Gay boy in a
dress barred from school prom

Kevin Logan paid the $85 for a ticket to his high school prom. He then spent a week pampering and primping, spending more than $200 for a manicure, pedicure, and a hairstyle. But when the student from West Side High School in Gary, Ind., arrived at Avalon Manor in a fuschia-colored prom dress and strappy heels last Friday evening, he was barred by principal Diane Rouse.

"When I tried to walk in, she asked me where am I going. She said, 'You're not walking in here today,'" Logan, 18, told the Chicago Sun-Times. "Ms. Rouse said I wasn't allowed to have on a dress."

On Tuesday, Logan and his mother, Donnetta, were at West Side to seek a ticket refund. The family is now mulling possible litigation. Indeed, the prom-dress ban violates the First Amendment, according to Indiana Civil Liberties Union legal director Ken Falk.

"I already had approval to go to the prom. I do have constitutional rights. I asked her, 'Why are you doing this to me? This is my prom. This is like the most important night of my life,'" Logan told the Sun-Times.

Logan said while he wasn't allowed in and left after police were called, his friends did come out to the parking lot to pose for pictures with him. "I was hurt. She took something from me I can't get back. I have no formal pictures, no memories, nothing. You only have one prom," the senior said.

In 1999, Falk helped an Indianapolis male teen win a court battle to wear a dress to prom. "All students have First Amendment rights of freedom of expression. Those rights can be overcome for the legitimate needs of the school. For example, you can't protest. That runs the risk of disrupting instruction," Falk told the Sun-Times. "But the court found at a prom, those risks are lessened. It's not a scholastic activity."

Logan, who identifies as both gay and a drag queen, said he had spent years defining and exploring his sexuality. This year he took a major step toward self-identity by dressing in feminine attire every day this school year. "I had a problem with her [principal Rouse] the first day of school because I had a purse. A week before prom she told me female clothing would not be allowed," Logan said. (The Advocate)