Posted on 06/26/2002 5:21:05 PM PDT by Sweet_Sunflower29
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It took Adina Scheim all of 10 minutes to get dressed for her prom. All she had to do was step into her tuxedo.
"I don't wear makeup and I didn't have to bother with my hair, so it really took no time at all," said Scheim, 15, scratching her shaved head as she waited impatiently for the seventh annual Pride Prom for gay teens to begin.
The dance has been bolstered by the case of Marc Hall, the Oshawa, Ont., teen who fought his school board in court for the right to take his boyfriend to the prom.
"Marc Hall's crusade has raised our profile," said Patty Barclay, a prom organizer and co-ordinator of the Triangle Program, a school for gay students.
"Kids from outside Toronto have heard about us as a result of the media coverage, and are travelling in because they don't have services in their towns."
About 160 teens were expected to attend, making it the prom's largest ever attendance, she added.
Barclay also said educators have contacted her for information about the event in an effort to learn how to better handle the issue of gay students at proms.
While Hall's court victory was hailed as triumph for gay rights, not all gay teens want to make their end-of-school party into a public political battle - many just want to have fun like straight students, Pride Prom organizer Elisa Hatton said.
"It goes beyond tolerance - and that's all public schools can offer at this point, beyond needing acceptance - to purely celebrating," she said.
The excitement was palpable during the day as students decorated the downtown theatre hosting the prom.
Fire-coloured streamers were hung from the ceiling, and apple- and cherry-shaped lights were wound up the staircase leading to a second-floor sitting area overlooking the dance floor.
A massive "Red Hot Pride Prom" banner was draped behind the stage.
A group of teachers from the Peel board of education donated food for the party - paid for out of their own pockets - as they have every year.
A DJ who is a favourite in Toronto's gay neighbourhood was set up in a booth, ready to get the dance started with popular teen anthems and ballads.
Richard Seyeau, 17, said he was bent on winning the best dancer award.
"Last year I was maybe a bit too provocative," he said.
Seyeau said the dance is a chance to celebrate the end of the school year and be himself.
"I've been to heterosexual proms, and I had to bring a female date and hide my sexuality. I felt totally uncomfortable. Here, I can bring a boy I care about and I don't have to hide. It makes me feel really good about myself."
The prom coincided with the city's Gay Pride Week, which is to be capped off Sunday with a parade that has in the past attracted a crowd of hundreds of thousands.
Some teens spent the day transforming themselves into drag kings and queens.
"If you've ever seen anyone get dressed in drag, you know it takes several hours," Barclay said. "And for many of them, this is their first time going out in drag, so it's a big deal."
One of the Pride Prom's biggest draws is the contest to select king and queen.
"Our prom queens have been boys in taffeta and our prom kings have been girls in tuxes, and vice versa," Barclay said. "Gender is irrelevant when it comes to our kings and queens; they can run for whatever they identify with."
Scheim, who entered herself in the prom king competition, said the title and the prom are important rites of passage.
"Even though I could go to a prom at a regular school with a same-sex date, I might feel like the freak of the prom," she said.
"I can come here and not only be accepted and tolerated, but have my identity celebrated, and that's why it's so important for us to have this."
That's because it's all about spreading "the message"
Isn't it?
LOL!
With all due respect, this is warped.
(Amazing.. isn't it? When I was in school no one wanted to be thought of as abnormal)
I bet this is what all the "its", with female plumbing, will look like at the prom...
Where is Shai-Hulud when you need it?
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