Weekly Gleek: Drama Queens, Dancin’ Queens, Prom Queens

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Moving on to other tasty morsels of gleeful delight, Blaine’s last name apparently really is Warbler, and though Lauren Zizes thinks she looks like a lemon merengue pie in her prom dress, Brittany thinks she looks delicious. Also Santana wants to give Kurt his own private security detail on campus; Karovsky’s inner humanity finally shines through as he tearfully apologizes to Kurt (he really is cute as a bear-in-training, isn’t he? He’s a cub!); and Finn finally earns his PFLAG stripes by wholeheartedly endorsing Kurt’s fashionista prom ensemble (Dude, that rocks! It’s like gay Braveheart!) even as their dad displays anxiety over the possibility that it will cause him more bullying than joy. 

This was one of those wonderful “teachable moments” in Glee that resonated with many a young queer across the tweet-o-sphere, and I really appreciated the importance of the point Kurt had to make here. And, certainly, his dad was coming from a place of love when he pointed out his worry that Kurt would be more likely to get harassed in that outfit; there’s no question that he only wants to protect his son when he warns him that the bullies only need “a match to ignite the flame of their hate.”

But prom, as Kurt rightly says, is about joy, not fear. And if you can’t be loud, proud and fabulous at your own prom, then what core element of your identity will you sacrifice next? It’s certainly a slippery slope, but I for one was very proud of our boy Kurt when he stood firm and wore the outfit he wanted to wear. It reminded me of the first conversation I had with my mom’s gay cousin (more an aunt to me) after I came out at age 15; and all she wanted to do was instruct me on how to keep my head down and avoid trouble from a cruel world. It was touching, of course, and I understood that she just wanted to protect me; but I also understood, as a young queer in a new and shifting cultural landscape, that just passing and keeping my head down was not what my life was gonna be about. And neither is Kurt’s. So there’s that.

I would of course be massively remiss if I did not also mention how awesome it was to see Brittany shipping her