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Mississippi High School Drops Prom Due to Lesbian Couple

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by Lil Pun, Mar 11, 2010.

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  1. Lil Pun

    Lil Pun Member

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    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_lesbian_prom_date

    JACKSON, Miss. – A northern Mississippi school district will not be hosting a high school prom this spring after a lesbian student sought to attend with her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo.

    The Itawamba County school district's board decided Wednesday to drop the prom because of what it called recent distractions but without specifically mentioning the girl's request, which was backed by the American Civil Liberties Union.

    The student, 18-year-old high school senior Constance McMillen, said the cancellation was retaliation for her efforts to bring her girlfriend, also a student, to the April 2 dance.

    "A bunch of kids at school are really going to hate me for this, so in a way it's really retaliation," McMillen told The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson. Calls to McMillen by The Associated Press late Wednesday went unanswered.

    School policy requires that senior prom dates be of the opposite sex. The ACLU of Mississippi had given the district until Wednesday to change that policy, arguing that banning same-sex prom dates violated McMillen's constitutional rights.

    Instead, the school board met and issued a statement announcing it wouldn't host the event at Itawamba County Agricultural High School 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 Associated Press if McMillen's demand led to the cancellation, school board attorney Michele Floyd said she could only reference the statement.

    "It is our hope that private citizens will organize an event for the juniors and seniors," district officials said in the statement. "However, at this time, we feel that it is in the best interest of the Itawamba County School District, after taking into consideration the education, safety and well being of our students."

    Kristy Bennett, legal director for the ACLU of Mississippi, said the district was trying to avoid the issue.

    "But that doesn't take away their legal obligations to treat all the students fairly," Bennett said. "On Constance's behalf, this is unfair to her. All she's trying to do is assert her rights."

    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.

    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."

    Other students are on McMillen's side.

    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.

    The ACLU said McMillen approached school officials shortly before the memo went out because she knew same-sex dates had been banned in the past. The ACLU said district officials told McMillen she and her girlfriend wouldn't be allowed to arrive together, that she would not be allowed to wear a tuxedo, and that she and her girlfriend might be asked to leave if their presence made any other students "uncomfortable."

    McMillen said she feared she would be thrown out of the prom because "we do live in the Bible Belt."
     
    #1 Lil Pun, Mar 11, 2010
  2. Bandwagoner

    Bandwagoner Member

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    dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb

    If a dude wears a dress and a girl wears a tux how does that hurt the prom. Also how can you regulate who "goes with" who? Walk in with a group and teachers are gonna say you cannot come in without a date?
     
    #2 Bandwagoner, Mar 11, 2010
  3. DonnyMost

    DonnyMost Member
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    A friend of mine showed up to prom in a tuxedo shirt and got his ass kicked outside by a bunch of rednecks who thought it was "disrespectful".

    Wish I were kidding.
     
    #3 DonnyMost, Mar 11, 2010
  4. Bandwagoner

    Bandwagoner Member

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    To be fair to rednecks they were probably drunk and just looking for their nightly fight. Not really news there that a group of high school rednecks beat down someone.
     
    #4 Bandwagoner, Mar 11, 2010
  5. da_juice

    da_juice Member

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    Welcome to the Bible Belt. Where Gawd has appointed white*, christian*, conservative, land owning men to interepert the law.
    *white refers to those of european** ancestry
    *chrsitian refers to anyone believing in christ that is not catholic, anglican, UCC, lutheran, unitarian, amish, mennoite, mormon, jehovah's witness, or skips church more then once a year
    ** only europeans denoting from scandinavin, anglo-saxon, or polish descent
     
    #5 da_juice, Mar 11, 2010
  6. Rocket River

    Rocket River Member

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    I think we will just cut all these types of events out.
    They seem to be more trouble than they worth
    Schools will get scared of being sued or made to look bad or something
    and justify . . just cutting them out.

    they would be unofficial off campus events

    Rocket River
     
    #6 Rocket River, Mar 11, 2010
  7. Dairy Ashford

    Dairy Ashford Member

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    Oh well, Ike's not calling in federal troops for this. The worst part is all the new homophobes the district knowingly created by the lost prom. Object lesson, freaks; sometimes, hate just wins.
     
