Founded in 1971 and Binghamton University’s oldest queer organization, the Rainbow Pride Union is a safe space for those who identify as a part of the LGBTQ+ community and allies. As part of its mission to provide outlets for members of the community — whether it’s social, political or creative — RPU organizes a Second Chance Prom every year to create a space for those who may not have experienced a typical prom in high school.

RPU’s Second Chance Prom was held in Old Union Hall last Sunday. The space was decorated in typical prom fashion, with small tables for attendees, streamers and a photo booth. Students had the chance to participate in a raffle, promising prizes from local vendors, a sex toy basket and a mysterious “grand prize,” later revealed to be a Ninja CREAMi ice cream maker.

Freyja Harrel, the president of RPU and a sophomore majoring in business administration, described how the organization is a “family and loving community” for members. She emphasized the importance of queer voices being heard and building a space that is informative and comfortable.

“I think that something a lot of queer people miss out on is being able to always be 100 percent authentically themselves, prom is such an important event in a young person’s life and unfortunately many queer people are unable to attend theirs as themselves,” Harrel wrote in an email. “So I think that Second Chance Prom is so meaningful because it is a space where they can feel themselves to the fullest. It shouldn’t matter who you are, who you want to date, what you want to dress like. You deserve to be happy, feel special, and dress beautifully. I think Second Chance Prom is a perfect opportunity for queer students to let their guard down and just be human.”

RPU has two main events, a fall event with a varying theme that usually features drag performers and the spring semester’s Second Chance Prom. Last fall, the organization hosted “Drag Me to Gayme Night,” where student contestants competed against drag performers in an “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader” themed trivia competition.

Ella Yankelevich, the event coordinator for RPU and a freshman majoring in accounting, said one of her favorite parts of RPU’s events are the drag shows. For this Second Chance Prom, Sativa — the host of HotBox, a popular weekly drag show — BB Polar II and Kimmy Kash took to the stage, wowing the audience.

Grace Johnston, the vice president of RPU and a sophomore double-majoring in French and art history, discussed the significance of incorporating queer trivia and drag performances into events.

“Drag is just an intrinsic part of the queer community,” Johnston said. “It’s one of the only art forms that is queer from the top down.There are some straight performers in there, but it’s mainly gender nonconforming, trans, queer and gay performers.”

“But also, a very important reason why we include drag is because drag culture, or ball culture, started in the 1800s on the East Coast in large cities by queer people of color,” she continued. “And there is a lot of erasure in the contemporary LGBTQIA+ community, where a lot of drag queens are white or just cis gay men, but the drag scene was started by Black trans women and queer people of color in order to provide themselves a safe space to express themselves, celebrate their queerness, celebrate identity outside of white privilege and the white gaze.”

Second Chance Prom is hosted in the spring semester as a tradition of the RPU, with the official title dating back to 2017. The event is structured like a high school prom, with guests invited to dress up and even dress toward the theme provided by the RPU.

This year, the theme was “burlesque” and the organization posted outfit inspiration with suits and striking dresses. Every attendee was dressed to the nines, donned in red and black dresses and glamorous makeup.

RPU is a testament to the vivid LGBTQ+ community present at the University. Its events are expressions of pride and queer joy, creating a space for self-expression and community.

“Every person who’s in the queer community has a different background,” Johnston said. “We all come from different places, we all have different experiences and yet we formed this magnificent chosen family. And I think there’s something so beautiful about my community, the people that I belong to, being from all different backgrounds and all of us having that common thread — our queerness — despite our different experiences.”