Prom Dressing In Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

Wisconsin high school senior Kerry Lofy decided that he wanted a prom outfit that would make him stand out from the crowd:

Kerry Lofy figures that girls get to wear dresses to the Lake Geneva Badger High School prom, so why couldn't he? [enlarged image here]

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 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.

Mark Pienkos, principal at Lake Geneva Badger High School, declined several requests for comment.

Lofy says that he is not gay, even though he agreed to accompany Victor Anderson, who is gay.

Certainly, if Kerry Lofy was looking to get attention, it worked.

Perhaps the school would have been better advised to let this one go.

Additional Commentary: Joanne Jacobs
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