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A lesbian teen’s battle to wear a tux to her high school prom is fought and won with some help from lesbians.

By now, you’ve read all about that high school senior who, despite being an honours student and a credit to Carroll High School (Monroe, LA), seemed like she might be prevented from going to her prom night.

The dilemma? A tuxedo. School principal, Patrick Taylor, had informed Claudetteia Love that should she turn up to the event in the item of clothing that best suited her gender presentation, the school staff would refuse to work, making the event unable to continue.

The teen was understandably unhappy about this turn of events, especially given that the school had been so vocally proud of her accomplishments up to that point. The story hit the news.

And members of the Monroe County Board of Education and the National Center for Lesbian Rights got involved, overturning the principal’s decision by Tuesday. She will be allowed to wear that tuxedo after all.

And Love said in a statement released at the time, “The outpouring of support has been incredible and inspiring; it is a source of strength that I will keep with me as I move on to the next phase of my education and life beyond high school”.

But that wasn’t all that happened. Before that updated news hit the internet, a handful of people committed to clothing the masculine-presenting heard the news about Love and vowed to help.

Clothing trends that cater to masculine-of-centre bodies and genderqueer and androgynous styles have, of course, been emerging in the news again and again of late, a ‘trend’ that a significant swathe of our LGBTQIA population has welcomed with open arms and sighs of relief.

Kayce Brown was the organising force behind this thrilling plan: Love is to get a head-to-toe outfit for prom, thanks to key members of the LGBT fashion community.

Brown, part of the founding team of GaymerX, who created queer-friendly gaming spaces, and a launch team for Greyscale Goods, themselves an androgynous customised box styling plan recently funded by this community on Kickstarter, was in the right place to make this happen. She says:

“Feeling good about yourself is important. Community and giving back are equally important. Working with Claudetteia to outfit her for the prom in her dream tux allows us to have these important conversations on a larger scale. I applaud her bravery and willingness to stand up for herself and everyone who may feel the same. Everyone should be able to feel and be their authentic self inside and out”.

And the first step was to get onboard Nik Kacy, the eponymous footwear line whose own Kickstarter campaign had just been completed, with at least one stretch goal kicked. Their company is no stranger to community outreach – donating shoes to the Los Angeles LGBT Youth Center while fundraising. And I will be outfitting Love with some kicks.

Sharpe Suiting was not to be left behind. Themselves generous supporters of the LGBT community. They’ve just announced the winner of a campaign with autostraddle.com to sponsor a trip to A-Camp, an annual community camping and bonding experience. And they’re committing to supplying the whole tuxedo for Love’s prom.

Leon Wu, Founder and CEO of the company, told us the company is “overjoyed to hear that Claudetteia is now able to wear what she feels confident and comfortable in during a most memorable night celebrating with her friends and school staff”. And added, “We hope this local resolution sets a precedence for all high schools nationally on the positive impact of allowing freedom of style and expression amongst young adults”.

And they’ve also just announced that Wu and Brown will deliver the custom-fit tux in person to the ecstatic Love in her home in Louisiana. And they were helping her get ready for prom.

Love’s reply to this flurry of events is equally excited and anticipatory: “…right now I’m feeling great, and excited about prom. My family was a big support for me during this whole thing”.

“I didn’t expect a story to get as big as it got, but I’m glad it did. So many people have supported me, which is a great feeling. It has shown me the true power of speaking out and standing up for what is right”.