Watch These LGBTQ+ Seniors Finally Go to Prom in Heartwarming PBS Doc

In honor of Pride Month, PBS has released a series of LGBTQ+ programming including the short film Senior Prom. The documentary follows elderly folks in Triangle Square, a haven for LGBTQ+ retirees in Hollywood, California. 

"For so many high-schoolers, prom is a rite of passage in all of its love-filled, well-coiffed, abundantly photographed glory," the description reads. "But for generations of LGBTQ+ youth, prom has been emblematic of an exclusion from a world they could not experience as their authentic selves.

"Senior Prom celebrates our eldest LGBTQ+ generation who spent a lifetime fighting for the right to love openly and, via rich personal archives, retraces lives and legacies of resistance that helped change the course of civil rights."

Nancy, who was born in 1932, recalls getting arrested at the age of 17 because of how masculine she dressed. "I didn't go to anybody's prom," she says. "I would not have gotten very far because of my attire. And I wasn't gonna put on a dress to please anybody." 

Father Robert, 92, was closeted for much of his young life. He went to his high school prom, "but I wasn't very happy about it," he says. "You couldn't have come out as a gay man and come with a gay man. This was a heterosexual world." Father Robert moved to NYC, came out, and started his own place of worship, The Church of the Beloved Disciple.

The seniors have a blast dancing and celebrating, reminiscing on old times and partners, and marveling at how far we've come.

"They need to know, the young ones," another senior, Andi, says to the camera after sharing the "blessed" 36-year bond she had with her partner. "You can have lasting relationships until the end. You can make it last."

PBS's Pride Month-related programming is free to audiences via the PBS Video App and PBS.org. Watch Senior Prom below: