BOYSTOWN — Prom dresses, suit jacket and ... a drag version of X-Men's Storm?
At the LGBT geek group Geeks OUT Chicago chapter's inaugural "Mutant High Prom" Saturday night at Spin Nightclub, the people who take home the crowns will be wearing comic book character costumes — not traditional prom attire.
Saturday is the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, or C2E2, and the recently created Chicago chapter of Geeks OUT decided to host an event where gay geeks attending the comic convention could celebrate at the end of the day.
"The feeling of prom, at its heart, is a culmination of something, a celebration of something, the secret romances and crushes," said Danny Bernado, Geeks OUT Chicago's event coordinator. "It’s finally realizing that there are other people like you, and you get to have fun and cut loose."
The theme of Mutant High Prom — a reference to Xavier Institute in "X-Men," for you n00bs out there — fits because of the comic's metaphor for mutants as real life's disenfranchised groups. The party at Spin will be a place where gay geeks can be both gay and geeky — and organizers hope it will be an event LGBT comic book fans can look forward to every year, Bernado said.
"Being a queer geek, sometimes you're a little bit guarded," he said. "You have to almost choose which side you're representing. There's a stigma on both ends."
The party at Spin, 800 W. Belmont Ave., will start at 8 p.m. and last until midnight. Cover is $5, with an additional $5 suggested donation to Geeks OUT. Company a/s/l media will be shooting prom photos, and attendees will elect a prom court of the people wearing the best cosplay, or comic book character costumes.
That said, gay geeks who do not want to dress up in prom gear or cosplay are still welcome, Bernado said. Mutant High Prom is mostly about feeling comfortable with who you are, he said.
"You go through your nine-to-five Clark Kent life, and then you can finally come to life with your geek friends," Bernado said. "You can shed off what the world wants to see you as and be who you really are."
