Hamilton's first Queer Prom was a night to remember

A group known as Fruit Salad: Hamilton Edition has been busy over the past few months coordinating queer events in the city — including a Queer Prom.

Fruit Salad is a group that aims to gather and celebrate the queer community through these events as a response to the lack of spaces for queer women and gender non-conforming folks and is inspired by MTL Blush Parties Salade de Fruits.

Before Pride Month kicked off, Queer Prom was hosted at the Art Gallery of Hamilton on May 22 and offered a space for members of the queer community to come out, dressed to impress, for a night of dancing and celebration.

For some community members, this meant a second (or even third) chance at prom night and for others it was the opportunity to celebrate themselves in an authentic and meaningful way.

No matter what brought folks out to Queer Prom, several told CBC Hamilton it was certainly a night to remember and one they won't soon forget.

'A celebration of acceptance and who we are'

Tea-Lynn Van Dyk is a transgender woman and "very gay," as she describes herself. Her wife Gabrielle Van Dyk is a queer cis-gendered woman.

They travelled an hour from Norfolk County to attend Queer Prom in Hamilton that Sunday night in May.

They were excited to attend the event and it also acted as an extended celebration for their fourteenth wedding anniversary that they marked a week before.

"It's probably the gayest event I've ever been to and I've marched in Pride," Tea Lynn said.

Tea-Lynn said "it was just a celebration of acceptance and who we are. It was really wonderful."

"The venue was beautiful," Gabrielle said of the Art Gallery of Hamilton space. "It was fantastic, especially in the spring, just being able to have the outdoor space as well just kind of flow freely in and out."

After trying on dresses for Queer Prom together the weekend before, the Van Dyk's decided to go with bright, bold colours.

Tea-Lynn said she tried on 15 dresses and the cobalt blue one was the winner

"It just kind of surpassed all the other dresses and we stuck with it," Gabrielle said, "then I just got one to match hers, because who doesn't love big, bold colours?"

A 'magical experience' 

Hamilton resident and founder of the Melanin Market Hamilton, Khadija Hamidu was excited to attend the Queer Prom with her best friend Ijoema Obasa.

Not only did this give her a second chance at a more authentic prom experience but it was also a way for them to get out and celebrate her best friend's birthday.

"I was so happy to be a part of such a magical experience in the Hamilton region, especially as we lead into Pride Month," Hamidu said after the event. 

"It was a perfect opportunity to get together as a community."

"I think having this prom was a great opportunity to bring in all of these individuals to be in a safe space, a fun space and really dress up and look great and just celebrate each other," Hamidu said.

From the venue to the decorations to the people and music, all around it was an awesome night, Hamidu said – and don't forget the outfits.

"I think it was like the one place that I truly felt comfortable wearing a full dress, but then also adding sneakers into the mix," Hamidu said.

"Not only does it show my feminine side, but also the other side of me that's very sporty and very laid back and chill with the sneakers."

Hamidu said she changed up her outfit last minute and decided to wear a blueish, turquoise lace bralette style top, paired with a floor length "big, poofy" teal tulle skirt and mint green converse. 

She said that she also decided to be a bit less reserved with her make-up than her first prom experience 10 years ago, going with a bold turquoise look to match her dress. 

Timing for one attendee just right

Rayne Bomberry identifies as two-spirit and belongs to the Onondaga Nation, raised by settlers on the shore of Lake Erie.

She heard about the event from a friend in Hamilton and was very excited to attend with her partner, Kit.

"Queer Prom sounded so very fun and inviting for someone like myself. I was raised in a very rural part of Ontario – Haldimand/Norfolk – and I was never able to be comfortable expressing myself amongst my peers," Bomberry told CBC Hamilton. 

She said it wasn't until this year that she came out to family, friends — and herself — so the timing of the Queer Prom event could not have been any better.

"Not being able to be perceived as my true self at either of the two proms I went to in high school was (beyond my knowledge at the time) very dysphoric," Bomberry said.

"Being able to go to a LGBTQ2S+ friendly formal event to make up for the days we didn't feel comfortable in our skin was so euphoric – third time's the charm, I suppose."

Bomberry said she danced the night away with her partner Kit and got to spend time with long-term friends as well as "re-meet some old pals as their true selves too."

"The best word I can use to describe the night is euphoric," Bomberry said.

From being able to mingle with people like herself to enjoying all the smiles and amazing outfits of the night, Bomberry said she could see "the joy in everyone's eyes being able to have fun without fear of judgement, ridicule or being ostracized."

Authentic representation preserved in photographs

Event photographer Katie Rawn said the biggest thing about the event was people being able to relive their first prom experience. 

The first time many attendees may have gone to prom was a traditional high school prom, she said, and it may have been uncomfortable and "performative in a way that maybe they didn't intend."

Because Rawn wanted people to feel comfortable more than anything while she was taking their Queer Prom photos, she had a vision of what that backdrop would look like.

The first thing was building a contraption for the backdrop where people would feel a sense of privacy so that they could be themselves, she said.

"I wanted something with walls on each side, so Hamilton Craft Studios stepped up to help us out with that, which was awesome," Rawn said.

Rawn said Dayna Gedney, a multidisciplinary artist from Hamilton Craft Studios, worked with her to make her "wildest dreams" come true and build something that really worked. 

Outside of a kind of tent set up to take the photos, Rawn wanted something eye catching as well.

"We wanted something kind of colourful and flashy," Rawn said, "something that pops as much as the character of the people that attend our events."

"So [Gedney] got some awesome fabric, we got some tinsel curtains and hung those up and pretty much just flooded the thing with light," Rawn said.

The result allowed Rawn to deliver photos that Queer Prom dreams are made of.

Outside of feeling like a "school portrait photographer" in helping people pose for their glamour shots, Rawn said it was an amazing feeling to help people feel beautiful and authentic in their own skin.

"Hearing those comments from people, that they saw a photo of them that made them feel beautiful for the first time in a long time or that they just felt reflected in a way that they hadn't been before, is the biggest compliment I think I've ever received," Rawn said.

"If I have any ability to do that, I really am so happy to."

While some shots were more of the expected posed prom pictures initially, once people got comfortable in front of the camera they were having fun sharing a kiss with a loved one or posing with some props, Rawn said.

"It was so much fun," she said.