Moronic school cancels prom over lesbian student

JACKSON, Miss. – An 18-year-old Mississippi lesbian student whose school district canceled her senior prom rather than allow her to escort her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo said she got some unfriendly looks from classmates when she reluctantly returned to campus Thursday.
Constance McMillen said she didn't want to go back the day after the Itawamba County school board's decision, but her father told her she needed to face her classmates, teachers and school officials.
"My daddy told me that I needed to show them that I'm still proud of who I am," McMillen told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "The fact that this will help people later on, that's what's helping me to go on."
The district announced Wednesday it wouldn't host the April 2 prom. The decision came after the American Civil Liberties Union told officials a policy banning same-sex prom dates violated students' rights. The ACLU said the district not letting McMillen wear a tuxedo violated her free expression rights.
McMillen said she felt some hostility toward her on the Itawamba County Agricultural High School campus.
"Somebody said, 'Thanks for ruining my senior year.'" McMillen said.
The school board issued a statement announcing it wouldn't host the event in Fulton, "due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events."
The statement didn't mention McMillen or the ACLU. When asked by the AP if McMillen's demand led to the cancellation, school board attorney Michele Floyd said she could only reference the statement.
"I guess they would rather do that than what's right, what's constitutionally correct," McMillen said.
Same-sex prom dates and cross-dressing are new issues for many high schools around the country, said Daryl Presgraves, a spokesman for GLSEN: Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, a Washington-based advocacy group.
"A lot of schools actually react rather than do the research and find out what the rights of these students are," said Presgraves, who was preparing to facilitate a discussion about anti-gay bullying at a National Association of Secondary School Principals meeting.
The school district had said it hoped a privately sponsored prom could be held. McMillen said if that happens, she's sure she'll be excluded.
"It's a small town in Mississippi, and it's run by an older generation with money. Most of them are more conservative and they don't agree with it," she said.
Fulton Mayor Paul Walker said he supports the school district's decision and knew of no private efforts to host the prom.
"I think the community as a whole is probably in support of the school district," Walker said of the town of about 4,000.
Itawamba County is a rural area of about 23,000 people in north Mississippi near the Alabama state line. It's near Pontotoc County, Miss., where more than a decade ago school officials were sued in federal court over their practice of student-led intercom prayer and Bible classes.
A couple of students had different reactions to the decision.
Anna Watson, a 17-year-old junior at the high school, was looking forward to the prom, especially since the town's only hotspot is the bowling alley, she said.
"I am a little bummed out about it. I guess it's a decision that had to be made. Either way someone was going to get disappointed — either Constance was or we were," Watson said. "I don't agree with homosexuality, but I can't change what another person thinks or does."
McKenzie Chaney, 16, said she wasn't planning to attend the prom, but "it's kind of ridiculous that they can't let her wear the tuxedo and it all be over with."
A Feb. 5 memo to students laid out the criteria for bringing a date to the prom, and one requirement was that the person must be of the opposite sex.
Presgraves said his organization hears about school districts that prohibit same-sex prom dates and gay-straight alliance clubs at schools. He said those kind of policies are detrimental to gay students.
"It sends a message that these students shouldn't be treated the same," Presgraves said.

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Thats just wrong...I don't understand why they feel a lesbian taking her female date to a prom could hurt anyone. What's wrong with a girl in a tuxedo? Women in high positions at businesses and corporations were outfits that look like tuxedos all the time. This deserves a big SMFH from me.

 

What do the hgiher ups care? It's not like they're going to prom.

That's unfair...and then people blaming her for "ruining" their prom..umm...no she didn't, your school committee with their thumbs in their rears did.

 

This whole thing makes me want to take a cricket bat to some people's heads.

I'm really ashamed that I live within two states of this monstrosity. Thankfully mine is better about it.

 

That's horrible! All this homophobia is going to drive me crazy, people need to be open minded. I can't believe this is happening in a country where we pride ourselfs on being "free".

 

What the ****.
They cancel a prom over a LESBIAN?!

Of all things to cancel a prom over...a collapsed ceiling, some ungodly disease, whatever else fits your fancy...but they choose a student whose sexual preference differs from others. That's ****ing ******ed. Not only do they ruin that one opportunity for her (especially her), they ruin it for everyone else. Am I the only one who defiantly feels this goes against her rights?

Who the hell runs that school? Kick his ass out.

 

I second the cricket bat option.

Okay, I'm no fan of the idea of gays or lesbians, but even I have to admit that this stupid/wrong. Yes, they're different, but they shouldn't be singled out because of it. That's just bigotry and hatred.

