AARP Hearing Center
Key takeaways
- An LGBTQ+ pride prom redo offers older adults a joyful second chance.
- The Arlington, Virginia, library event builds community through inclusive social connection.
- Many attendees missed prom, making this celebration deeply meaningful.
Summary
An LGBTQ+ pride prom redo in Arlington, Virginia, brings older adults together for a second chance at a milestone many could not fully experience. Held at a public library during Pride Month, the event features music, dancing and space for couples to celebrate openly, reflecting both personal journeys and community progress.
Participants share how earlier proms were shaped by limits on identity and expression, while this gathering allows them to create affirming memories with partners and friends. The event highlights inclusion, belonging and the importance of reclaiming joy while building connections that honor who people are today.
The key takeaways and summary were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.
Full transcript
[0:00:02] Ron: My first prom, it’s great. This was more fun. James: Yes Ron: For sure, than
[0:00:07] the prom I went to as a kid.
[0:00:09] Event host: Arlington Library Queer Pride Prom.
[0:00:14] Ron: When it was time for prom, I wish I could have brought someone I was
[0:00:19] really romantically interested in.
[0:00:21] I’m so excited about tonight, because it’s a redo.
[0:00:24] It’s a chance to go with my husband and create an incredible memory.
[0:00:29] Diane: Proms in high school were very traditional.
[0:00:34] The boys would ask the girls, and it was a big deal to go.
[0:00:38] Many queer adults my age and older didn’t have the prom experience, either because they knew they were different but didn’t have language for it, or because they were in an environment where it would not have been OK.
[0:00:51] A staff member came to me with the idea for senior prom, and I thought it was a great idea.
[0:00:56] There’s a DJ, photo booths, refreshments.
[0:01:00] People dress up.
[0:01:01] If you thought you missed something, this is your chance to come back and do prom.
[0:01:07]Ron: I love to dance with James, and to do it in a place where everyone is supportive of us, it’s special.
[0:01:16] I grew up on Long Island, New York.
[0:01:18] I came out in the fall of my junior year in high school.
[0:01:23] It did not feel particularly safe coming out.
[0:01:26] Not that people were gonna attack and kill me, but it was not cool to be gay.
[0:01:31] I had a friend who was a girl, Beth, and I invited her to the prom.
[0:01:36] We had a good time, but boy, it would have been wonderful to be able to have a boyfriend and to bring a guy.
[0:01:43] James: I grew up in a little railroad town in West Virginia, and there were certainly no one in, in the town or the school who I knew was gay.
[0:01:55] I did not come out until I was 31, and within three months I met Ron, who’s my husband and my partner of 38 years.
[0:02:07] Ron: We’ve been married 12 years.
[0:02:08] I immediately started saying, “My husband James, my husband this,” and suddenly I felt equal in a way I had never felt equal before.
[0:02:21] Ace: This is my real senior prom.
[0:02:23] I sat out the first one.
[0:02:26] It’s family.
[0:02:27] It’s, it’s like all the parts of my body coming together.
[0:02:30] Event host: Give it up for Abe.
[0:02:34] Victoria: I’m here with somebody that I love that I would never have had a chance to go to prom with back in high school.
[0:02:40] Ron: And it’s a free event, so there’s no financial restriction on anyone coming.
[0:02:45] Diane: Holding events in Pride Month for the library signals to everyone that we are open for anyone in the community to come as they are.
[0:02:53] I think we should have prom every year.
[0:03:01] James: After growing up in a time where prom was not in the cards for me and not a place where I felt welcome, to suddenly be the flip of that, it’s such wonderful experience to know that, that in my life I’ve come that far.
[0:03:18] Ron: I never imagined having a husband, because that just was beyond what I could imagine.
[0:03:25] But if I knew then that I would have this incredible life now, it would’ve been very reassuring.
[0:03:32] I’m just grateful, so grateful we live in a community where we are not just tolerated, we’re honored and celebrated.
[0:03:40] Event host: Thirty-eight years.
[0:03:45] James: I would hope that older LGBTQ people are encouraged to try to, to capture, recapture some of the joy that they didn’t get in their lives, because life is short and it’s important not to waste a moment of it.
