Teen, Dressed in Drag, Barred from Senior Prom

from WBBM Chicago Radio 780

The prom ticket was in hand: $85. The fuschia, slinky prom dress and strappy heels were ready.
The whole week of giddy anticipation and pampering -- more than $200 worth of a manicure, pedicure and hair set -- was set to culminate with the grand walk into the glam ball. But when Kevin Logan, a gay student at Gary, Indiana’s West Side High School, arrived last Friday at Avalon Manor in Hobart for his prom, he was banned by Principal Diane Rouse.

That ban, according to Indiana Civil Liberties Union legal director Ken Falk, violates the First Amendment. The Logan family is mulling both a complaint with the ICLU and possible litigation.

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.

In 1999, Falk and the ICLU helped an Indianapolis male teen win a court battle to wear a dress to prom. Logan said he had spent years defining and exploring his sexuality. This year, he took a major step toward self-identity by dressing as a female every day this school year.

The school's position is that Logan was banned because of a violation to the school's dress code which forbids male students from wearing dresses.