Miss. Prom Canceled Rather Than Let Lesbian Student Attend

[Plekhanov]

Maybe it’s because I’m from the crazy Soviet Republic of Kanukistan, but the schools is entirely creating an issue when they could just ignore it. Where I’m from it’s not uncommon for heterosexual girls to go to the prom together as friend, or for guy and a girl to attend prom together despite no romantic involvement. Can’t the school just treat them as if they were simply two friends?

No, because she was wearing a tuxedo. Nontraditional gender roles scare these people.

Why couldn't she just where a non-tuxedo or a dress?

Because they wouldn't let her in at all regardless of what she was wearing perhaps?

Why do certain lesbian have an adversion to clothing that accentuates the female form?

Why do some non-lesbians have an aversion to women wearing trousers?

Here's some news. This happens a lot. But most of the time, the girl or guy in question will just wear clothing and shit so they don't make an uproar. The girl knew shit would hit the fan over her whereing a guys clothing to a Prom, an event heavily steeped in tradition. I guess the word tact is appropiate.

I am not on the school's side here, I am just pointing out that utter obvoiusness that she wanted to cause a damn ruckus. IT had to be damn freakin clear what the reaction would be, especially if she grew up in those parts. Honestly, what's wrong with wearing a dress if it is so you be with someone you love ? I don't see why lesbian have to rebel against something so simple as this. Part of the real-world is that sometimes, you have to do shit you don't like. Period. Just be who you are, stuff your pride down your throat, and get on with it. Then again, this is Mississippi, common sense and basic tact are lost on these people.

Again, not taking the Schools side, just pointing out that she would have known a veritable shitstorm would erupt. I doubt the homosexual thing would have that much of a problem. It never was when I was in school and Alabama is just above Mississippi. Then again, I don't think we had that many falmers amongst the High School gay crowd. Or atleast they weren't at school. Disruptive behavior and all. Honestly our Emo kids were more effiminate than the gays we had.

Bullshit she simply wanted to go to the prom the school said she couldn't go with her girlfriend fullstop. They didn't say they could go so long as they both wore revealing dresses which accentuated their female forms. Have you even read any of the articles in the thread? They state that the school had an explicit policy stopping same sex couples attending the prom.

She no more wanted to 'cause a ruckus' than the mixed race couples who had to go through the exact same struggle did, she simply wanted to go through what seems to be a rite of passage in the US with her significant other.

Your denial aside you are on the fundie fucks on the school board's side her as you are blaming her for something that is the schools fault.

[Plekhanov]

I'm going to add to this.

Her whereing the Tux distracted the struggle or stand about her homosexuality and it briefly became about what she wore. If she had worn a dress and then gave a kiss to her mate or danced during a couples dance then the attention would have been solely on her homosexuality and she wouldn't have ruined the Prom for the rest of the class.

She didn't ruin the Prom, the school authorities did by choosing no Prom whatsoever over a prom with a homosexual couple.

Again, she should have thought it through and again not on the schools side.

How are you 'not on the schools side' when you are blaming her for their decision to cancel the prom?

Also, to whoever thought Coreective Rape would happen, WTF? Really, so they're aweful to you and must thus use the worst thing imaginable instead of just, I don't know, ignoring her ass and refusing to socialized with her at all? Vandalism maybe but that? The hell are you smoking?

"Corrective Rape" isn't just something those melodramatic queers madeup it really happens. Brandon Teena for example was subject to then later murdered by her rapists after the homophobic sheriff who was supposed to protect her chose not to.

[Alyrium Denryle]

Saewyc, E, et al. 2006. Hazards of Stigma: The Sexual and Physical Abuse of Gay, Lesbian,and Bisexual Adolescents in the United States and Canada. Child Welfare 85(2):195-213.

This is a massive review of studies conducted across the US and Canada.

25-50% Bisexual and Lesbian girls reported being sexually assaulted, compared to 10-25% of heterosexual girls.

