CLERMONT, Fla. – A 17-year-old boy lost his bid for the homecoming queen title at East Ridge High School on Friday.
[RELATED: Boy runs for homecoming queen]
Dillon Gleeson, a senior, made it to the final round of voting and walked with his parents across the field with the other four female candidates at the school's homecoming game.
"I myself relate more to queen than king," Gleeson told Local 6. "That's why I did this, and I wanted to make everybody else who is feeling something similar -- give them the confidence that they could do it."
The football crowd cheered when Gleeson first appeared on the field, riding on the back of a convertible.
They didn't stop cheering for him or the other four candidates.
"Of course I ran through all the questions, 'what about this?' and 'what about that?', but I'm really glad he stuck to his guns, and he did what he did," said Brian Gleeson, Dillon's father.
"He's never disappointed us in any way, and really been a great kid," said his mother, Noelle Gleeson. "We support him. He's our son."
In the end, Gleeson didn't win the crown, but he didn't seem to mind.
"I think the people who won deserved to win," he said.