UNITE Prom

UNITE Prom

by Dusty Langdon

UNITE, or Understanding Individuality Through Education, is a common interest club at ICC whose purpose is to “provide a safe social atmosphere for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and allied (GLBTQA) people of Illinois Central College”.

UNITE hosted a gender-neutral masquerade prom on March 18, 2017. The event was held at ICC’s Performing Arts Center and was promoted as a “place where everyone can show their true colors” on their flyers and handouts. The prom allowed all people of any gender, sexuality, and anyone above the age of 16.

There were three main events during the prom:

·        Performances by 3 Drag Queens

·        Cutest Couple

·        Best Dancer

Three Drag Queens performed at the UNITE Prom, one of which, (Name), who was an alum of the UNITE club. They gave stellar performances to popular songs while the crowd went wild. The Queens happily obliged the crowd and accepted $1 bills stuffed in various places of their costumes. The Queens showed their feminine prowess and talents while dancing in 6-inch stilettos without missing a beat.

There were four couples at the dance, two of which were lesbian couples, in contest for cutest couple. (Drag Queen’s Name), one of the Queens who had performed for the prom’s patrons, had all the couples stand in the middle of the dance floor. She then held a hand over each prospective couple and performed a “loudness test”, which is when the crown screams their approval for each couple. Whichever couple was screamed at the loudest became the cutest couple.

Adrianne Summers-Reynolds, President of the UNITE club, and her girlfriend, (Insert GF’s Name), won Cutest Couple for UNITE’s 2017 prom.

The Best Dancer competition also used a “loudness test”. First, (Drag Queen’s name) walked around the dance floor while people danced, and picked people to leave the floor and people to stay. When she found 5 finalists, she then did another “loudness test” while the dancer did a 30 second dance while the crowd cheered. (Name) won UNITE’s 2017 prom’s Best Dancer.

The dance room was covered in colorful streamers, balloons, and rainbow-themed decorations. There were also rainbow cowboy hats, bubble wands, and enough candy to feed 100 hungry kindergartners. The music and decorations, along with the gender-neutral bathrooms and events, created a fun and bubbly atmosphere that made everyone who attended happy and ready to party.

After the Queen’s routines, patrons of the prom were allowed to take pictures with the Queen’s. They also could take pictures with one another in front of a rainbow-themed background.

The UNITE club prom was an event worth attending. The club continues to put on events all through the year and accepts new members all the time. They accept members of any sexual orientation, race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, and/or nationality.

The club meets every Tuesday from 12:20-12:50 in room 123