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Utah Pride Center Sponsors Queer Prom
From a story in the Salt Lake Tribune April 2007 Brendon Olsen won't ever forget the night he walked into his Bountiful High School prom — with his boyfriend. “Everybody stared the whole night,” he said. “And no one would get near us.” It wasn't exactly the way the gay teenager wanted to remember one of the biggest nights of his life in high school. Despite the bad memories, he isn't finished with proms. For the past several years, Olsen, now a 19-year-old college freshman, has been among an estimated 600 youths age 13 to 20 who danced the night away at the Queer Prom, organized by the Utah Pride Center in Salt Lake City. The prom, held at the Salt Palace Convention Center, welcomes anyone — whether they are straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual or someone who chooses to look or act like someone of the opposite sex. Nineteen-year-old Alia Eden knows she probably would be laughed at if she wore a tuxedo to a traditional prom — or showed up with a girl. So for the past several years, she, too, has attended the Queer Prom instead. “It's the only place I feel really safe,” she said. “Everyone who comes has gone through a pretty hard time. So there's no teasing.” Daniel Hill started going to Queer Prom three years ago as a sophomore in high school. He said he has never yearned for a chance to attend prom at his own high school. “It's just like a traditional prom, only 10 times better,” he said. “These are people I can relate to.”
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www.affirmation.org