It’s prom season here in the US – young couples heading off for the big social event of their high school life. Every year, I’m delighted to see more LGBTQ teens getting the chance to be themselves at prom. More same-sex couples going hand in hand, more transgender prom kings and queens, more genderbending prom outfits.

From the South Carolina prom King who outshone his Queen in a slit skirt and bustier, to the lesbian couple named King and Queen at their prom, the last few years have let more and more LGBTQ teens shine as their authentic selves. It gives me hope. Although acceptance is wavering a bit in older people here, due to recent virulent anti-trans campaigns, this generation is growing up with friends and sisters and brothers and role models and teachers who are out and proud. It feels too late for the bigots to slam the door on LGBTQ equality progress in the years to come.

If you want a look at some of this year’s joyful photos, this is one link – https://www.them.us/story/queer-teens-are-winning-prom-photos

As a writer, these stories also remind me of how the world is changing within my own lifetime. People are still people, but the ideas and mindsets and issues they grapple with do evolve. (I’m not trying to minimize the discrimination LGBTQ kids still face, often from their peers, but it has a different face from back in my day, when “gay” was alien to so many of my peers.) I have a story coming later this year from Dreamspinner Press that will feature a 20-year-old college student, and a 21-year-old farmer. It’s a challenge to write these guys in a way that reflects today’s youth. I hope I have been successful. (I have kids this age who, though they sometimes roll their eyes, are willing to correct my phrasing when asked.)

But that’s also part of the fun. If we only wrote exactly what we know, my stories would all have to feature people in their mid-fifties in the Midwest. And there is such joy in knowing that some of the stories we now write can be about out LGBTQ teens who get support from their peers and teachers, about kids who take on bigotry and discrimination in the bright light of day and sometimes win. More power to them.

-Kaje Harper

May 2018