from http://www.nclrights.org
By now you’ve probably heard of Constance McMillen. Constance is an 18-year-old from Mississippi who, when she tried to buy tickets for herself and her girlfriend to attend the prom, was promptly told not only that she was forbidden from attending with her girlfriend, but she could not wear a tuxedo. When Constance went to the ACLU—who took her case immediately and sent the school a letter demanding that Constance be allowed to attend the prom with her girlfriend—the school canceled the prom, rather than allow a lesbian couple to attend.
It’s as absurd and outrageous a homophobic story as we’ve heard in a while. But that was not the end of this saga. When an “alternative” prom organized by her schoolmates’ parents was held this past weekend, Constance and her girlfriend showed up, only to discover that they and five other students—some of whom are differently-abled—were the only ones in attendance. And that the “real” prom was actually being held elsewhere, and the event they were attending was simply a ruse to keep all the so-called “outcasts” away from the “real” prom.
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Miss. prom canceled after lesbian's date request
from Chris Joyner, USA TODAY
JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi county school board announced Wednesday it would cancel its upcoming prom after a gay student petitioned to bring a same-sex date to the event.
"Due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events, the Itawamba County School District has decided to not host a prom at Itawamba Agricultural High School this year," school board members said in a statement.
Constance McMillen, an 18-year-old senior at Itawamba, recently challenged a school policy prohibiting her from bringing her girlfriend as her date to the April 2 prom. McMillen, who is a lesbian, and the Mississippi chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union urged school officials to reverse the policy both on McMillen's choice of date and attire. She also wanted to wear a tuxedo to the dance.
ACLU attorney Christine Sun said her organization receives requests for help every year from students facing anti-gay prom policies. The complaints are especially prevalent in the South where attitudes toward sexuality are more conservative, she said.
In the announcement, the school board encouraged the community to organize a private prom. "It is our hope that private citizens will organize an event for the juniors and seniors. "We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this causes anyone," the statement concluded. School officials did not respond to calls seeking comment.
The announcement alarmed McMillen.
"Oh, my God. That's really messed up because the message they are sending is that if they have to let gay people go to prom that they are not going to have one," she said. "A bunch of kids at school are really going to hate me for this."
School officials told McMillen last month that she could not bring her sophomore girlfriend to the prom and also told her she could not wear a tuxedo. The school then circulated a memo that prohibited same-sex dates.__________
This follows as a comment in the shite-storm of commentary on the USA today site:
"It's not about a conservative community or a gay, young couple. It's about timing. The rules governing the "prom" have been in place, I'm sure, for a long time. These girls didn't become gay overnight. Why weren’t they disputed before now? Maybe a compromise could have been made. Also, I'm sure the student body didn't have any problems with these two lesbians and their daily "public displays of homosexuality" throughout the school year. This reaction by the school district and the public at large reminds me of Duncan Donuts decision to stop making and/or selling any food product that contains, looks like, smells like, tastes like or has been in close proximity to any kind of nut all because one fool, out of the 350 million people in this country, had a reaction to it even though they knew they were allergic."
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My emphasis added. And now, for the only little bit I'm going to write here on this, a question or two:
If the student body didn't have any problems with these two lesbians and their daily "public displays of homosexuality" throughout the school year, why did not one single fellow student in the entire school warn Ms. Tuxedo? How QueerHere&Annoying do you have to be to have no friends at all in an entire school?
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