Suburban Chicago school, principal welcome gay couples to prom
Sun. May 15, 2011 10:58 AM by GoPride.com News Staff
jake rosko and jackson smith on prom night.
Maple Park, Ill. -
Kaneland High School students and their principal welcomed a gay couple to the senior prom last month.
The public school, which is in Maple Park, Ill., about an hour west of Chicago, has a strong Gay Straight Alliance, Principal Diane McFarlin told the Beacon-News.
"It's like any civil rights movement. The issue starts pretty radically. Ten years ago, it was radical to have same-sex couples go to prom," she told the paper. "Today there are absolutely no limitations."
Gay students Jake Rosko and Jackson Smith said it wasn't such a big deal for them to go to prom together; they got stranger reactions at the tuxedo shop than at school. The young men wore matching tuxes; Jake's had a yellow tie and blue vest, and Jackson's was the reverse.
A few people stared when they took to the dance floor.
"To me and my boyfriend, we just blow it off. You can't change the fact that people have their own opinions about things. It's just a way of life," Rosko said.
The public school, which is in Maple Park, Ill., about an hour west of Chicago, has a strong Gay Straight Alliance, Principal Diane McFarlin told the Beacon-News.
"It's like any civil rights movement. The issue starts pretty radically. Ten years ago, it was radical to have same-sex couples go to prom," she told the paper. "Today there are absolutely no limitations."
Gay students Jake Rosko and Jackson Smith said it wasn't such a big deal for them to go to prom together; they got stranger reactions at the tuxedo shop than at school. The young men wore matching tuxes; Jake's had a yellow tie and blue vest, and Jackson's was the reverse.
A few people stared when they took to the dance floor.
"To me and my boyfriend, we just blow it off. You can't change the fact that people have their own opinions about things. It's just a way of life," Rosko said.