 

thats just ****ed up. i mean WHO CARES?!?! just because that she feels differently than other people doesnt mean that she has to be singled out for it.
there could be many ways that there could be a cancelled prom like a fallen roof, the place caught on fire, and also that there was a gas leak in the school and they didnt want anyone in there.
just because she is a lesbian doesnt mean that she doesnt have rights.

 

To be honest, I agree that she should face them all. She has nothing to hide. She did nothing wrong. It is the school that is to blame, and the school that the other students should hate. Any student that does otherwise is as ******ed as the people who cancelled the prom in the first place.

I am really getting sick and tired of the blatent homophobia in the USA. Do you not have equality laws against this sort of thing? If not, how backward are you all?

 

This is just downright ridiculous. They shouldn't punish the school because someone has a different sexual preference. I have no problems with homosexuals, one of my best friends at work is gay and I enjoy his company. Just because someone is homosexual, that doesn't mean they're a crime against nature. You can't help who you fall in love with. Then again, the south is riddled with idiots and incestual freaks. And yet they discourage homosexuals. I agree she needs to face the school. She did absolutely nothing wrong. If anything, she should be proud, but I can't help but feel bad for her. I just have this bad feeling that she's going to be a victim of bigoted acts because she's a lesbian.

 

That's discrimination at it's best. I mean really wtf man over sexual orientation?

 

That is the most ridiculous thing I may have EVER seen. Words cannot describe how much shit like that ticks me off. I would take more than a baseball bat to whoever made the decision to cancel a prom over something as stupid as that.

 

Trouble is, that's half the trouble. In many states there are no laws (as far as I know). They're still pushing for gay marriages to be legal, and it's a cause for much debate. As far as I know it's illegal as far as jobs are concerned, I'm not sure what else. -some American I am, and I live in the state that started the whole shebang.-

 

I will never understand the homophobia of the USA. The older generation over there seems to treat homosexuality like a ****ing disease. "Cancel the Prom! She'll infect the others!" I'm stunned that the school has made THIS much of a fuss over it. We had a girl turn up to last year's prom at our school in a tux, and no one gave a monkey's left bollock about it. There is absolutely no excuse for social exclusion of this caliber.

Sorry if it seems like I'm swearing in this post too much, but this type of thing pisses me off something fierce. There is no excuse for this is today's world, where we hear preaching of intolerance that no one seems to be acting on.

 

ahh, the South...
Good for humour, homophobia and inbreeding. My kinda town!

Prom is an event for people to have the best of their school years culminating in one event, where no one hates anyone else, eveyone laughs and slow dances and good time roll on through the whole night.
This actually makes me appreciate where I live and the friends I have. If I had to live in an area like that… I don't think I could stand to live with the obvious hidden discrimination. What's sad is that the school commitee are effectively promoting this type of thinking, and they're allowed to educate the land of the free's children? Like he'll I'd trust them with my kids!
Still, good on the girl for talking about it. She's not hiding and her father is said to be supportive so good luck to her. I can only hope the underdog wins this fight.

 

Ok, seriously, the school district can get sued for this. It's unlawful to deny a students rights because of sexual I.D. or Dress Code ( unless it states otherwise, but a suit is fine in anything, really)

The girl here, is brave to even show her face at school. How horrible she must feel to be looked at her peers as the one who ruined their senior year, when it was the own schools fault.

 

I, being straight, actually have no problem with homosexuals. People should have a right to their own sexual orientation. This girl did nothing wrong. In fact, she did something right. She stood up for what she believed in, which is the very same reason America fought the British in the Revolution: they were standing up for what they believed in. The decisions of the school make me ashamed to live in the south.

 

I am a Christian and I was raised that Homosexuality is wrong (hang on, this will have a point). I agree that Homosexuality is a sin, but I also agree in free speech and freedom of assembly. I also agree that people should love whom ever they want to. It is because we have free will that we are allowed to do what we wish and love who we wish.

It was a pretty aweful thing to cancel the prom because of that. There are numberous reasons to do such an act, but being a lesbian date isn't one of them. In my mind, we should treat everyone like an equal. That is what i've been preached, and that is what I am going to live by. I hope that the family will sue the school, but the article also states that there was a law against it. I just hope the girl will work through this and hopefully move on.

And you might say to me that i'm defending her because she's a girl. That's wrong. I don't care if it was a boy couple or a girl couple, my mind wouldn't change. Treat people with respect. Do onto others as you would want onto you.

 

It gets worse.
Apparently, the parents put a private prom together and invited her.
When she showed up, it turns out there were two proms set up, one for her and 5 other kids (including two with learning disabilities) and another where everyone else went.
The school was in on it.

They threw the girl a fake prom and had everyone go to a real one.

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I really have no words to express how awful I find that. That is disgusting.