High school students from across the D.C. region spent the last Friday night of Pride Month dancing at Safe Space NOVA鈥檚 annual Pride Prom, which was held at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Old Town Alexandria.
The prom, which started in 2018 under NOVA Pride and is now run by Safe Space NOVA, has become a place where teens feel safe enough to come back year after year 鈥� many eventually returning as volunteers.
This year鈥檚 event took on a 鈥淪tarry Night鈥� theme and cost about $12,000 to produce, receiving help from the City of Alexandria鈥檚 Office of the Arts and catering from Mia鈥檚 Italian Kitchen in Old Town.
Student organizer Anik Davis, 16, who is homeschooled, said her favorite part of planning the night was choosing the menu. The spread included chicken Parmesan, rigatoni, breadsticks, salad, as well as trays of Italian desserts that featured cannolis.
Davis said Pride Proms are needed because public school proms don鈥檛 always feel safe or welcoming for queer teens. 鈥淭here鈥檚 bullying and a lot of homophobia, so having these places helps the queer people feel a lot more safe,鈥� she said.
Another tradition that continued for this year’s event was live entertainment.
Making sure kids know they’re not alone
One of the performers, Kirby the Drag Queen, didn鈥檛 just lip鈥憇ync, she played the saxophone and performed a solo that stopped the room.
The performer had traveled through the afternoon rush鈥慼our traffic from Baltimore to Old Town to take part in the event. She told 海角社区app why it was important to be there.
鈥淲e see suicide rates going up. We see a lot of attacks from the federal government, so we need to make sure that the kids know that they鈥檙e not alone,鈥� Kirby said.
鈥淕ay people are born everywhere. I鈥檓 from Alabama,鈥� Kirby said. 鈥淚 was the only one in my town and I felt it.鈥�
Many of the volunteers return year after year, like Cameron Flores, who said they come back to 鈥渟upport the community and make sure everyone is having a good time,鈥� knowing that this is a night teens look forward to all year.
One teenager’s first Pride Prom
Leo Miller, the co鈥慹xecutive director of Safe Space NOVA, said Pride Prom remains important because it gives LGBTQ+ teens a community鈥慶entered space they often don鈥檛 have: a place to feel supported, build confidence and connect with one another.
Jordan Costen, the founder of Safe Space NOVA, said he repeatedly hears from adults that they “wish” they’d had a Pride Prom available when growing up.
Friday’s Pride Prom was the first for 14鈥憏ear鈥憃ld Milo Gutierrez.
Wearing a blue shirt with 鈥渉uman鈥� spelled out in different Pride鈥慺lag colors, he explained what he liked about the night: hanging out, dancing, winning prizes and grabbing snacks.
When they were told it sounded like any other prom, he grinned and said, 鈥淵eah 鈥� except for Pride people.鈥�
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