Take a Look Back: Gay at the Prom

Celeste Padilla, 2004: I am a lesbian from a small town in Texas called Lyford. In 2004, my senior year of high school, my fiancée and I attended our senior prom together. We had been a couple for six months and were not only the first openly gay couple at prom, but also the first openly gay couple at our high school. We had a great time and were fortunate enough not to have been discriminated against. After we graduated, several other students came up to me to say I encouraged them to be open about themselves. I am now a recent law school graduate who hopes to continue to change the world, one perspective at a time. Here we are, my fiancée and me at our high school prom in 2004. I am the one in the pink dress, and my fiancée, Davina Vasquez, is the one in the tuxedo.