A lesbian student wanted to wear a tuxedo and accompany her girlfriend to the prom in a Northern Mississippi school district. Chaos ensued. It turns out that Itawamba County school district has an explicit policy requiring that senior prom dates be of the opposite sex. (This is the same school district that got in trouble some years back for intercom-led prayer and bible sessions.)
The AClU dove in. The school district canceled the prom but refuses to say exactly why.
So, look for a private non-school related anti-gay prom-like “event” to occur in Itawamba County this spring.
“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.”
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Worse, even – seems they instituted that policy only after the girl asked whether she could bring a same-sex date. Then, when the ACLU helpfully pointed out to the district that their new policy is illegal, they rather called the whole thing off.
In the meantime, a New Orleans hotel owner has offered to sponsor an alternative, inclusive prom for the kids, and some progressive blogs have started collecting donations. Appears there might be two private, prom-like events for Itawamba High this spring, of which only one will be anti-gay. Gonna be interesting to see which one will be better attended.
And I really think the girl should get her revenge in the form of shutting down all public events in Mississippi by asking whether she could come in a tux. (I’d probably work in a depressing number of cases.)
From this USA Today article, it looks like the ACLU is still suing the school, now alleging that cancelling the prom as an act of discrimination and a violation of free speech. Check out the homophobes in the comments. Apparently, wanting to take a same-sex date to the prom is trampling the rights of the majority. And the majority should always rule. (Except in the Senate.)
b..b…but! if you separate out prom dates by straight and gay, you’re making pronouncements about people having SEX! What kind of parents want to endorse the thought of students having sex after prom?!? Shouldn’t they be teaching all those kids to be ABSTINENT?
I think the clear solution to guarantee that there will be no premarital sex going on before, during or after prom is to force the majority of people to take a platonic date of the same sex … and if you’re gay, you take an opposite.
/went to prom with a geeky date
I actually chaperoned a prom a few years back and I was astonished at what happened right there on the dance floor. OMG. I thought sneaking out into a vacant lot and getting stoned during my prom was risky behavior.
Damn, I at least waited until we got to a friend’s parents Lake cabin before breaking any moral or otherwise laws.
Upon arrival at prom, while waiting to hand over our tickets, I was treated to the sight of one of the popular girls taking a very slow tumble down the escalator (the dance was on a mezzanine level) through other promgoers. I guessed she was sozzled, although everyone knew there were plenty of other possibilities where she was concerned. The “sanctity” of prom is a joke.
On the other hand, I think the biggest sin I committed that night was still being in love with the date I’d chosen a month or two earlier. Well, I assume it was a sin. Nobody else seemed to be doing it.
When I first heard about this, I wondered if maybe this was a case where one should act as though the world were the way it ought to be, ie. she should have just shown up with her date and let the chips fall where they may.
But after reading a little more about it, it sounds as if the school district went out its way to single her out.
I went to prom accompanied by one male friend and one female friend (we did our pictures together and so forth) so I guess we were forcing everyone to think about interracial polyamorous sex the whole night. Poor kids.
Thanks for pointing out the USA Today article, Jackal. I think I’m going to look up Sean Cumming’s hotel, so I can give him some business whenever I’m sick of staying with relatives in NOLA.
“The school district canceled the prom but refuses to say exactly why.”
Becuase the Atheist Communist Lickers Union decided to butt in school policy as they always do. I do not live too far away from where this incident happened and I will tell you that more residents are angrier at the ACLU and the girl than the school district. People do not seem to realize that we hold to pur values very strongly here and we refuse to give them up to anyone. Quite frankly we wish we could kick the ACLU out of Mississippi forever, but that will probably never happen since we have some liberals who love the anti-faith stance so much as to support this criminal organization.
The school district in this case done the right thing by standing up for what was right. I beliee in education reform. I believe we should start back teaching Bible classes in school as an option, but I think civics class should be mandatory. If we would shun fornication classes and embrace the civics and religious classes more (like the 1950s) we might could reverse the trend of gayism in schools and reverse violence in schools. Ever hear of dummies bringing guns to school in 1950? No becuase they would get shot by the cop of get their asses kicked by the prnciple when he finally caught up with them.
