Prism hosted the first annual Rainbow Royale event, a queer-inclusive dance, at the Polytechnic Sun Devil Fitness Complex on Friday, with over 200 registered attendees.
Blasting "Born this Way" by Lady Gaga while students danced with bright rainbow-colored fans created a night of inclusivity and pride.
According to its Sun Devil Central page, Prism is a club for the LGBTQ+ community on the Polytechnic campus. They foster a supportive and welcoming community and advocate on behalf of LGBTQ+ students to the University administration.
"After Pride Prom got renamed to Poly Prom, we just knew that people wanted that queer-accepting prom, that queer student dance that was on the Polytechnic campus, so we took it upon ourselves to make that happen," Khushi Patel, a senior studying business and medical studies and the president of Prism, said.
READ MORE: Pride Prom now named Poly Prom, causing confusion among Sun Devils
Patel explained that the event is to allow queer students to attend a school dance as their authentic selves with their peers.
"For so many people, prom in high school wasn't the most welcoming thing or wasn't the most fun thing," Patel said. "So it's kind of like a redo."
This year's prom theme was Barbie, featuring many dressed in prom dresses and Barbie-themed outfits.
The dance has been in the works since February, Patel said. Prism partnered with The Garden Commons, the Wildlife Restoration Student Association and Literary Obsession Book Club to help put on the event.
On top of the dancing, the event also offered a craft room away from the noise so students could talk with each other. Students got to make buttons and other crafts, allowing an opportunity to step away from the main event.
Queen Honey Buns, a drag queen DJ and an ASU alum, played music at this event as well as at Drag U Mania the evening before.
READ MORE: Drag U Mania comes back, raises funds for Drag University
She played open-format music and pulled from different types of queer pop like Lady Gaga and Kylie Minogue.
"The entire reason why I DJ and the reason why I perform in general is being able to facilitate joy for somebody," Queen Honey Buns said. "They give the energy back to you, and then you give the energy back to them, and it's just this really exciting, fun cycle."
One of the attendees, Quinn Smith, a junior studying biological sciences, said she appreciated that the majority of music played was from LGBTQ+ artists.
"I love to be able to celebrate with my friends who are in the LGBTQ community," Smith said. "I love to celebrate the fact that we can be who we are."
There are hopes for the event to become a recurring tradition on the Polytechnic campus for years to come.
"We're hoping it will be an annual thing from now on, just for students to come and have fun," Patel said.
Edited by Natalia Rodriguez, Jack McCarthy, Emilio Alvarado and Pippa Fung.
Reach the reporter at galawre3@asu.edu.
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Grace Lawrence is the lead reporter for the community and culture desk at The State Press. This is her 2nd semester working with The State Press.