    #7 Dairy Ashford, Mar 13, 2010
  8. SwoLy-D

    SwoLy-D Member

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    LOL! Kids in high school. :grin:

    Sincerely,

    Homer J. Simpson
     
    #8 SwoLy-D, Mar 26, 2010
  9. GladiatoRowdy

    GladiatoRowdy Member

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    The best part about this story is the fact that parents of other students have organized a non-school affiliated dance and have specifically excluded the lesbian couple. Gotta love bigotry.
     
    #9 GladiatoRowdy, Mar 26, 2010
  10. Depressio

    Depressio Member

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    Mississippi.
     
    #10 Depressio, Mar 26, 2010
  11. BetterThanI

    BetterThanI Member

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    I understand what you're saying, TSchmal, but how much longer are we, as a nation, going to let that be used as an excuse? "Oh, of course they practice racism: they're from Mississippi." Like that just explains everything, and we should just ignore it. It's long past time for them to wake up and smell the 21st century.
     
    #11 BetterThanI, Mar 26, 2010
  12. Dairy Ashford

    Dairy Ashford Member

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    Yep, no different than shutting down schools to stop integration, then paying white kids' tuition to local private schools/Christian academies that sprung up over night. A whole community did this: sorry, but some people in some parts of this country are just pure trash.
     
    #12 Dairy Ashford, Mar 26, 2010
  13. Mr. Brightside

    Mr. Brightside Member

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    Bummer.
     
    #13 Mr. Brightside, Mar 27, 2010
  14. ScolaIsBallin

    ScolaIsBallin Member

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    It shouldn't matter..
     
    #14 ScolaIsBallin, Apr 2, 2010
  15. Classic

    Classic Member

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    Seems mighty bold and 1950ish of the school district. Who is giving them legal advice?
     
    #15 Classic, Apr 2, 2010
  16. Dairy Ashford

    Dairy Ashford Member

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    It could be argued that the girl wasn't punished by the prom shutdown, but the whole school. Or that proms are not constitutionally guaranteed. It'd be interesting to hear what courts have to day, but I think k.d. just wants to get the holy hell out of Dixie and never look back. What an awful way to end what was probably the most stressful and miserable part of her life, even though she probably saw it coming. Who's to say she's even gay, she might have just done it to scare off all the Cletuses.

    And what happened to her non-scholarship receiving girlfriend? Is she tied up against a fence-post somewhere; or being shipped off to bible school, or something?
     
    #16 Dairy Ashford, Apr 3, 2010
  17. Refman

    Refman Member

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    I would like to think that we have gotten to the point in society where these girls could have gone to the prom and enjoyed being with their friends, but I guess not.

    If the girls were not going to intentionally make a spectacle of themselves, then there should not be a problem. FWIW, heterosexual couples should not be permitted to make a spectacle of themselves either.

    Refgal's son went to the prom with a girl, but he wore a tuxedo shirt, vest and jacket with a Scottish kilt. Prior to the event, the administration found out (it had made the rounds). We had to have several discussions with the administration before he was permitted to attend. One of the requirements was that he wear a pair of basketball shorts under the kilt.

    Back on topic...the administration at Hickville High mentioned the safety of the students. Part of this could be that (Mississippi being a bastion of tolerance) the administration had reason to believe that there was likely to be intimidation and physicality. If that had happened, we would be discussing a much more troubling and tragic story than the cancellation of a prom.
     
    #17 Refman, Apr 3, 2010
  18. HI Mana

    HI Mana Member

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    I think this qualifies as a new low for me in my opinion of Mississippi...

    http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/04/05/ACLU_Investigating_Fake_Prom/

     
    #18 HI Mana, Apr 8, 2010
  19. moestavern19

    moestavern19 Member

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    <strike>Miss</strike>issippi
     
    #19 moestavern19, Apr 8, 2010
  20. Mr. Brightside

    Mr. Brightside Member

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    #20 Mr. Brightside, Apr 8, 2010
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