A gay Toronto-area high school student will not be allowed to take his boyfriend to his prom after a Catholic school board rejected his request Monday.

Marc Hall, 17, made his appeal in front of hundreds of people packed into a meeting of the Durham Catholic District School Board. The Grade 12 student at Oshawa's Monsignor John Pereyma Catholic High School said he wanted to take his 21-year-old date to the prom on May 10.

But the board ruled that it could not permit a gay couple to attend.

Marc Hall

Mary Ann Martin, the chair of the board, read from a prepared statement. "We accept and support Marc," she said. "But as for his request for the board to change its mind and allow him to bring his boyfriend to the prom, this we will not do."

Hall, in tears after the decision, called the school "homophobic" and told the board the ruling made him feel rejected.

"I plead with you to reconsider your decision because of the many supporters. But more than that, I believe in justice and that God loves me for who I am," Hall said.

Mary Ann Martin tears up as she reads the decision

He says he still plans to take his boyfriend to the prom, and that his lawyer will ask for a court injunction to reverse the board's decision.