H.E.R.O.E.S. held its 6th annual Goth Prom Oct. 27, an event that included a costume contest, music, dancing, food and a drag show. There was even a photographer to take prom style photos.

“It’s just kind of a time to get together and have fun,” said Sirius Prater, a member of H.E.R.O.E.S, a student organization that is committed to providing social support, education opportunities and campus advocacy for the equality of all LGBTQ+ individuals. “It’s open to the public, and it’s free.”

The acronym H.E.R.O.E.S. stands for Helping to Educate Regarding Orientation, Equality, and the Spectrum. The group holds this event every year in October during LGBT History Month to raise awareness and show support for the LGBT community.

“I really like working with the students,” said Allison Heming, the staff advisor for H.E.R.O.E.S. “It’s really awesome. I think that for me, it’s good to see students who want to be active on campus and want to do things for the community and want to do things to also educate their community as well. So it’s always very inspiring to me to work with this group of students.”

The organization encouraged all ETSU students and members of the community to dress up in their Halloween costume or gothic prom attire for the event, which started at 7 p.m. in the D.P. Culp University Center Ballroom.

“The thing I’m most excited about for Goth Prom is all the costumes,” Heming said. “Everyone is so talented as far as makeup and making their own costumes and everything.”

Drag queens and kings put on a spectacular show for the audience, which was hosted by Eureka O’Hara. They performed musical numbers from all different genres, such as rock, pop and hip hop. The drag show included performers Ondreah Montrose, Jake Le Cartier, Anna Tomical, Stephanie Glitz, Jacqueline St. James, Ashalee and Austin Raynes.

The last event H.E.R.O.E.S. will hold for LGBT History Month is the final segment of the series, “Let’s Erase Erasure-Intersex 101.” This will take place during H.E.R.O.E.S. regular meeting time, 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Mondays in Roger Stout 324.

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  • Corinne McGrath

    Corinne McGrath is an aspiring journalist from South Carolina majoring in media and communications with a concentration in journalism and a minor in radio/television/film. As a sophomore at ETSU, she serves as secretary of Alpha Sigma Iota, a fraternal service organization for the radio/TV/film department. Corinne was awarded the Kingsport-Times News Scholarship Award at the 2017 ETSU Media and Communication's Student Showcase and Awards Ceremony. After graduating, she hopes to either get her masters in media and communications or go to law school.

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