A Conservative Group Tried to Shut Down an LGBT Friendly Prom, Ended up Throwing Them a Prom for Free

The Australian charity organization Minus 18 planned on throwing a small formal for teens in Victoria who are "same sex attracted and gender diverse".  The idea behind this was to give students who don't necessarily fit the "norm" a chance to have a prom night where they feel safe to be themselves. The event description says it best:

Imagine being told by your school that the clothes you feel comfortable wearing to a formal aren’t considered ‘normal’ or don’t conform to a dress code. Imagine not being allowed to take a partner of the same sex, or being too afraid to attend altogether.

It’s a sucky reality for gender diverse and same sex attracted students from all over Australia, who are bullied or made to feel unsupported because of their identity. That’s what the Same Sex Gender Diverse Formal is all about; you, me and heaps of other students having the night of our lives.

via Eventbrite

Sounds like a great idea but a local conservative group did not think so. It would seem that this group, which is literally called "STOP Safe Schools" and has the most dour logo possible, has no idea what the meaning of irony is. 


via STOP Safe Schools

This lovely group of people who seem intent on shielding their children from all that is good in the world, like rainbows, decided it was their duty to stop such a blatantly open and accepting prom night. So, they asked everyone to buy up all the tickets and not show up, then it would have to be canceled, right?


via STOP Safe Schools

The people involved in STOP Safe Schools apparently did buy tickets, and lots of them. Micah Scott, chief executive at Minus 18 told The Age that they suspect the STOP Safe Schools group bought all of the cheaper, early bird tickets. He said, "The purpose of those was to provide young people with an opportunity to get in with a cheap option ... but unfortunately it looks like it has all been snapped up by this conservative group."

Fortunately, this inspired people to donate to the formal on a crowdfunding site. So far they've reached $45,175 of their $15,000 goal.  So instead of being cancelled, the formal will go on as planned. And thanks to the people who tried to have it canceled and their non-refundable donation of tickets, it will go on for free.