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L.A. LGBTs Celebrate at Senior (Citizen) Prom

L.A. LGBTs Celebrate at Senior (Citizen) Prom

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For many attendees, the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center event was the prom they couldn't have in their youth.

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Last weekend "senior prom" took on a new meaning in Los Angeles, as the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center held a prom especially for LGBT senior citizens, who wouldn't have been able to take a same-sex date to their high school proms.

"For many, the senior citizen prom was the one they couldn't have when they were younger," reports the Los Angeles Times.

One of those people was 88-year-old Robert Clement, who, for his school prom in Pennsylvania in 1942, bought a corsage that he gave to a staffer who organized the event, as he "didn't have anyone else to give it to," the Times reports.

"Proms are a rite of passage," Clement told the paper. "A heterosexual rite of passage. ... But it wasn't mine." Clement didn't have a date for the Gay and Lesbian Center event, as his longtime partner died 10 years ago, but he enjoyed spending time with friends there.

"It was like living in old times with old friends," he said. "The whole place just came together."

The event included a catered meal, the crowning of a king and queen, and dancing, with a Lucille Ball impersonator leading a conga line to the dance floor.

Watch video of the prom here.

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Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.