The ballroom at the Tivoli Student Union, on the Auraria campus, was bursting with balloons, streamers, glitter and bubbles.

The teenage crowd danced wildly to funky beats, slow-danced to romantic ballads and cheered on the night's entertainment, which included a drag show.

Prom night is a rite of passage for many: that magical night where teens the nation over get to wear fancy, grown-up clothes, go to dinner at expensive, adult restaurants, buy each other colorful, great-smelling corsages and say goodbye to their lives as high school students.

That memorable event is an American tradition, but not all teenagers are traditional. Jennifer Vaught, 18, and Ashley Cathey, 16, two bright, articulate leaders in their schools, happen to be a couple. And they helped to organize that recent dance at the Tivoli: the "Queer Prom."

The people at Rainbow Alley, the youth division of The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) Community Center of Colorado, want to be sure gay teens have a chance to celebrate graduation and the end of the school year in style with a prom of their own.

This year's Queer Prom marked the 10th year of the event, an alternative night of dancing and entertainment for GLBT teens.

"Most of the kids who attend the prom come from the Denver area, but we see people from all over the region - Wyoming, Utah, Montana," says Julie Voyles, director of youth services at Rainbow Alley. "We're the biggest GLBT youth group in the Western states, and for a lot of the rural youth we're it."

Vaught and Cathey's stories are a bit unusual - both have been openly gay for several years, come from supportive families and attend highly diversified high schools. They say a regular school prom can make gay students feel uncomfortable.

"I think a lot of gay students either go solo or just avoid going to their high school prom at all," Vaught says.

The atmosphere at a traditional prom can be scary and even dangerous for an openly gay teenager. Studies show that students who describe themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual report being the target of anti-gay harassment or violence at school or on the way to or from school. And suicide is the leading cause of death among gay and lesbian youths, reports the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

About 400 teens attended this year's Queer Prom, which has been held at the Tivoli for the past several years - quite a change from the first event, held in a church basement in 1993 with about 50 guests.

"The event was started because a group of students were afraid to go to their own proms," Voyles says. "They couldn't celebrate with their peers and be open about it. So Queer Prom was all about safety. It was fairly discreet in the beginning, but we've never had any problems."

Vaught and Cathey also attended Vaught's school prom. They spent the traditional hour and a half of posing for photos for their mothers, though Vaught wore a tuxedo.

Unlike at most traditional proms, at Queer Prom anything goes. Attendees wear everything from elaborate dresses to jeans and T-shirts. And boys in dresses and girls in tuxedos are common sights. A prom queen and king are named, but the title of drag king and drag queen are doled out as well.

This year's theme was "Superstar." Tickets cost just $10 a person, $15 at the door, but no one is turned away if he can't afford the price, which is much lower than a high school prom fee. Services - lighting, sound, the DJ, food - are donated, and an after-party is held at the Rainbow Alley drop-in center.

"I prefer Queer Prom," Vaught says. "I feel more comfortable in that environment. Those are my friends. Those are more of the people I identify with."

Her fellow guests must have felt comfortable around Vaught as well. She was crowned prom drag king, while Cathey was appointed prom queen.

"The atmosphere is so different," Cathey says. "Jen's prom seemed so uptight. You had to be perfect. All the girls were checking their makeup and their hair every five minutes. At Queer Prom you can relax and be yourself."