Photo by Tori D'Amico
Ramapo’s Pride Club, in coordination with the sorority Tri Sigma, the Student Government Association, the College Programming Board and the Women’s Center, held its annual Pride Prom on Friday, April 26. The inclusivity-centered event made a huge splash and brought out students of all identities to celebrate.
In addition to the usual prom festivities, the event featured a drag show with queens Nedra Belle and Fifi DuBois. Students cheered when Belle performed live and Dubois showed off her remarkable Britney Spears impressions.
Pride Prom allows students to feel safe and proud at a prom, which, for many in the LGBTQ+ community, was not possible at their respective high school proms. Whether students cannot attend prom with a date of the same gender or cannot dress in accordance to their identity, prom can be a hard time for many LGBTQ+ teens.
Ramapo Pride seeks to create new memories of prom, where students can have the experience they truly deserve.
“Pride prom was more fun than my actual prom,” said freshman Felicia Terreri. She, like many others, appreciated the environment created in Friends Hall on Friday night.
Having a drag show at a prom is, to say the least, an unusual treat that many students thoroughly enjoyed. Such an experience sets the tone for inclusivity and self-expression, and Belle and Dubois set wonderful examples as people who aren’t afraid to be themselves.
Pride prom would not have been complete without classic prom photos, which students could take using the various rainbow backgrounds around the hall or in a photo booth. Prom photos are images many prom attendees will look back on years later with fondness, and being able to have photos that reflect who one is at that time is especially important for LGBTQ+ students. To be able to proudly present their gender identity, sexuality or just their style is a privilege many teens within the community feel they don’t have, but now can, thanks to events like Pride Prom.
High schools across America have only recently begun to embrace LGBTQ+ students at prom in the last few years, leaving many current college students longing for the same treatment. Events like Pride Prom allow LGBTQ+ students and their friends to now enjoy the same opportunities as others free of stigma.
Though Pride Prom encourages attendance from LGBTQ+ students so that they might experience prom the way everyone deserves to, allies are always more than welcomed with Ramapo Pride. Even though Pride Prom is a special event, it works toward the same goal as many other events hosted by Ramapo Pride: diversity and inclusion.
vdamico@ramapo.edu
