Lesbian couple from Macklemore show attends Ephrata High dance

As the final notes of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ “Same Love” died in the Spokane Arena on Wednesday night, a high school senior pulled her girlfriend onto the stage.

“I knew I liked girls since I was the age of 4, but you were the first girl I ever fell in love with,” Ephrata High School senior McKyna Jacobson told Chelsie Price before asking her to Saturday’s homecoming dance. The two were the first openly gay couple ever to attend the dance.

The crowd erupted into cheers as the couple embraced.

“I started crying onstage,” said Price, a freshman at Eastern Washington University. “It was really heartwarming.”

Jacobson tried to contact Macklemore about a month before the concert to set the moment up, but gave up when she didn’t hear anything. But on a whim, Jacobson’s mother, Dorothy Harris, contacted Macklemore’s media representative the day of the concert.

“McKyna and her dad and I were on the way over to the concert, and one of the producers called us and said, ‘Hey, we want to make this happen,’ ” Harris said. “It literally happened that day.”

Jacobson kept the call a secret from Price, presenting her with a pair of backstage passes. Price thought the two were just going to hang out there and listen to a few songs. Then Macklemore called them onstage after performing “Same Love,” his platinum-selling song about marriage equality.

“It was really amazing and humbling,” Jacobson said. “When we walked out on the stage, it was instant support.”

The moment “was really genuine,” Harris said.

“They’ll remember this for the rest of their lives,” Harris said. “It was a really great affirming moment.”

The two have been dating for 10 months. They met when they were playing on opposing high school basketball teams. Price is a graduate of Prosser High School.

Their relationship started in secret, Price said. The two dated for six months without telling anyone, then Price moved in with Jacobson and her family last summer before she started college.

“We’ve come a long way,” Price said.

Saturday was a whirlwind for the couple: They got their hair and nails done, then snapped a few quick photos before the ride with six of their friends in a limo to Leavenworth for dinner before the dance at Ephrata.

But it’s not the glamorous details Jacobson said she’ll remember about the night. It’s the step toward equality the couple is taking, she said.

“I want to remember making that statement and helping other kids realize it’s OK,” Jacobson said.