home > newsroom Provo High School Sees First Same-Sex Couple Promenade at Prom FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 29, 2005 PDF version >> SALT LAKE CITY -- For the first time, a same-sex couple attended the Provo High School prom. Shane Montemayor, a Provo High School senior, and his male friend were cheered last Saturday night when they promenaded with co-ed couples. The couple’s attendance was particularly meaningful because just two years earlier, Provo High School administrators asked student Anastasia and her girlfriend to leave the prom. Anastasia, who was at last weekend’s prom to support Shane and his friend, was overjoyed by the reaction of both students and school administrators to the couple. “To my shock and amazement, the guys were able to have a great night. The crowd even cheered!” said Anastasia. “We could not have been happier that Shane and his friend were afforded far more rights than we were. Little by little, the seeds of equality for all in Utah, and everywhere else, are growing.” Shane had been worried about how the school would react to him and his friend at prom, and on Anastasia’s advice, he contacted the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah several weeks before the event. ACLU of Utah staff attorney Margaret Plane provided Shane with information about his rights and contacted the Provo High School principal on Shane’s behalf. “It takes an incredible amount of courage for young people to refuse to accept that they must censor who they are in order to fully participate in high school activities like prom and promenade,” said Plane. “The least we can do is to let everyone involved know how the law supports these couples’ rights to free expression and association.” In the past year, the ACLU of Utah has intervened in two other instances involving same-sex student couples and high school dances. In December, the ACLU of Utah wrote Copper Hills High School to protest their policy requiring same-sex student couples to obtain parental permission before attending school dances. Copper Hills High School later revoked that policy. In March 2004, the ACLU of Utah advocated on behalf of two Murray High School female students who were admitted to their prom yet were prohibited from promenading with co-ed couples. In order to help future students, the ACLU of Utah has created a new resource entitled “The Right of Same-Sex Student Couples to Participate in their High School Dances, Proms, and Promenades,” which is available at www.acluutah.org/prom.htm. --end--

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