Although there was security present, there were no incidents at Bleckley County High School, where Martin attends. Goodman lives in Tifton, Ga.
After the prom, Martin surprised Goodman with a weekend trip to Savannah.
“It was a blast,” Martin said.
Martin made international headlines after receiving permission to attend his senior prom with his boyfriend. Despite protests in the city, officials said they had no authority to deny Martin’s request.
Although Martin received support from across the world, his parents said he could no longer live with them after his story became public. His father is a teacher at BCHS.
As part of the BCHS prom, couples take part in a “walk through” where their names are announced and they walk into the prom. Martin shared his memory of that moment on his Facebook page on April 25.
“The whole town turned out this year, and we were both making ourselves sick thinking of all the outcomes … All eyes were on us as we walked to the podium, and the start of the ‘red carpet.’ … I braced myself for an onslaught of hate and shouting, but what we were greeted with surprised me more than I ever could have imagined …
“People I didn’t even know were there just cheering for us, smiling and telling us things like, ‘be true’ and ‘keep on baby.’ I couldn’t even believe it. All this time I had considered all of the bad things that could have happened, but I never gave a second thought to the night actually going perfectly,” he wrote.
Martin did say he missed his parents being there.
“When I looked out on all those people, all I could think was, I wish my parents were there cheering with them …” he wrote.
Derrick Martin (right) and Richard Goodman. (Photo courtesy Arturo Beéche)