Front Page Story: AREA GAY TEENS PLAN A PROM OF THEIR OWN
* Tonight's event is the first of its kind in the Quad Cities

by Barb Arland-Fye, Quad City Times

Gay teen-agers who wouldn't dare show up at their high school proms with a date of the same sex will be attending their own prom tonight in Davenport.

The alternative prom is a first for the Quad Cities, say leaders of Quad Citians Affirming Diversity, who decided the rite of passage needs to be opened up.

Most of the 120 or so guests will be high school-age students, but adults who felt excluded from their own high school proms are invited to the event at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Davenport. Heterosexual couples are welcome, as long as they are respectful toward their homosexual peers.

"There's a need for a safe space for kids who don't fit in because of their sexual orientation, or maybe we should say, who are not allowed to fit in," said Steven Stickle, executive director of Quad Citians Affirming Diversity, or QCAD.

Counselors at Quad City schools agree that it's a good idea for the most part, but some worry that the event may be counterproductive to efforts to make schools and other institutions more inclusive.

That's not a worry, right now, for the gay teens who simply want to feel accepted and comfortable with people who are like them.

Derek, a 17-year-old student at Davenport Central High School, is excited about going to the alternative prom and getting to dance with a guy without someone discouraging it.

Sixteen-year-old Paul, who says he won an award for technicolor hair at Davenport's 2001 Alternative Program, probably will spray his hair rainbow colors for the alternative prom.

Nineteen-year-old Jill, looking forlorn because she doesn't have a female date for the alternative prom, is taking a male friend instead.

Like typical prom-goers, they will dance, pose for photos with their dates, snack on veggies, chips, cheese and crackers, and drink toasts with Pepsi, Coke and Mountain Dew.

But they will not crown a prom king and queen. At most high schools that tradition has become a popularity contest and "we want to steer away from that because in QCAD everyone is equal," said 20-year-old Jeremy, one of the prom's planners.

Their theme is "Over The Rainbow" because the rainbow is a symbol of the gay community. Jeremy and the other prom planners have been out shopping for rainbow streamers, balloons and party favors.

He and his male date for the prom will wear vests, nice shirts and slacks, he said.

James, a gregarious 19-year-old who is helping to decorate for the prom, hasn't decided what to wear yet.

His mother, he said, wants to meet his date. "She wants to see the lucky guy who's going to put up with me all night," he joked.

Jean Mattson, a counselor at Pleasant Valley High School in Bettendorf, is concerned that teenagers are jumping the gun in declaring their sexual identity, heterosexual or homosexual, because that age is a confusing time in people's life. It's a time for learning to understand themselves first.

She also worries about the segregating aspect of an alternative prom.

"I think we have to be accepting. I don't think we need separate activities for separate groups if we're trying to establish a unity among the students," she said.

"It does run counter to the inclusion idea," said David Lane, associate superintendent of Davenport schools. "You hate to feel that people don't feel included, but I know that some of them don't."

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