Last year, my school had the pleasure of hosting its first LGBT dance in celebration of Valentine’s Day. This year we are proud to continue what I personally hope will be a yearly tradition, and perhaps my parting legacy to my school, as it was my original idea. However, that said, I would never have been able to accomplish any of these
dances without the combined help of all the students at the gay-straight alliance and the teachers who have helped plan, host, reserve or chaperone for this event, which highlights the strong sense of community at our school.
Anyone who read my article about this dance last year knows I created it out of a want for an event for youth in the LGBT community, who might not feel as included in “typical” high-school dances. And I still think this is a strong sentiment.
Despite the vast wave of achievements the community has made in the past decade alone, there is still much stigma. There are still some states and even nations in the world without same-sex marriage, along with laws that allow employers to fire people for being gay, ignorance about the transgender community and even extreme homophobia in some places in the world. Having a dance like this, in some ways, can allow the worry from the outside world to fade away, if only temporarily, and allow us utter freedom to be our out, proud, “gay” selves.
The dance will be held at Science Leadership Academy, 55 N. 22nd St., Feb. 6 (a Friday if you are wondering) from 7-10 p.m. The cost is $7 at the door or $5 in advance. You must be in high school and have an ID. For any further inquires, please contact me at [email protected] and feel free to bring friends for a great time!
Sean Morris is a junior at Science Leadership Academy.