The rate of sexual abuse of boys is well under 10% however 25% of bisexual males and 20% of gay males in these surveys reported being sexually assaulted. When the numbers are age-adjusted non-heterosexual girls are twice as likely to report being sexually assaulted or abused, while non-heterosexual boys are 5-10 times more likely.

So yes. Corrective rape does indeed occur. It elevates the rates of sexual assault to double the background rate for lesbian and bisexual girls, and 5-10 times the background rate for gay and bisexual boys.

[PhilosopherOfSorts]

This doesn't surprise me, it's really fucked up, but it doesn't surprise me. I once got roughed up pretty bad because a stupid hillbilly thought (incorrectly) that I was gay, and I live north of the Mason-Dixon line. I hate to think about the things actual homosexuals go through, especially in the south.

Think there's any way those of us that live in the more civilized parts of the U.S. can trade our religious freaks and other fucktards for the homosexuals (and athiests and other rational people) trapped in the south?

And then apply the Shep Solution to the neo-confederates like pennicilian to the clap?

[ShadowDragon8685]

Think there's any way those of us that live in the more civilized parts of the U.S. can trade our religious freaks and other fucktards for the homosexuals (and athiests and other rational people) trapped in the south?

And then apply the Shep Solution to the neo-confederates like pennicilian to the clap?

I've often thought that; trade them our Christers for their queers and athiests.

As far as I'm concerned, we're getting the better end of the deal by far. Folk who fall outside the social norms often wind up being smarter or more cunning or emotionally stronger in order to survive, all of which are qualities we need, whilst our religious fruitcakes value being stupider, mindlessly following orders, and social conformity.


I've also maintained in the past that the country as a whole might be better-off if we could simply eradicate or evict to a gigantic penal colony everyone who lives in the South or the Bible Belt and who doesn't live in a major metropolitan area. But that's mainly the ITG in me getting pissed off, pay it no mind.

[Ghost Rider]

Think there's any way those of us that live in the more civilized parts of the U.S. can trade our religious freaks and other fucktards for the homosexuals (and athiests and other rational people) trapped in the south?

And then apply the Shep Solution to the neo-confederates like pennicilian to the clap?

I've often thought that; trade them our Christers for their queers and athiests.

As far as I'm concerned, we're getting the better end of the deal by far. Folk who fall outside the social norms often wind up being smarter or more cunning or emotionally stronger in order to survive, all of which are qualities we need, whilst our religious fruitcakes value being stupider, mindlessly following orders, and social conformity.


I've also maintained in the past that the country as a whole might be better-off if we could simply eradicate or evict to a gigantic penal colony everyone who lives in the South or the Bible Belt and who doesn't live in a major metropolitan area. But that's mainly the ITG in me getting pissed off, pay it no mind.

Yes, yes...spank off some more to internet tough guy self love. Again, anything to back up your presumptions other then what you may have possibly kind have heard?

[ShadowDragon8685]

Think there's any way those of us that live in the more civilized parts of the U.S. can trade our religious freaks and other fucktards for the homosexuals (and athiests and other rational people) trapped in the south?

And then apply the Shep Solution to the neo-confederates like pennicilian to the clap?

I've often thought that; trade them our Christers for their queers and athiests.

As far as I'm concerned, we're getting the better end of the deal by far. Folk who fall outside the social norms often wind up being smarter or more cunning or emotionally stronger in order to survive, all of which are qualities we need, whilst our religious fruitcakes value being stupider, mindlessly following orders, and social conformity.


I've also maintained in the past that the country as a whole might be better-off if we could simply eradicate or evict to a gigantic penal colony everyone who lives in the South or the Bible Belt and who doesn't live in a major metropolitan area. But that's mainly the ITG in me getting pissed off, pay it no mind.

Yes, yes...spank off some more to internet tough guy self love. Again, anything to back up your presumptions other then what you may have possibly kind have heard?

Case in point: this thread.

