In 2016, I chaperoned my first Pride Prom after encouraging students in the high school where I worked to attend the event envisioned and began as another student’s “Capstone Project.” The dance was NOT sponsored or affiliated with the school district and existed only because one brave GSA student decided to host the event as their 2-week project undertaken in the two weeks between finals and graduation.

I entered the brightly lit gymnasium and attempted to decorate it within an hour, armed only with Christmas lights from my basement and the $25 of decorations I had purchased off Amazon the week before.

At best, 40 students attended. I watched them stumble in, dressed in everything from their sports’ teams uniforms to dresses and Khakis. It did not look like a prom by any means… but the students danced the night away, in an overly bright gymnasium, smiling, laughing, and having the time of their lives.

That summer, one of my GSA students asked if I would serve as the Community Sponsor of his “Capstone Project,” only he wanted to start working on the event in September 2017 with the hope that the event compared to (if not rivaled) a traditional senior prom. We had a theme, a venue (again, the high school gymnasium but with a few hundred dollars already fundraised through t-shirt sales!), and permission to open the event to students from surrounding counties.

With only a few weeks to go before the big event, the school district evicted us because the students had done a fundraiser through an ‘unapproved’ fundraising site. We spent Spring Break searching for a local venue (in the middle of WEDDING season in Northern Virginia!) that would agree to host our event for $5,000 – a number we completely made up and hoped we could achieve! My first student ambassador, Blair, warmed the heart of the most picturesque (Cinderella quartz stairs!) event venue you could ever imagine, The Bellevue at Chantilly. They comped $65,000 and allowed me to put my own credit card down to pay for the space moments before guests arrived because our sponsor’s check had failed to clear!

I have put my heart, sweat, tears, energy, soul, time, and money into the regional Pride Prom every year (exception: COVID) since. After designing, organizing, creating, and running Pride Prom for the last six years. 2025 will be my last Pride Prom as I moved cross-country in August and am flying back for one last time to once again host hundreds of happy queer and trans youth, ensuring an evening of enchantment that betters the lives of all attending and volunteering… and literally saves the lives of those youth who depend on Safe Space NOVA and other affirming nonprofits for life-saving affirmation and validation. On June 27th, I will be passing the pixie dust to Leo, who met me a decade ago when they were in high school, and Pride Prom will continue under their leadership.

For one last time, I thank you for helping me to better the world by giving LGBTQIA+ youth a night of hope and happiness, affirmation and adoration, and a magical land of enchantment where equity exists once more.