PRIDE - Reclaiming the prom

Radio maven Jen Austin helps improve the rites of passage for the young and queer

By Daniel A. Kusner
Life+Style Editor

For Jen Austin, prom was an event from hell that came four years in a row. Growing up in Elwood, Neb., her high school was so small (she graduated in a class of 12) that the entire student body attended to ensure a decent crowd.
“I pretty much hated prom, getting pictures taken and doing the Chicken Dance — it was all a popularity contest to see who had the biggest corsage,” she remembers.

A basketball and volleyball jock, Austin was kind of popular herself. But she dragged her heels to the big social event of the year.

“If I had the guts and went to a bigger school, I would have skipped prom,” she says. “I’d dance if my date asked, but most of the time I just talked to my girlfriends, which should have been a big clue.”
Raised in such a Podunk town, it took a while for Austin to come to terms with her sexuality. After high school, she picked up a degree in journalism at the University of Nebraska and became an on-air disc jockey.

It wasn’t until she was 22 and living in Austin that she was able to reconcile her Christian beliefs with her sexuality. Along with her longtime partner Angela, Austin eventually migrated to Dallas to work as the traffic reporter for “Kidd Kraddick in the Morning” on 106.1 KISS-FM. Then she started volunteering at Cathedral of Hope where she now co-leads 20Something, a group for students and young professionals.
Austin didn’t think twice when the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network Dallas asked her to host at the 2005 Dallas-Fort Worth GAYla prom — her first public gig that’s not a Cathedral of Hope event.
“Growing up in Elwood, I didn’t have anyone to talk to. There were no positive role models. So now I want to inspire and encourage young gay people,” she says.

“Actually, I’m kind of jealous of this whole gay prom thing. I hope I see girls holding hands and boys flirting with each other — wishing I had the same thing in high school,” Austin continues. “Just imagine having the freedom and truth to be yourself and not having to hide it.”

Anyone ages 14-22 is welcome to attend Planet Us, the 2005 GAYla Prom. Hughes-Trigg Student Center Ballroom on the Southern Methodist University campus. May 7, from 8 p.m. to midnight. $15 advance, $20 at door. Drugs, alcohol and violence aren’t allowed. www.gaylaprom.org.