Transcripts

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SPEAKER 1: And I want you to take us back to January 1. You were allowed to walk in the Snow Days Pep Rally after suing Champlin Park. It went to federal court, and you spent some time with the judge in mediation, right? So after all that, what was it like when you finally got to be Snow Days royalty? Tell me about the experience.

SPEAKER 2: It was kind of scary, like because there had been so much attention. So going into it, we were just really nervous. And most of the people did like some funny thing when they walked, and we just kind of rushed it along and I guess didn't enjoy as much as we could. But it was still fun. And we got a lot of support for it, which was really nice and surprising.

SPEAKER 1: One of the things I read from the school board is that some people said they were worried about teasing that you'd be teased. And they wanted to, if you will, shelter you from that. What do you make of that argument? Did you hear people say that?

SPEAKER 2: Yeah, I kind of thought it was just kind of ridiculous because we're both out, and everybody knows that we're already or they knew we were a couple, and nobody had a problem with it. So, I mean, it would have just gone just fine, I think, if there wasn't all the attention.

SPEAKER 1: When you say nobody has a problem with it, is that true universally, pretty universally of students at Champlin Park?

SPEAKER 2: I know a few of my friends have had some trouble with bullying, but--

SPEAKER 1: Over what? Over sexual orientation or other things?

SPEAKER 2: Yeah, I've had-- I've known a couple male students that actually transferred or dropped out because of the bullying towards them. And I had a couple lesbian friends that like, because they looked more androgynous, like, there was boys shoving them into their lockers and stuff. But they actually had help from the staff who got that resolved.

SPEAKER 1: When you say help from the staff, from school, from teachers or staff members?

SPEAKER 2: Yeah, they let one of the assistant principals know, and he kind of cleared that up for them.

SPEAKER 1: Have you been personally bullied yourself?

SPEAKER 2: Up until the Snow Days thing, no. I mean, I've-- I guess my appearance since I'm more androgynous, like, I've had some people just like, "Yo, Dyke" or stuff like that. But up until Snow Days, there hadn't been anything. During the time of Snow Days, there was some online messages from people saying like, you better watch your back and stuff. But after it blew over, there was nothing.

SPEAKER 1: Now you know that things have changed in that regard from your parents generation, my generation. And that is you might be threatened in person at school, at your locker or you'd be made to be afraid of something that might happen after school. But now online, it takes on a totally different, at least to someone in my generation, a totally different thing. Do you regard the in-person bullying or online as the same? Or is that more threatening, less?

SPEAKER 2: I kind think that online is a little bit more threatening, especially when it's anonymous because you're not aware of who it's coming from, so you don't really know what to expect. But as far as the online bullying, I've never had anyone actually approach me. So I guess it's just like them being too afraid to show their face. So it could go either way with that.

SPEAKER 1: What do you make of the people behind those anonymous threats? Does it bother you that there are people who are willing to do that, whether they're anonymous or not?

SPEAKER 2: I guess it would only bother me because I feel like on this subject, they're a little bit ignorant, and they don't know the whole story, and they're just making assumptions or they have certain beliefs that they're close minded about and they're not willing to see it any other way. And I mean, I guess it could go a lot of ways for other people because I'm not really-- I'm kind of ignorant on their way of thinking. So I can't expect them to accept it.

But as far as the threats go, that's not necessary. You can have your opinions, just be, I don't know, courteous with them, or I don't know if that's the right word, just like respectful conversation. That's what I'm about, is I'll respect your opinion, and you respect mine and no anonymous threats.

SPEAKER 1: What do you think is under that, that people are willing to make threats over this or other differences. You mentioned ignorance. So what would you say they're ignorant of?

SPEAKER 2: I guess, like, I know girls at school can be catty. So when they see or when they saw me and Sarah doing the whole suing the school thing, they just kind of took it as you guys just want attention, that's what you're looking for. You're just making this all about yourself.

And that's where I think that the ignorance comes in because they don't understand that it's not about that. We don't want attention. We didn't ask for it. We just want to participate like everybody else, and we feel that it's what we deserve. So we're going to fight for it.

SPEAKER 1: For students at either your high school or other high schools who may be dealing with bullying or intimidation about their sexual orientation, what would you say to them?

SPEAKER 2: I guess just be yourself. And this is who you are, and you're not going to be able to change it. And you shouldn't have to hide it because you deserve the same rights and respect as everybody else. And just be proud of who you are and represent it with everything you have.