The Saga of the Prom (drag) Queen

Omar Bonilla's dream, at last, came true... at a price.

In what has become the perfect example of just how bad a situation can get when mismanaged at every level from the beginning, the Florida teen who ran for prom queen became so, dressed in drag as his alter-ego "Allison", at the 2010 Pridelines Youth Services prom, held at the Florida International University campus on May 22^nd.

The story began when, several weeks previously, Omar, 19 and gay, decided to run for prom king, but with the intention of wearing a dress to the dance, and was told by school administrators that he should run for prom queen instead. He did, and finished top three in the voting. Then, as the night approached, the school administration, citing his own safety and their fear that others might attempt to assault a student in drag, asked him to wear a tuxedo instead. While the fight for his "right to wear a dress" was on, Omar was very conveniently suspended for two days, effectively banning him from the prom, for parking his car in a visitor space, and allegedly ignoring an officer who told him to move.

Unlike the Constance McMillen situation of national headlines, this occurred too close to the prom for any activist groups to raise any noise, however, afterwards, Pridelines extended Omar an invitation to their own prom, where he was, at last, able to show off his dress, and was crowned queen.

A happy ending­ for all involved? Not quite. His parents promptly told him to pack up and move out the very next day. Apparently their son`s "coming out" (which happened earlier this year) was not too much to swallow until it was broadcasted by the media.

So, where did this situation all go wrong? A fairer question would probably be: Where did it not?

Even the most open minded of us understand that the title of "queen" (despite recent pop-culture cuteness) is reserved for a female, much like those of "daughter", "girlfriend", or "woman". That is not to say that a man could not become those things. Many have. The point is that sexual orientation and lifestyle do not define gender. Anatomy does. Omar himself understood that, and he requested to run as a gay king, not as a queen, before he was, in a superb display of how not to run an organization, misguided by administration. Not that there is anything wrong with allowing a change, when approved by committee. The problem is when you fail to get the principal on board, or you do and she changes her mind, the decision gets vetoed at the last minute, and a student who already made plans and spent money gets hung out to dry. The "for his own safety" argument works about as much as calling for a law banning people from wearing jewelry outside would.

Alas, the perfect solution arose when Bonilla parked his car in the wrong spot.

I was in high school once, in the same state of Florida. I remember getting tickets for parking. I remember getting towed. I do not recall ever getting suspended over it. That this was a mere pretext is quite transparent, and I foresee a hard time convincing the public otherwise.

His parents then proceed to put him on the street, which, again, we have to believe is directly related to the incident and consequent publicity. It's a sad, awful example of parenting, and that they did not seem to have an objection to his lifestyle until now spells hypocrisy.

The final joke to come out of this debacle is that Omar Bonilla will now most likely be turned into some kind of folk hero, for doing absolutely nothing extraordinary. He did not stand up to the establishment a-la Rosa Parks. He merely requested to wear something, was told yes, and then on second thought, no, and rightfully, was angry about it. Most of us have had to deal with such bureaucracy at one point or another. He did no wrong here, but he also did nothing heroic. Instead, he is glorified by default because the ones opposite him could not have been any more foolish.

Sources:
Michael Vazquez. http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/22/1642177/prom-queen-in-a-dress-not-this.html

Steve Rothaus. http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/gay/