The annual event is described as a gathering intended for 14- to 24-year-olds "to come experience queer joy and engage with community resources."
Oasis Queer Youth Center, which organized the May 10th "Detective Dance" in Tacoma, Washington, also offered free HIV testing.
Mission: America President Linda Harvey warns that this kind of thing attracts "exactly the wrong kind of people" – those who want to link up with kids and exploit them.
She says deaf, disabled, and disadvantaged kids are especially vulnerable to predators.
"[They] are much more vulnerable to going into homosexuality or gender confusion because they already feel like they don't fit in," Harvey points out.
The Washington State Department of Health has confirmed that the Oasis Youth Center is a grant recipient from the Department of Health's Commercial Tobacco Prevention Program (CTPP) and the Cannabis Prevention and Education Program (CPEP), though a department official clarified that this "Queer Prom" was not sponsored by the state.
Campus Reform reports that other events run by Oasis include a "Queer, Trans, and Intersex Persons of Color (QTIPOC) Retreat" and a "Pride BBQ."
The group's values include initiatives like "[s]upporting and empowering youth," "providing essential resources," and "[p]romoting cultural diversity."
