I think we can all remember the extreme social pressures that students face in high school. The social atmosphere can be extremely volatile, and the pressure to be accepted by peers can be enormous.
Yet, here is a lesbian student who is standing her ground, in the heart of Mississippi of all places. Bravo! And let's all get behind her.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/...
A school board in the US state of Mississippi has canceled a high school prom after a female student asked to attend with her girlfriend.
The board said it would not host the event due to "distractions to the educational process".
Distractions to the educational process? Am I missing something? I haven't been in school for quite a while, did they recently start teaching trigonometry at the prom?
Student Constance McMillen, 18, said the move was in retaliation for her request to bring her girlfriend to the event and wear a tuxedo.
The school had circulated a memo prohibiting same-sex dates.
Ms McMillen approached school officials shortly before the memo was issued.
Two things. First, YES. This was obviously retaliation and it was quite frankly a cowardly, chickenshit move. The school knew they were in the wrong. And they knew the ACLU (see continued story) was going to hand them their ass. But instead of tackling the issue themselves like grownups they cancel the entire event - relying entirely on peer pressure from the student's teenage classmates.
Second, WHY on earth would the school prohibit students from bringing a guest who is the same gender? Is the Itawamba County School District saying the prom is about SEX? That's funny. I thought a school with such high values would view the prom as being about friendship and bonding, and music and dancing.
Ultimatum
According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which is backing Ms McMillen's case, the school board told her that she and her partner would not be allowed to arrive at the event together nor would she be allowed to wear a tuxedo, AP reported.
Itawamba County Agricultural High School in Fulton also reserved the right to ask Ms McMillen and her girlfriend to leave if it made any other students feel uncomfortable, the ACLU said.
What planet are we on? I can just see it now. A student approaching a school official, "um, those two lesbos are making me uncomfortable." The kid should be told, "Guess what. Not everyone conforms to what you're comfortable with. That's life. You start college soon, get over it." But instead Ms. McMillen will be told to leave?
So does this courageous student buckle under pressure? Hell no.
http://news.yahoo.com/...
Lesbian teen sues to force school to hold prom
JACKSON, Miss. – A lesbian student who wanted to take her girlfriend to her senior prom is asking a federal judge to force her Mississippi school district to reinstate the dance it canceled.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi on Thursday filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Oxford on behalf of 18-year-old Constance McMillen, who said she faced some unhappy classmates after the Itawamba County School District said it wouldn't host the April 2 prom.
"Somebody said, 'Thanks for ruining my senior year,'" McMillen said of her reluctant return Thursday to Itawamba Agricultural High School in Fulton.
The lawsuit seeks a court order for the school to hold the prom. It also asks that McMillen be allowed to escort her girlfriend, who is a fellow student, and wear a tuxedo, which the school said also violated policy.
The district's decision Wednesday came after the ACLU demanded that officials change a policy banning same-sex prom dates because it said it violated students' rights. The ACLU said the district violated McMillen's free expression rights by not letting her wear a tux.
This whole thing is outrageous. I see lots of angry phone calls in their future.