"Prom Queen" hits small screens.

Toronto -- On June 1, 2004, TV viewers in Ontario were treated by CTV network to a docudrama on the Marc Hall case of spring 2002 (see C.I., "Marc Hall case," July/August 2002; Geoff Cauchi, C.I., July/August and September 2003). Hall was a homosexual student who, with the aid of a band of homosexual activists including Ontario's present Minister of Health George Smitherman, challenged his school in court. He won a judgement forcing the administrators of his Catholic high school to allow him to bring his "boyfriend" to the graduation prom.

CTV's news release on this "movie of the week" quotes young Hall as saying that he hopes "the door to understanding may be opened just a little more." While Hall and his parents' real names were used, others' were changed, including those of the school and its administrators. Apparently the school principal is depicted as "homophobic" and the school board chairwoman as "morally uptight." The movie is set, not in Oshawa, but in the fictitious town of Inniston. What the CTV scribes do not mention is the heroic role in which they cast the Canadian Auto Workers union which orchestrated Hall's transformation from mousy student to poster-boy for the "gay rights" movement.

This omission was noted by Toronto Star TV critic Vinay Menon (June 1, 2004), who categorized Hall as a "malleable pawn" of the "special interest groups." Menon seems to have regarded the piece as an interesting piece of fluff which misses (or does it evade?) the main issues. He notes its "heavy-handed symbolism," "obvious metaphors" and "creative licence."

The injunction won in 2002 by Marc Hall comes up for full court trial this October. Perhaps Catholic interests will be readier to put their case effectively this time round.