Queer prom -

KALEIDO SHOOTS

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QUEER PROM UK GIVES LGBT PEOPLE A CHANCE TO RELIVE THEIR YOUTH AND HAVE THE PROM THEY NEVER DID. PROMS IN THE UK ARE A RELATIVELY RECENT US IMPORTANT, BUT FOR MANY LGBT PEOPLE, HAS BECOME SYNOMOUS WITH ANOTHER EXCLUSIONARY HETERONORMATIVE RITUAL. QUEER PROM AIMS TO RECLAIM THAT, AND GIVE QUEER PEOPLE ACROSS THE UK A CHANCE TO EXPERIENCE PROM AS THEIR TRUE SELVES. 

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MY PROM EXPERIENCE - 

I went to an all girls boarding school that should have been a bastion of tradition and conservatism, but actually had a surprisingly long history of sapphic activity running through it’s underBELLY, (probably inevitable when you stick a bunch of hormonal teenagers up on a hill with minimal adult supervision). I was incredibly fortunate to have a supportive SQUAD OF FRIENDS who would probably have been disappointed if I’d turned up to prom in anything resembling “normal”. 

 

I did my best not to disappoint, rocking up with my fabulous girlfriend, and wearing a kilt - an ode to my future university career in Scotland and the closest thing to genderqueer formal wear I could come up with in the early 2000s home counties.

 

That night, I also professed my long-standing affections for my favourite teacher, to which she replied “yep, I know”, and then we shared a dance. I like to think that if we had elected a prom king and queen, I would have won them both!

 

I realise how unusual that experience was, especially back in the last dirty days of Section 28. Queer Prom is important because LGB and especially T people the world over are still FIGHTING FOR THEIR RIGHT TO EXIST. I want every queer, young and old to have a prom experience like mine. For that to become the norm, not the anomaly, and maybe, one day, it could last for more than just one night.