This past Friday, April 12, Allies hosted its third Diversity Prom in an effort to raise money for the Weakley County Prevention Coalition.
The event was, as intended, far more than the typical prom. The idea behind the event was to give those people who weren’t able to take who they truly wanted to prom because of gender an opportunity to take that person.
However, the drag show was the main focus of the evening. With a total of 12 different models and 18 different acts, the crowd stayed glued to their seats all evening.
Models danced to everything from Carrie Underwood to Rhianna to Krewella and somehow lost several articles of clothing in the process. The event was dominated by revealing outfits, acrobatic dance moves, singles been thrown at the stage and there was even an appearance by a candy thong.
The Weakley County Prevention Coalition works to raise awareness about many of the problems that today’s youth now face. Despite the show that was going on, that goal permeated the room.
“We work in the county to prevent underage drinking, tobacco use, prescription pill abuse and bullying,” said Catherine Robilio, a member of the organization and former Allies member.
“Since I was involved with Allies a few years ago, there was no community outreach and now they’ve done that. They’re actually reaching out to the children and that’s exciting.”
UTM Sociology Professor Nancy Sonleitner was also on hand for the event.
“Diversity Prom, of course, is about diversity on campus,” Sonleitner said.
“There is a lot of intolerance around and the more people can get together … the more stereotypes and prejudices can be reduced. Once people know each other as people, they can recognize the humanity. They won’t target people who are different than they are for bullying or harming in some way.”
For long-time performer and former Allies member Keri Luxeri, this prom was her last performance. She has performed at all three of the Diversity Proms that Allies has held.
The Weakley County Prevention Coalition is also hosting a 5K Thursday April 18 with registration starting at 5:30 p.m. at the Elam Center. The walk starts at 6:30 p.m. with a 1-mile kids’ run sta
rting at 6 p.m.
For the kids’ run, the child must be 10 and under. Registration fees are $15 on the day of the race. Each runner will receive a T-shirt, goody bag and refreshments. Trophies will be awarded for 5K runners also.
For more information, contact the organization at weakleyprevention@gmail.com or on facebook at www.facebook.com/weakleyprevention. To see photos of the Diversity Prom performances, click here.
