05-15-2005, 02:26 PM
Crossing the line?
Lake Geneva student who wore dress to prom is suspended, fined $249
Kerry Lofy figures that girls get to wear dresses to the Lake Geneva Badger High School prom, so why couldn't he?
But now that he has been suspended from school for three days, is being forced to miss his last track meet (and a chance for the school's pole vaulting record) and has to pay a $249 ticket for disorderly conduct, Lofy's not so sure he picked the right battle to fight.
"Things got a little crazy," Lofy said Tuesday from home, where the 18-year-old senior is serving the suspension after Saturday night's antics.
High school officials are not returning calls for comment on the case, but to hear Lofy tell it, this is a classic case of the price you pay for fighting for your rights of self-expression.
Lofy said he thought it would be funny to show up at his senior prom Saturday wearing a dress. Lofy went to the prom with Victor Anderson, a friend. Lofy says the school did not have any problem letting two males attend prom together, but school officials who had heard of Lofy's plan to wear a black dress warned him that he would not be allowed in the dance if he showed up dressed as a woman.
Lofy says he is not gay. He says he agreed to go with Anderson, who is gay, because Anderson is his friend and he wanted to go to the prom but didn't have a date. Anderson confirms this. Lofy concedes that he was uneasy going to prom with another male, and wearing a dress was a way to deflect other people's suspicions.
"I thought it would be funny," he said.
Late last week, word got out about Lofy's plans. Lofy says the school's associate principal stopped him three times in the hallway on Friday to warn him not to wear a dress. Lofy, a member of the school's track, ski, powerlifting and soccer teams, says he is known for his outrageous fashion sense. Last year, he showed up to prom wearing a tuxedo he made out of duct tape.
School administrators warned Lofy not to ruin prom for others, Lofy says. "It's not your prom," he says the associate principal told him.
But Lofy went ahead anyway, borrowing a girlfriend's black, stretchy, spaghetti-strap dress. He bought a blond wig, open-toed platform sandals, blue earrings and a necklace at Goodwill. He used one of his mom's purses to carry his wallet and car keys.
"I looked like Marilyn Monroe," he says.
Lofy picked up Anderson, they exchanged flowers - a pink-and-white wrist corsage for Lofy, and a boutonniere for Anderson - and then dined at the Newport Grill with three other couples. Lofy ordered beef tenderloin while Anderson had smoked salmon. They posed for photos just like the rest of the prom-goers. Then they went to the dance.
But when the 6-foot, 185-pound Lofy showed up in a dress, he was turned away by teachers, he said.
He went back to his car, put a tan-and-black plaid leisure suit over the dress and was allowed inside. Once inside, Lofy shed the leisure suit during a dance-off.
That's when the school's security guard escorted him to the door.
Lofy says that when he showed up at school on Monday, the school liaison police officer issued the $249 disorderly conduct ticket.
Lofy doesn't understand all the hubbub.
"I wasn't hurting anybody," he says. "I wasn't preventing anyone from learning in a school environment."
He says friends plan to protest the school's actions today. Some male students have vowed to wear dresses and some of the female students will be wearing suit coats and ties, Lofy says.
Lofy plans to go to Colorado Mountain College in the fall and major in ski hill management.
Mark Pienkos, principal at Lake Geneva Badger High School, declined several requests for comment.
Lake Geneva student who wore dress to prom is suspended, fined $249
Kerry Lofy figures that girls get to wear dresses to the Lake Geneva Badger High School prom, so why couldn't he?
But now that he has been suspended from school for three days, is being forced to miss his last track meet (and a chance for the school's pole vaulting record) and has to pay a $249 ticket for disorderly conduct, Lofy's not so sure he picked the right battle to fight.
"Things got a little crazy," Lofy said Tuesday from home, where the 18-year-old senior is serving the suspension after Saturday night's antics.
High school officials are not returning calls for comment on the case, but to hear Lofy tell it, this is a classic case of the price you pay for fighting for your rights of self-expression.
Lofy said he thought it would be funny to show up at his senior prom Saturday wearing a dress. Lofy went to the prom with Victor Anderson, a friend. Lofy says the school did not have any problem letting two males attend prom together, but school officials who had heard of Lofy's plan to wear a black dress warned him that he would not be allowed in the dance if he showed up dressed as a woman.
Lofy says he is not gay. He says he agreed to go with Anderson, who is gay, because Anderson is his friend and he wanted to go to the prom but didn't have a date. Anderson confirms this. Lofy concedes that he was uneasy going to prom with another male, and wearing a dress was a way to deflect other people's suspicions.
"I thought it would be funny," he said.
Late last week, word got out about Lofy's plans. Lofy says the school's associate principal stopped him three times in the hallway on Friday to warn him not to wear a dress. Lofy, a member of the school's track, ski, powerlifting and soccer teams, says he is known for his outrageous fashion sense. Last year, he showed up to prom wearing a tuxedo he made out of duct tape.
School administrators warned Lofy not to ruin prom for others, Lofy says. "It's not your prom," he says the associate principal told him.
But Lofy went ahead anyway, borrowing a girlfriend's black, stretchy, spaghetti-strap dress. He bought a blond wig, open-toed platform sandals, blue earrings and a necklace at Goodwill. He used one of his mom's purses to carry his wallet and car keys.
"I looked like Marilyn Monroe," he says.
Lofy picked up Anderson, they exchanged flowers - a pink-and-white wrist corsage for Lofy, and a boutonniere for Anderson - and then dined at the Newport Grill with three other couples. Lofy ordered beef tenderloin while Anderson had smoked salmon. They posed for photos just like the rest of the prom-goers. Then they went to the dance.
But when the 6-foot, 185-pound Lofy showed up in a dress, he was turned away by teachers, he said.
He went back to his car, put a tan-and-black plaid leisure suit over the dress and was allowed inside. Once inside, Lofy shed the leisure suit during a dance-off.
That's when the school's security guard escorted him to the door.
Lofy says that when he showed up at school on Monday, the school liaison police officer issued the $249 disorderly conduct ticket.
Lofy doesn't understand all the hubbub.
"I wasn't hurting anybody," he says. "I wasn't preventing anyone from learning in a school environment."
He says friends plan to protest the school's actions today. Some male students have vowed to wear dresses and some of the female students will be wearing suit coats and ties, Lofy says.
Lofy plans to go to Colorado Mountain College in the fall and major in ski hill management.
Mark Pienkos, principal at Lake Geneva Badger High School, declined several requests for comment.