A 17-year-old gay student went viral on social media after asking his straight friend, who is the captain of their high school football team in California, to homecoming.
Alexander Duarte, a high school senior at Valley High School in Santa Ana, said he made the proposition to his BFF Erick Pineda, 17, last Thursday on National Coming Out Day.
Duarte asked his pal to the dance with a banner, which read, “I know I am gay, but can I take you straight to homecoming?”
In an Instagram video of the proposal, Pineda made his way through a crowd of cheering students and hugged Duarte to accept his offer for homecoming.
Pineda told Instinct Magazine that as a straight football player, he wanted to set a good example for their fellow classmates — that straight and gay men can be friends.
“I’m setting an example for not only my school, but also my community,” Pineda said. “The [football] team is very supportive and multiple teammates have approached me to congratulate me and have given me ‘respect’ for my actions.”
Their idea to go to the dance together initially started as a joke. Earlier in the year, Pineda told Duarte to take him to homecoming, so Duarte decided to follow through with the request.
“I have never had a date to a dance and this is my senior year so something clicked inside and inspired me to actually ‘ask [Pineda],'” Duarte told Instinct. “For me, it was also about setting an example for others on how to go all out on their proposals and, more importantly, that it is ok for a brown boy to ask another dude.”
While the pair is obviously great friends now, their relationship didn’t start out on the best of terms when they met as high school freshmen. Duarte didn’t specify what happened, but he told Instinct that Pineda has “apologized for his actions.”
Duarte added that Pineda grew to be more accepting of the LGBTQ community and has been there for him “during the highs and lows.”
“He also said that he loved me and that he will always be there for me if needed,” Duarte said.
The homecoming dance will be held on October 20 and Duarte says he already knows what he’s going to wear.
“I haven’t gone shopping yet, but I know for sure I will be wearing heels, a nice navy suit and getting my nails done,” he said.
