Justin Mitchell, 20, a junior at UTSA, takes a photo of couple Gregory Dukes, 25, and Daniel Quinone

Justin Mitchell, 20, a junior at UTSA, takes a photo of couple Gregory Dukes, 25, and Daniel Quinones, 23, both seniors, at the "Second Chance Prom," a dance for gay, lesbian and transgender kids sponsored by the UTSA GLBTQ club in San Antonio, Texas on Friday, April 15, 2011. (ALICIA cheap airline tickets canadian WAGNER CALZADA/ SPECIAL TO THE EXPRESS-NEWS)
cheap airline tickets canadian Michael Wulff, 23, a junior at UTSA, dances with boyfriend Ryan Pundt, 18, a freshman, at the "Second Chance Prom," a dance for gay, lesbian and transgender kids sponsored by the UTSA GLBTQ club in San Antonio, Texas on Friday, April 15, 2011. (ALICIA WAGNER CALZADA/ SPECIAL TO THE EXPRESS-NEWS)
Morgan Underwood, 19, a freshman at UTSA helps Timothy Flitton, a 22-year-old senior, put on make-up before the "Second Chance Prom," a dance for gay, lesbian and transgender kids sponsored by the UTSA GLBTQ club in San Antonio, Texas on Friday, April 15, 2011. (ALICIA WAGNER CALZADA/ SPECIAL TO THE EXPRESS-NEWS)
All the usual prom accoutrements were in place: The beach scene backdrop that giddy prom-goers posed in front of for keepsake photos. The pounding bass of DJ-spun records. Fake palm trees and helium balloons. Even the super-sweet red punch seemed straight out of central casting.
Dubbed the Second Chance Prom, it was put on by the school's GLBTQ Club of UTSA . The goal was to give celebrants a chance they might have missed cheap airline tickets canadian in high school — to kick up their heels with the date of their choice, even if they happened to be of the same sex.
“This is about creating a safe haven and letting people dance with who they want to dance with,” said Tim Flitton , a 22-year-old marketing student at UTSA who's a fundraiser for the campus cheap airline tickets canadian group. “This is about having a nice time without having to worry about homophobia or transphobia.”
For the uninformed, GLBTQ stands for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and/or questioning (although some in the group say the Q stands for queer). Formed in 2008, the group now has around cheap airline tickets canadian 180 members, including straight students who support the club's goal of raising awareness cheap airline tickets canadian about GLBTQ issues.
Charles Miles , a 21-year old history/education major and the club's co-founder and president, said the idea to stage a prom was first floated a few years ago, but it wasn't until this year that a “record number” of new members signaled it was the right time.
“High school is an extremely crucial part of everyone's life, and the prom is, too,” said Miles, who attended his high school prom with a female friend, even though he was out as a gay man. “Everyone remembers prom.”
In 2010, Constance McMillen , a young lesbian woman in Mississippi, wanted cheap airline tickets canadian to bring her girlfriend to prom. Instead, her high school cheap airline tickets canadian canceled its prom, triggering a national debate on the issue of gay rights, Miles said.
“At my college we'd never have something like this, oh no,” said Culp, who attends the University of the Incarnate Word . “We can't even use the word ‘gay' in the name of our club. We're barely alive. They want to shut us down.”