“Senior Prom” took on new meaning at the end of June this year as over 300 gay elders celebrated Pride together with a night of dinner and dancing at the Los Angeles Zoo.
The annual event thrown by the Los Angeles LGBT Center invites gay seniors 50 and older to reimagine a high school rite of passage that many found awkward as gay teens.
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“It’s a wonderful thing to be in a place where you’re totally accepted for who you are,” said prom-goer Andre Simpson, 67, who attended his high school prom just to “fit in.”
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On this night, though, he reveled in “seeing all the love, couples kissing, and friends meeting and celebrating just being who you are.”
The free event, sponsored by women’s soccer franchise Angel City Football Club and CBD cannabis purveyor Charlotte’s Web, includes transportation and financial assistance for those looking for a prom attire boost.
Lots of prom-goers attended with dates, while others showed up single and ready to mingle.
For example, 88-year-old Mel Weiss flew solo for Senior Prom, unlike his high school experience 70 years ago when he attended with a girl.
“This was a time where people were not out,” said Weiss. “I just felt uncomfortable.”
Weiss only came out publicly in his 60’s.
“[Before that,] I was out to my family and a few friends, but I wasn’t really out to everyone,” he said.
Since meeting and mingling with other gay seniors, Weiss said he feels more comfortable in his own skin. The Senior Prom is a highlight on his social calendar.
“It’s always a lot of fun,” said Weiss, who along with the other two oldest attendees was crowned a prom “monarch”.
“We all felt very happy when we left,” he added.
For fellow prom-goer Andre Simpson, the event was “an inoculation against the past hurts, the past pain.”
“A lot of elders in the LGBTQ community have survived a lot, and still their spirits are happy. They’re still joyful inside. They have not been destroyed by life’s disappointments.”
“Spending time with like-minded people who share so much in common is “really a healing process,” he said.
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