Basic Trope: Same-sex couples may not attend prom together.
- Straight: Alice wants to go to prom with her girlfriend, Betty, but school rules say she can only go with a boy. She goes to prom with Charles instead.
- Exaggerated:
- Alice is not in high school, or even college, but wants to go to an "adult prom" that's being held as a charity benefit for the local children's hospital, but it's still one of the rules set by whoever organized it.
- Alice disguises herself as a boy, just so she can go with Betty.
- Alice and Betty are not a gay couple, but the school won't even allow same-sex friends to attend the prom together.
- Downplayed:
- Only straight couples are seen at prom, even though nothing is said about school policy.
- Alice and Betty are barred from an after prom party, held at a student's home.
- Alice and Betty are allowed to go to prom together, but due to social stigma, they buy their tickets with Charles and David rather than with each other.
- Justified:
- Alice's school is a religious school (and specifically, a religious school with a religion that has something not-so-good to say about homosexuality or same-sex relationships), and if Alice breaks the rules, she'll be expelled.
- Alice lives in a very homophobic and patriarchal society.
- Inverted: Alice wants to go to prom with her boyfriend, Charles, but school rules say she can only go with a girl. She goes to prom with Betty instead.
- Subverted: Alice and Betty attend the prom with Charles and David. However, it turns out that Alice and Betty are a lesbian couple who invited two gay guys to get round a ban on same sex couples.
- Double Subverted: Her pictures are with Charles, because they had to make it look like they were just part of a group.
- Parodied:
- Alice's prom date is played by a Drag Queen.
- Alice brings her dad to prom.
- Zig-Zagged: Some schools allow it, others don't.
- Averted:
- There is no prom.
- Alice is not enrolled in school.
- There are no restrictions on who Alice may bring to the prom.
- Enforced: The creator wants to have Alice and Betty attend the prom as a couple, but the executives insist on them attending with Charles and David to placate the Moral Guardians.
- Lampshaded: "I'm sorry, Alice, you can't take Betty with you as your date. It's school policy."
- Invoked: A homophobic Sadist Teacher implements this rule specifically to prevent Alice from bringing Betty to prom as her date.
- Exploited: Alice hates this school, and wants to get herself expelled.
- Defied:
- Alice decides to boycott the prom in protest at not being allowed to have Betty as her prom date.
- Alice and other gay students file a lawsuit against the school for discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.
- Alice and Betty attend a gay prom instead.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
