Many LGBTs look back on their senior prom with disdain, as they struggled to fit into the heterosexual norms of the traditional affair.
But one openly gay North Philadelphia teenager will remember his prom night with gratitude and pride.
The senior class of Thomas Edison High School elected Geraldo Oyola as its prom king earlier this month.
Oyola, 18, who has been out since his freshman year, was elected by popular vote of his classmates, securing the title over four other competitors.
Oyola said he first realized he was gay in sixth grade and began his coming-out process when he reached high school.
He said opening up to his mother was difficult, but turned out positively.
“I knew I had to tell her because I just wouldn’t have felt right if I didn’t,” Oyola said. “I was really jumpy, my hands were shaking and I just said, ‘Mom, what if I told you I was bi?’ And she didn’t give me a direct answer, just said, ‘We’ll talk about it later,’ and we never sat and had a specific talk about it but she’s very supportive. She says, ‘I know you’re gay, I’m proud of you for who you are no matter what.’”
Reactions among his classmates weren’t initially as positive, however.
As a freshman, Oyola said he faced bullying because he was out.
“It was hard in the beginning,” he said. “There was a lot of harassment and bullying and it would get worse every day.”
He sought assistance from an after-school program and said a mentor there encouraged him to embrace his own identity to gain confidence.
“She taught me so many things, and I took what she said and used it to create my own being,” he said. “That’s what kept the bullying and the suffering away: I felt free and was able to look at all this negativity and make it into something positive so it didn’t hurt me.”
Edison is home to a gay-straight alliance that was formed in honor of an openly gay student who committed suicide in 2007, and which Oyola said has assisted in quelling homophobic attitudes at the school.
“We have many, many openly gay students now,” Oyola said. “Everyone’s fine with it. I’m nice to everyone and everyone knows I’m gay, so people have gotten really much more comfortable with it.”
When the prom-king election process began earlier this year, Oyola decided to throw his hat in the ring.
He and the other candidates wrote an essay about why they wanted to become prom king and submitted three teacher recommendations, and then voting was opened up to the senior class.
Oyola attended the prom, held May 4 at the Sheridan in Center City, with two close friends and said that, when it came time for the king crowning, he was nervous but confident.
He said his election proved to both himself and underclassmen that a student’s orientation shouldn’t play a role in achieving one’s goals.
“I hope this shows the lowerclassmen that they should take risks,” he said. “Becoming king was great for me, but it was more about making younger kids feel more welcome and showing them that they can do whatever it is they want to.”
Once he graduates next month, Oyola will be working in an after-school program with Congreso de Latino Unidos and attending Community College of Philadelphia. He plans to pursue a career in computer technology.
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].