When senior Jeremy Castillo Carreras decided to run for Homecoming court, he ran with the intention of being a voice for marginalized people. As a trans and gay activist, he has participated in Adele Harrison’s and SVHS’ Gender Sexuality Awareness club and has brought his concerns about the safety of students of color to school board meetings. 

Because of the challenges he has faced identifying with several marginalized communities, he said that he wanted to “bring a change to the high school” and be a role model for younger queer and Latine kids. Jeremy hopes that those younger students will be inspired by him and hopes they know that they can accomplish anything that they set their minds to. 

However, Jeremy struggled with doubts and hesitations before advertising his campaign. Because running for Homecoming royalty was “out of [his] comfort zone,” he did not believe he would actually get nominated. For years he watched the SVHS Homecoming celebrations from the sidelines and never thought that he could actually be included in them. He was also anxious because of the people that knew him pre-transition or before he changed his name, which is a struggle that a majority of transgender youth face. 

After he received news that he was nominated, he thought that “maybe the school does care [about queer reprentation].” As someone who does not fit in with the popular crowd that usually gets nominated, he could not believe that an overwhelming amount of people showed up to the polls to support him. He was also excited that Ferne Alverez, a fellow queer and Latine student was nominated. He said that it was a “big change that two queer, Latine kids would be able to represent the school.” 

Even though he did not win, his nomination was a “huge victory to other people.” Jeremy hopes to continue to use the following that he acquired during his campaign to advocate for LGBTQ+ and Latine students at SVHS.