The Lesbians are coming - The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi have filed suit in federal court against the Itawamba County School District, they've asked the judge to over turn the school board's decision to cancel the high school prom on April 2nd.
The lawsuit alleges district officials have violated Constance McMillen's First Amendment right of free expression.
Constance McMillen, a senior at Itawamba Agricultural High School, contacted the ACLU after she was told by school administrators she could not bring her girlfriend to the dance. McMillen, 18, also was told she could not wear a tuxedo. After the ACLU got involved, the school tried to sweep away the issue by cancelling the prom.
Christine Sun, from the ACLU, has repeatedly condemned the board's action - "It's shameful and cowardly of the school district to have canceled the prom and to try to blame Constance, who's only standing up for herself, we will fight tooth and nail for the prom to be reinstated for all students."
Support is growing all over America and indeed the World, for the 18 year old, a Facebook group set up by the ACLU has already attracted more than 80,000 fans. Other supporters offered to help McMillen and her fellow students with an alternative prom, including a New Orleans hotel owner Sean Cummings. He said he was so disappointed with the school board's decision that he offered to transport ALL the students in buses to the city and host a prom free of charge at one of his properties.
"We're a joyful culture and a creative culture here, and if the school doesn't change its mind, we'd be delighted to offer them a prom in New Orleans," he said. He added that he believed that McMillen had been wronged by the board, and that the teenagers high school experience should not be marred by discrimination and legal action.
Marillyn Miears, 60, of Big Spring, Texas, said she believes the school system has the moral high ground. "It is a sin in God's eyes to begin with," she said of homosexuality. "If they can't bring the opposite sex to the prom, then they don't need to be there."
"This would not be allowed to happen over here in Europe" Said teacher, Kelly McAndrews. "No female pupil would be barred from the self expression of wearing a suit or a tuxedo if they so wanted to at our dances, schools have a duty to provide a safe environment free from discrimination and hate" She added.
"She's making a stand for whats right" Alex Anderson a 17 year old student from England said yesterday.
"What a shame that the school district said no prom for anybody," Congressman Jared Polis said on Friday, "No one's going to have any fun, just because they didn't like the date one girl was taking. I mean, what a ridiculous example of why we need to protect kids from this kind of thing, and, obviously, there's a lot more serious cases than that. In other cases, gay and lesbian kids are getting beat up and even killed." He said, indicating the horrific case of Larry King, the young gay student who was shot in the head and killed by a classmate whilst in class in Feb 2008. "Kids go to school every day worried about being beaten up and sometimes they drop out as a result," said Polis, who is trying to introduce a bill known as the 'Student Anti-Discrimination Act' made in to law. While are US federal civil rights statutes expressly address discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability or national origin, they do not explicitly include sexual orientation or gender identity and, as a result, lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans students and parents, in the states have very limited legal recourse for this kind of discrimination currently being faced by Constance.
The lawsuit alleges district officials have violated Constance McMillen's First Amendment right of free expression.
Constance McMillen, a senior at Itawamba Agricultural High School, contacted the ACLU after she was told by school administrators she could not bring her girlfriend to the dance. McMillen, 18, also was told she could not wear a tuxedo. After the ACLU got involved, the school tried to sweep away the issue by cancelling the prom.
Christine Sun, from the ACLU, has repeatedly condemned the board's action - "It's shameful and cowardly of the school district to have canceled the prom and to try to blame Constance, who's only standing up for herself, we will fight tooth and nail for the prom to be reinstated for all students."
Support is growing all over America and indeed the World, for the 18 year old, a Facebook group set up by the ACLU has already attracted more than 80,000 fans. Other supporters offered to help McMillen and her fellow students with an alternative prom, including a New Orleans hotel owner Sean Cummings. He said he was so disappointed with the school board's decision that he offered to transport ALL the students in buses to the city and host a prom free of charge at one of his properties.
"We're a joyful culture and a creative culture here, and if the school doesn't change its mind, we'd be delighted to offer them a prom in New Orleans," he said. He added that he believed that McMillen had been wronged by the board, and that the teenagers high school experience should not be marred by discrimination and legal action.
Marillyn Miears, 60, of Big Spring, Texas, said she believes the school system has the moral high ground. "It is a sin in God's eyes to begin with," she said of homosexuality. "If they can't bring the opposite sex to the prom, then they don't need to be there."
"This would not be allowed to happen over here in Europe" Said teacher, Kelly McAndrews. "No female pupil would be barred from the self expression of wearing a suit or a tuxedo if they so wanted to at our dances, schools have a duty to provide a safe environment free from discrimination and hate" She added.
"She's making a stand for whats right" Alex Anderson a 17 year old student from England said yesterday.
"What a shame that the school district said no prom for anybody," Congressman Jared Polis said on Friday, "No one's going to have any fun, just because they didn't like the date one girl was taking. I mean, what a ridiculous example of why we need to protect kids from this kind of thing, and, obviously, there's a lot more serious cases than that. In other cases, gay and lesbian kids are getting beat up and even killed." He said, indicating the horrific case of Larry King, the young gay student who was shot in the head and killed by a classmate whilst in class in Feb 2008. "Kids go to school every day worried about being beaten up and sometimes they drop out as a result," said Polis, who is trying to introduce a bill known as the 'Student Anti-Discrimination Act' made in to law. While are US federal civil rights statutes expressly address discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability or national origin, they do not explicitly include sexual orientation or gender identity and, as a result, lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans students and parents, in the states have very limited legal recourse for this kind of discrimination currently being faced by Constance.
Jason Shaw, Brighton, England.
GayAgenda.com's UK Correspondent.
Jason's personal blog is The Seafront Diaries, tales from Brighton, insular yet keeping an eye on the outside world! A bush without a leaf a rebel without a cause.!
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