By Basil Soper

On Monday, October 24, 2016, an 18-year-old transgender girl said she experienced a feeling of "nothing but love and support" when her North Carolina high school announced that she was homecoming queen. Selena Milian had recently won the popular vote for the school award at Overhills High School in Spring Lake, NC the previous week—on Friday, October 21st.

It’s believed that Selena, who is also Native American, is the first transgender homecoming queen to be crowned in the state of North Carolina. Selena acquired the crown in the face of North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory’s H.B. 2—the infamous bill that dismisses transgender individuals from using public bathrooms within the state. The law has generated a gust of lawsuits involving the state, which have been the site of national news for the past several months. Major repercussions have also come in from the NCAA, large corporations, and a bevy of civil rights groups who have condemned the law as blatantly transphobic.