San Luis High School. San Luis, Ariz.
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It was Yancey's seventh time attending BAGLY's event, the nation's oldest prom for LGBT students. "BAGLY is a great opportunity to be with other LGBT youth in a party atmosphere," says Yancey, above, left. "I went to a pretty accepting high school, but it's just more comfortable to be with people like you. I'm not 'the lesbian' in the group. I don't stand out."
MONTGOMERY COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL MOUNT VERNON, GA.
Juquan Peeples, 17, and Brooke Beecher, 18
Until 2010, Montgomery County High School held separate proms for African-American and white students. Peeples, far left, and Beecher, near left, were the only interracial couple to attend the integrated event this year. "In the past, people weren't used to it," Peeples says. "But this year it was fun. It's really the parents who care, but when it's just us, everything is cool. I've been talking to Brooke since sixth grade."
DWIGHT-ENGLEWOOD SCHOOL ENGLEWOOD, N.J.
Anna Karpman, 18
"It's a last hurrah," says Karpman, above, standing, of her senior prom, held on May 18. "The boys finally look together, and with the girls, it's all about who they're wearing." Karpman, who plans to attend Parsons the New School for Design in New York City this fall, chose a Vera Wang dress, Jimmy Choo heels and an Oscar de la Renta cuff. "I wanted a dress that was eclectic," she says.
ELKTON HIGH SCHOOL ELKTON, ORE.
Norah Owings, 18, and Noah Miller, 18
"Everybody knows everybody, so no one's shy," says Miller, near left, who was one of 15 students in this year's graduating class. "Some of us have been together from preschool through 12th grade." Because their school is so small, all students are invited to attend prom. "I've never spent more than $50 on a prom dress," says Owings, far left, whose dress this year cost $150. "This was my senior year, so I wanted to splurge and make it special."
FOR MORE IMAGES OF PROMS IN AMERICA, GO TO time.com/proms