An out Texas high school student who was nominated for homecoming king was over the moon with excitement, but the thrill turned to pain after his classmates started denigrating him and calling him slurs.
Justin Boone, a senior at El Campo High School, said he was “a little nervous” when the nomination was announced but that his family was thrilled at the honor.
Related: Bullies tormented & raped a gay student. His mom says the school covered it up.
After the nomination was announced, Boone was shown a group text that included other students using antigay slurs and one even said “if he wins, I’m moving.”
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Heartbroken, Boone didn’t even go to school the day the winner was announced.
“Just the homophobic comments. I just didn’t feel like hearing it,” Boone told local ABC station WTRK. “If I did win, I heard some people were going to boo or something, and I just didn’t feel like going through that.”
“I just couldn’t believe someone would be that cruel to do that to him because he doesn’t deserve it,” his mother told the station.
She said she reported the bullying to school officials but didn’t get any support from the administration.
“We need to acknowledge that the school does have these bullying tendencies, and it’s not being acknowledged by anyone and I feel like the school can take a step forward and try something new,” Boone said.
WTRK reports that they too reached out to the school system’s superintendent over the barrage of hate that Boone received and asked what had been done about it.
They didn’t get an answer.
