Jesuit college to host 'queer prom'

Advocate, the LBGT group at Loyola University Chicago, is hosting a “Queer Prom” on Feb., 20.

The event at the Jesuit university will be “an opportunity for our respective LGBTQIA collegiate communities to come together and celebrate our identities,” said the event page.

This is not the first major LGBT event the campus has held. The first “Coming Out Party” was put on in 2010 and this Friday’s event is hoping to build off that tradition.

The university reportedly will not disclose how much funding it is providing for the event.

The controversy on campus, however, is focused on the ID requirements to enter the event rather than the exclusive nature of the event itself.

According to an article on The College Fix, people are RSVPing on Facebook, but their Facebook names don’t match their state-issued ID’s they have to present for admission into the event. This is creating issues with the LGBT population, many of whom use alternative names and identities

Several other Catholic institutions have been hosting queer proms of their own including DePaul University, Santa Clara University, and Fordham University.

The university does not see any conflict with hosting a Queer Prom and its Catholic values, according to a school spokesperson.

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