Meet The 'Cutest Couple': Brad Taylor And Dylan Meehan

My how times have changed since I was in high school.

Every year, most high school yearbooks award certain honors to the graduating class—like Funniest, and Most Athletic—and those Seniors get their pictures in the yearbook. One of the categories when I was in school—No, it wasn’t ‘Most Closeted’ and No, I didn’t win for it anyway—is Cutest Couple and, well, now Carmel High School in Putnam County, New York has the Cutest Couple I think I have ever seen: Dylan Meehan and Brad Taylor.

The idea to enter the popular, and obviously openly gay, couple into the category came from their friend Chelsea Blaney, who was none too pleased that in years past the award only went to straight couples. She approached the principal, Kevin Carroll, about allowing the boys to be entered into the running.

"Kids aren't hiding anymore. They feel free, and they feel safe in the school -- that's the way it is."—Kevin Carroll

Once the votes were counted, and Dylan and Brad were declared Cutest, Blaney posted a photo of the couple on her Tumblr:

“Two of my best friends won Cutest Couple of our senior class. First time in my school history a same sex couple has even been able to run for this category, not to mention winning it. So proud of them, and my school.”

Naturally, the picture went viral, and generated some 110,891 comments in just four days as more and more people around the world saw that these two young men could be, and should be, and are, the Cutest Couple.

“This whole thing has been a bit surreal for us because we have been raised to believe that love is love. We never realized that our happiness and openness would inspire so many individuals. The support we have received from our family, friends, and even strangers has led us to believe that our affection for each other is normal. When we started dating a year ago, the thought of a photo of us traveling throughout the world would be a bit frightening, but now we are proud to be part of the LGBT community."—Dylan Meehan and Brad Taylor

And the LGBT community, past and present, and future, is proud to have you.

The notion that Meehan and Taylor could be voted Cutest Couple thrills me no end, because I remember seeing gay couples—deeply closeted gay couples—when I was in high school, and though many students ‘knew’ that these people were couples, they weren’t acknowledged; they didn’t hold hands in the halls, they never danced together at prom, but they were a couple.

And now, those couples might be able to relive their high school days through Dylan and Brad, and the young gay kids coming up might picture themselves on the pages of their yearbooks, too. Cute. It’s really cute, and about time.

Oh, and by the way, Dylan and Brad—who both have 4.0 GPAs…cute and smart—are headed to NYU in the fall, to the Gallatin School of Individualized Study, where they expect to study theater, business and the sciences.

Congratulations Dylan and Brad.

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