracy, a former mayor of Hudson. He may have been cheering the loudest.

Blub.

[H/Ts to Shakers Constant Comment and Angelos.]