Queer Prom | Photo by Mikala Bell | The Wright State Guardian
Students and families danced under the twinkling lights during Rainbow Alliance’s Queer Prom on Dec. 2. The theme of an enchanted forest enticed attendees with decorations of mushrooms, flowers and more.
Set-up
The executive decision was made to decorate the room for prom at 10 a.m. so that students would have time to prepare for the Chosen Family Feast as well as the prom itself. The cabinet, as well as other members of Rainbow Alliance, came together to set up decorations, such as the waterfall and flower arch.
Rae Carson, a member of the Rainbow Alliance cabinet, talked about how setting up was an enjoyable experience.
“It was so much fun, there were many funny moments to be had,” Carson said.
Soft lights lined the walls, and mushrooms, moss and flowers were scattered onto every table by the time Rainbow Alliance finished decorating. Students did an excellent job preparing the prom site for guests.
With decorations complete, students left to prepare for the next part of the night: the Chosen Family Feast.
Chosen Family Feast
Many members of Rainbow Alliance took their seats in the Endeavor Room to celebrate the LGBTQA+ Center’s Chosen Family Feast, which started two hours before Queer Prom.
Intentionally planned shortly after WSU’s Thanksgiving break, Chosen Family Feast was a Thanksgiving and winter-themed dinner for queer students and their chosen families and close friends.
Attendees were offered craft supplies, such as paint and markers, to decorate winter-themed canvases and coloring pages to entertain themselves as they ate traditional Thanksgiving food, including cheesecake, chicken, mashed potatoes and vegetarian alternatives.
The Endeavor Room was filled with laughter and chatting as families ate and enjoyed each other’s company, and the time for Queer Prom rapidly approached.
Greene County Health and More Than A Hug set up stands outside of the prom location. More Than A Hug is a volunteer organization of parents who stand-in for queer people who may have a rocky relationship with their blood family; they also provided hugs and goodie bags to attendees. Green County Health had bags of information for students to take and also provided safe, confidential HIV testing during the event.
Prom itself
The theme of an enchanted forest was prominent from the moment students stepped through the arch of vines and hand-made flowers.
Queer Prom started off with a short speech from Rainbow Alliance President Alex Stone, who thanked the attendees for coming before advertising the club’s fundraising opportunities during prom: song requests and raffle tickets.
Song requests went for $2 while raffle tickets were $1 each. Students who bought raffle tickets could place them in a variety of jars for a chance to win items gifted to the organization by fellow clubs as well as outside organizations.
According to executive board members Kay Bell and Ash Sword, the gift baskets came from local businesses, such as The Neon movie theater and Dark Star Bookstore, as well as other organizations, including Greene County Health.
Abilities also offered an assortment of items, and one of the prizes was a series of paintings from Sword.
Attendees danced to music under the colorful lights and conversed at tables as they waited for the prize winners to be announced. Isabella Taylor, one of the many students who attended, was excited to express how she felt during the event.
“It was very slay,” Taylor said.
When the time came to announce winners, the music died down and cabinet and executive board members went up to randomly pull a ticket from each jar. A round of applause went out for every prize, and those who won multiple prizes were kind enough to offer their other winnings to different students.
Rainbow Alliance hosts meetings every Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Culture and Identity Centers. Students are encouraged to attend.
