Homecoming 2023: Dancing under the stars
Homecoming 2023 was a star-studded event. The dance, which was held the night of Oct. 7, was flooded with smiles and laughter throughout the cafeteria and Innovation Quad.
The atmosphere was busy, with hundreds of Samo students in attendance. The dance floor between the cafeteria and the Discovery Building stairs was the fo cal point of Homecoming. Songs such as “Starships” by Nicki Minaj were so beloved by students that their dancing caused the ground to literally shake. There were several food options, such as pizza, creamsicles and slushies. It was also full of great photo opportu nities, including a 360-degree camera and several caricature artists. With plenty of room to converse, eat and dance the night away it was the perfect night. Stu dent Charlie Llorente (’27) provided her point of view during the dance.
“It’s fun spending time with my friends and seeing them dressed up,” Llorente said. “The decorations are actually amazing.”
Taylor Witt / The Samohi
Katie Sievers (’24) and Sage Hightower (’24) take a break from the dance floor in the Samo cafeteria during the Homecoming dance.
The Samo Vikings’ Instagram posted Homecoming proposals leading up to the dance itself. Most of these proposals included one student asking out their friend or partner by creating a clever and unique sign and filming the other person’s reaction. On the Instagram account, many Homecoming proposals that were fea tured this year and in years past were of queer relation ships. While some schools and districts in other states and areas may be averse to displaying queer students, the Samo Instagram account includes a diverse set of student perspectives.
Other schools aren’t always as open as Samo. Many states across the US are allowing more and more homophobic bills and ideologies to become normalized. There has been an overwhelming amount of rejection against LGBTQ people recently, especially queer youth. High schools are reverting to no longer being safe spaces for queer students in areas such as Texas and Arizona, forcing teens to hide their true selves. Even high schools trying to support their LGBTQIA+ stu dent body have faced negative backlash when doing so. For example, according to NBC news, a Kansas City Oak Park High School student Tristan Young faced immense judgment after tweeting about being appointed Homecoming Queen. She received many hateful com ments such as tweets accusing her of pushing the agen da that men are better than women. School is rapidly becoming a dangerous and fearful space for queer students in red states and areas. However, students such as Frances Aguilar (’26) advocate that Samo provides a safe space.
“I always am surrounded by support and love here at Samo,” Aguilar said. “Because there are so many LGBTQ+ resources and students, I never feel uncomfortable to be who I am.”
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