Carousel of Time: LGBTQ Prom on the Pier Was A lot of Fun for all

Despite the fact that the United Methodist Church nationally is in limbo about the LGBTQ community, the Church in Ocean Park sponsored its 8th dance for this community last Saturday night. The City of Santa Monica contributed the Carousel on the Santa Monica Pier.

A balmy night, where it seemed throngs of visitors filled with the space with a multi generational/racial crowd.

The LGBTQ Prom included a brief social hour followed by DJ Claudio spinning until 11 PM.

It was free with pre registration for anyone from 14-20 with a valid student ID. At the door the fee was $8.

For those with a sweet tooth, the ice cream bar satisfied any craving, for those hungry there were sandwiches and coffee.

The Carousel is a perfect place for a prom. It includes metal mobile multi colored horses, that circled the perimeter of the structure, amid poles that spewed colored lights, in time to the music.

Rev. Janet McKeithen and several church members acted as chaperones for this festive end of school year tradition.

wikipedia: LGBT, or GLBT, is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the term is an adaptation of the initialism LGB, which was used to replace the term gay in reference to the LGBT community beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s Activists believed that the term gay community did not accurately represent all those to whom it referred.

The initialism has become adopted into the mainstream as an umbrella term for use when labeling topics pertaining to sexuality and gender identity. For example, the LGBT Movement Advancement Project termed community centres, which have services specific to those member of the LGBT community, as "LGBT community centers", in a comprehensive studies of such centres around the United States.