Dragging at Prom

It's that time of year again -- Prom season.

I don't know what it is about proms, but they so often become the subject of controversy, attracting cops and lawyers.

In 2000, former Green Bay Packer Mark Chmura was accused of raping a high schooler at an after-prom party. Of course, that case was extremely serious in nature.

Issues of controversial attire are in an entirely different league from that prom night nightmare, but they do seem to arise with regularity and garner attention.

Last year, Kerry Lofy stirred things up at Lake Geneva Badger High School's prom when he arrived as Victor Anderson's date. Lofy wore an understated yet fetching form-fitting black dress with spaghetti straps.



Lofy ended up with a $249 disorderly conduct ticket, suspended, and banned from his final track meet for his prom wardrobe choice.

This year, there's Kevin Logan. Like Lofy, he wore a dress to prom.

The similarities stop there.

For one, Logan wore pink.

GARY, Ind. (AP) -- A male student who has worn women's clothes to school all year was turned away from his high school prom because he was wearing a dress.

Kevin Logan, 18, went to the West Side High School prom on Friday in a slinky fuchsia gown and heels. He believes officials discriminated against him by not allowing him inside.

"I have no formal pictures, no memories, nothing. You only have one prom," he said.

Logan, who is gay, received an $85 refund for his prom ticket Tuesday but was not satisfied. He said he is considering filing a complaint with the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana.

Sylvester Rowan, assistant to Gary Schools Superintendent Mary Steele, said school policy bans males from wearing dresses. Excluding Logan from the prom was based on "the dress code, not the student's homosexuality. That's his personal preference."

Tyrone Hanley, the youth program coordinator for the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition in Washington, D.C., said he often sees cases like this and called it gender-based discrimination.

"Prohibiting really short skirts for everyone is a fair dress code; prohibiting them for males is not," he said.

Logan should consider himself lucky for just being refused entry. Although he's disappointed about missing out on prom, at least he didn't get ticketed for disorderly conduct or suspended or punished in some other manner.

In general, I think prom is taken far too seriously. It should be fun for all. I don't see the need for school officials to get all bent out of shape just because a kid shows up in a dress.

At these public schools, the students have been taught from day one that alternative lifestyles are completely acceptable. Some teachers act as advocates, encouraging students to embrace differences.

So why do the schools suddenly get so puritanical and stringent about the dress code for prom?

It's inconsistent. When a guy shows up at prom in a dress, school officials should consider it a victory, right?

If the school officials are to be seen as sending a consistent message, they need to practice what they teach.