Kids today have a total disrespect for authority and liberlas embrace disrespect for authority. Corporal punishment needs to be a part of school. These kids need to know who is the child and who mis the grown up and who makes the rules and who follows them, or else they can just stay home and stop causing problems.
Where I live thereis a deep controversy over the use of soviet style school uniforms. The school district blames all the problems on bullies. Bullies? Why would you make everyone in the school change to a uniform becuase of a bully. Just kick his ass out of school and be done with it. Better yet, let him learn what a piece of Pine lumber feels like across his ass just enough to straighten his attitude out. When I was in school we got our asses paddled the first time we done something stupid and bullies certainly got their due rewards. Getting caught a second time resulted in a three day suspension. Hitting a teacher resulted in immediate expulsion for life. You were forbidden to set foot on school property permanently – after you got out of jail. Setting foot on school property after being expelled landed you in jail again.
We need education reform alright. We need to do away with the mandated tests becuase all the students are learning is what is on the test. Much of the books are being skipped because of these tests. Things were much simpler years ago. Liberals got into power and screwed everything up. Now kids come to school with guns, smart off at their teachers, and are complete brats. These kids need a lesson in life.
The girl in this story could have gone to the prom. The newspapers have corrupted the story becuase of their liberal bias. The girl was free to go to the prom just as anyone else could go. However, she was forbidden to go dressed like a man. Girls wear gowns and boys wear a tux to the prom. Now if you wish to change it, then we’ll make all the boys wear dresses and all the girls wear a tux. That way the girls can pick up the guys, pay for the night out, and take the guys home. By the way, all the girls that wish to dress like a man and act like a man has to be forced to wear a fake penis all night to represent their manhood. Guys that choose to act like and dress liek girls must wear fake boobs and have their pecker tucked all night. Either act like woman or act like a man and be done with it already. By the way, the first pervert freal man I see come into the restroom wearing a dress will definitely be pepper sprayed and have his bra stolen.
Another example of the right and their illusion that things were better in the past. Mr. Wright, I don’t know about bringing guns to school, but I have heard of dummies in the 1950’s lynching innocent children because of the color of their skin.
People do not seem to realize that we hold to pur values very strongly here and we refuse to give them up to anyone.
We do realize that, you amoral creep. That is why we have a Constitution in this country. To protect the rest of us from the likes of you.
I rather like the idea of all the women being forced by members of the school board to wear false male genitalia during the prom. Visibly, I assume. And Nixon masks. They should all wear Nixon masks at the same time.
This could become the most famous prom in all of history.
“Mr. Wright” wins for best parody! It’s genius — the brilliantly realistic refusal of both argumentative and grammatical logic, the hilarious spelling mistakes, the blaming of everything and the kitchen sink (testing! guns! bad manners!) on liberals. Amazing!
Oh, wait…
Mr. Wright, I saw your picture in a book the other day. Oh yes, I remember: In the dictionary next to the definition of “Hate Crime.”
The Middle Ages is over, my friend. Back off.
@mxh: Surely Mr. (W)right is a POE? Don’t get too upset at him/her. I wonder if it’s “mad the swine” – mad’s been getting pretty good at it.
Why is it that the argument of gay and gay right’s advocates always include a comparisom to the struggles of black people? Its reallty getting on my nerves that gay people think they have a right to push their sexuality in the faces of society. The girl could have gone to her prom and taken her girl-want to act like guy friend to the prom. She did not have to TELL he world her SEXUAL prefference. What is really getting me is that homesexuality is being pushed like it is right and there for acceptable. Just because I accept that your gay does not make it right for all society. People need to look for dignity and intelligence in this debate. If you really want to know where to draw the line ask yourself can a gay couple procreate with out some kind of outside assistance, and yes straight people have a problem procreating but not because they are metobolically different. Love who you want, sex who you want, but don’t say its NATURAL and RIGHT when its not.
teri, even what you say were true and orientation were a choice, would it be acceptable to discriminate against African Americans if there was a pill you could take that would make you white?
