In a refreshing reversal from more hetero-normative and terrified school districts, Hudson New York High School seniors Charlie Ferrusi and Timmy Howard were voted prom Queen and King in a land-slide event at last Saturday's Prom. The two friends started thinking about running a month or so ago, and when they ran the idea past the high school principal Steven Spicer and advisors, were given an ok to go ahead. The two won by such a large margin that the school didn't even bother with runners-up.

It's particularly heartening to read stories like this one. In 2008 another Hudson high senior ran for Prom Queen, and won, but school officials denied him the crown. This Ferrusi and Howard said that one of the hardest parts of their experience "was deciding who would be king and who would be queen."

It's a very different climate in Hudson, New York, currently getting ready for Pride, than it is in Mississippi. Constance McMillen, formerly an 18-year-old senior at Itawamba High School, inspired the school to cancel the prom in order to prevent Constance and her girlfriend even attending the prom. Then, after the ACLU became involved, the school, parents, and other students staged a fake prom of Constance and some disabled students and held the real one without them. Constance has since been chosen as the Marshal for New York City's Pride Parade, but has also been forced to transfer to a different high school 180 miles away in Jackson, Mississippi in order to avoid constant harassment.