A Victorian student will be allowed to take another girl to a debutante ball after her school reversed its ban on same-sex partners.



Kiana Prewett was last week told by her school, Mount Clear College in Ballarat, that she could not take her best friend, Imogene, to the annual ball as their pairing was not traditional. Prewett, 17, told Melbourne’s Joy FM the decision was “really upsetting”.



“Tradition is important but at the same time you need to change with society,” she said.

But her father, Justin, said on Wednesday a resolution had been reached.

“Kiana can take her friend,” he said. “It’s a good outcome, and it goes to show when you stick to something you can help people understand.”

Mount Clear College is a member of the Safe Schools Coalition, a program that aims to build supportive and homophobia-free school environments for same-sex attracted, intersex or gender diverse students.

The school principal, Lynita Taylor, said the debutante ball would be “altered” in future.

“As a college we acknowledge that the traditional deb ball does not align to our values of inclusivity for all of our students,” she said.

“The ball will be modified to ensure all of our students can attend regardless of who they wish to partner, or their financial situation.”



Justin Prewett agreed that the debutante ball tradition, in which young women formally make their “debut” to society, was outdated.

“Do we still need to present women to potential suitors? Is that how we’re portraying our children? It’s all backwards,” he said.