You sound like you’re saying that those gays are just too uppity and need to learn their place.
“The school district in this case done the right thing by standing up for what was right. I beliee in education reform.”
I am glad that you “beliee” in education reform, because, obviously, your primary school failed you badly. Maybe it is not too late to sue them for letting you graduate without a command of basic spelling and grammar and for even failing to teach you how to use a spell-checker.
Don’t forget to update us when you can use the English language properly.
Someone mentioned a hate crime here. I would love an explanation of “hate crime”. Has a crime of any kind ever been commited out of love? I guess serial killers are not hate crime criminals? I suppose they kill out of sheer love for their victim? All crimes are hate crimes. Victimizing one particular race or gender, etc. and renaming it for politcal status is sickening.
The constitution actually protects the people from the government. it also protects us from socialism and communism and liberalism. So far there have been alot of traitors in washington.
Read the constitution as it is written, not for how it is possible written and we’ll all be alot better off. Also the constitution protects us from your Obama HELLthcare plan via the 10th amendment. Don’t believe me? Just ask the state of Virgina.
The problem with “hate crime” is that it is two simple words … “hate” and “crime” stuck together to mean something that is not exactly what it seems to mean. To understand what a “hate crime” is you have to do more than just read the four letter word followed by the five letter word and then rant about it. You have to learn something new. You have to find out something you didn’t know.
And that is too hard for many people to do. Yet, people who don’t bother to do that look so ignorant. So terribly terribly ignorant.
The worst thing about this is, the school can and most probably will put the blame on the girl. Would you want to be the girl who ‘got prom cancelled’ when there’s still a fair share of the year to go?
Mr.Wright, you are once again Mr. Wrong. Your argument is a specious one that won’t go away. You don’t have to hate someone to assault or kill them. People do those things out of fear, out of anger (that is not the same as hate), out of total indifference to the humanity or even the reality of other people. The great thing about hate crime laws is that they take away what I call the “Good Old Boy Defense”, the appeal to prejudices that they jury might share. “I couldn’t stand to see him with a white woman.” “He made a pass at me and I ain’t no queer”.
Mr Right:”Becuase the Atheist Communist Lickers Union decided to butt in school policy as they always do. I do not live too far away from where this incident happened and I will tell you that more residents are angrier at the ACLU and the girl than the school district. People do not seem to realize that we hold to pur values very strongly here and we refuse to give them up to anyone.”
Mr. Wright,
You are blaming the ACLU for your own views and actions. Those in charge of the school ruined the prom, not the girl. People like you are ruining yet another generation of kids by teaching them hate.
The values you say you hold so strongly are those of hate, you need to release those values and replace them with compassion. It is exactly those views that has kept your part of the country 50 years behind the rest of the country and 100 years behind the rest of the world.
everyone that is saying that it is the girls fault that the prom got ruined, apparently have no decent values and i hope that you dont have children because like mr Wright said, your the reason everyone is so set back. the fact the prom was ruined was because the school administration are nothing but a big group of ignorant uneducated prejudice wastes of space. that girl had courage and guts to stand for her rights. Im tired of everyone thinking that they have the right to judge anyone. sexuality isnt what seperates us. we have a life and focus on us and only us. you, have no life and focus on ours. we dont judge and we dont hate you for who you were born to be. you judge and you hate us for who we are because your not entirely sure or secure about who you are. the people that are as homophobic as you people are the people that are the most scared that their sexuality is the same as ours. your so threatend by us that you lash out to cover up what you cant admit to yourself.
“even what you say were true and orientation were a choice, would it be acceptable to discriminate against African Americans if there was a pill you could take that would make you white?”
There isn’t,… but on the other hand, whites can take pills, skin creams, and tanning sessions, to look more like blacks. (Read, for example, John Howard Griffin’s Black Like Me.)
So why should whites fear or hate or discriminate against blacks anyway? Don’t beat ’em, join ’em!