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{shortcode-24643cedbe14221289878261864001a8ceef067a}n Saturday night at the Queen’s Head Pub, guests gathered on the dance floor in sequinned dresses, bowties, and cowboy hats for the annual Queer Prom, hosted by the Harvard College Queer Students Association. The space was colorfully lit, with pride flags suspended across the ceiling and the bar laid out with fresh berries, Domino’s pizza, and a charcuterie spread.
At the door, guests are greeted with a smile from the president of the QSA, Byron S. Gonzalez ’25 who explains that the Prom “is meant to be a very inclusive space, specifically for first-years who may have had to conceal their identities when they were in high school or didn't have the proper support back home to express themselves.”
“We really want this place to be very welcoming, very open, and just a space to celebrate our identities and everyone's different backgrounds,” Gonzalez emphasizes.
Many started the night chatting near the food and drinks before eventually stepping onto the dance floor. There, they sang and danced to party songs from popular artists like Charli XCX, Taylor Swift, and Katy Perry, remixed by event DJ Derek Yuan ’25.
The Prom was advertised with a masquerade theme — but there was not a single mask in sight. Guests arrived proudly unmasked and confidently expressive, sporting glitter eyeshadow, black lipstick, and impressive wings of eyeliner.
Queer Prom, QSA’s biggest annual event, encourages these forms of self-expression first and foremost. The organizers deliberately titled the event a Prom in an affectionate reference to the quintessential American high school dance. The opportunity for the college-aged attendees to revisit a high school memory — perhaps one they felt they couldn’t do justice to at the time — offered many LGBTQ students a second chance to dance the night away.
“Most of us have not had a high school experience where we had a gay date,” Joshua D. Rodriguez Ortiz ’28, a First-Year Representative for the Harvard QSA, says. “This just gives that opportunity for someone to be themselves.”
The event wasn’t densely packed, but perhaps for the better. Lucia C. Lopez ’28 says the extra room is a sign of progress for the queer community — a sign that LGBTQ students feel they can skip events because they can “always go to the next one.”
“I think, honestly, that speaks to progress itself,” she says. “The concept of having so much support that you miss events is incredible to me.”
The QSA is trying to make the event more inclusive to students, regardless of their financial background. Even with $3,000 in food and catering, the initial advertisements of the event stated entry costs as $10 — later, organizers lowered entry to just $5.
“It's just making it more accessible,” Gonzalez says. “That may have been a challenge when it comes to planning events, making sure that there is no socioeconomic barrier for students, whether they’re first gen, low income.”
Despite the overall success of Queer Prom, some students believe there is even more work to be done to foster queer spaces around campus.
“Not enough people take queerness seriously, and I think we need to have more representation,” Kim Cortes-Martinez ’28, Outreach Chair for the QSA, says. “So many people are queer, but they don't say that they're queer or they don't own it.”
Particularly this year, Queer Prom organizers hoped that the event would be a relief from ongoing political concerns over queer identities.
“During this moment when it feels like there’s a tax every day left and right to the queer and trans community,” Gonzalez says, “these three to four hours with each other are meant to celebrate each other, celebrate joy as a form of resistance.”
As the DJ played the final song of the night — Chappell Roan’s HOT TO GO! (which we had been desperately requesting for the last two hours) — we jumped and danced in a circle full of familiar friends and new faces alike.