It takes an immense amount of emotional and mental fortitude to stand up for one's rights amidst fundetarded, hillbilly, back-water redneckville so backwater that they actually call the high school an Agricultural school. This is the serious boondocks here.

So not only standing up for her right to love and fuck whomever the hell she wants, but to do so whilst wearing whatever she wants, is indication of far greater than average courage. It would have been all too easy to swallow pride, wear a dress, and either find a gay guy's arm to go on, or simply have not gone whatsoever. She took the step of telling the school she was going to bring a girl, and going to wear a snappy tux while doing so, and when they told her "oh no you aren't," she had the metaphorical testecular fortitude to stand right up and haul their asses into court and say "oh yes you are."

That is courage. That is the kind of thing that puts you on the spot, puts you at risk of all kinds of victimization, from the petty to the terminal, especially in the middle of fucking mudwater, Mississipi.

[Shroom Man 777]

And this has anything to do with your wet dreams of evicting everyone out of the rurals in the South/Bible Belt and putting them in a giant penal colony, how?

[Knife]

Case in point: this thread.

It takes an immense amount of emotional and mental fortitude to stand up for one's rights amidst fundetarded, hillbilly, back-water redneckville so backwater that they actually call the high school an Agricultural school. This is the serious boondocks here.

You realize you just made a huge generalization and pronounced sentence on millions of people due to it, right?

[Simon_Jester]

Hell, I'm willing to shrug that off as a grumble, since he didn't say "Nuke 'em" the way PhilosopherOfSorts did.

I don't want to dogpile Mystikal, but I would like to say one thing:

The school is being cowardly by trying to blame the student for their decision. They didn't have to cancel the prom. They had plenty of options. Like just, y'know, letting her go as long as she wears formal wear, even if the formal wear in question includes trousers.

Or if they really can not stand the idea of a girl wearing a tuxedo (and I cannot understand why they can't), they could ban her personally. Of course, that would get them sued, because she could reasonably point out that there are laws against that kind of bullshit. So they came up with a half-assed method of preventing a girl from going to the prom in a tux by preventing anyone from going there in anything.

Which means that they believe that preserving tradition by not allowing a lesbian in a tuxedo into a high school prom is important enough to screw over hundreds of people (who have no one to take their anger out on but the aforesaid girl). But they do not think that preserving tradition is important enough to risk getting in trouble with the law.

How charming.

[PhilosopherOfSorts]

Hell, I'm willing to shrug that off as a grumble, since he didn't say "Nuke 'em" the way PhilosopherOfSorts did.

Damn, did the smiley not work? I swear I can see it on my side. The Shep Solution part of my post was not serious, I would have thought that was obvious, with this and all.

[Simon_Jester]

Yeah. And that's why I'm willing to shrug that off as a grumble.

I think everyone deserves the occasional release of imagining terrible things happening to contemptible people, as long as it doesn't become a routine policy proposal. You know, like "people who believe in eugenics shouldn't be allowed to reproduce" and all that.

[Pint0 Xtreme]

On a related news story, a Georgia High School has allowed a kid to take his boyfriend to the prom in the wake of the news coverage of the Mississippi lawsuit.

Bleckley school officials allowing gay prom date
By JULIE HUBBARD - jhubbard@macon.com

COCHRAN — Derrick Martin worried that he could be responsible for getting this year’s prom at Bleckley County High School canceled.
That’s because the 18-year-old senior is gay, and he plans to take his boyfriend to the year’s most anticipated dance.

That’s something that’s never happened in this small Middle Georgia town. A similar plan by two female students in Mississippi this month prompted school officials there to cancel the prom, making national news.
After asking Bleckley County school officials permission in January to take another boy to the prom, Martin got word last week that his high school will allow it. Bleckley’s prom is April 17 in the high school cafeteria.
“I didn’t expect them to say yes,” he said. “It’s who I am. I have the same rights.
“It’s my senior prom, and I wanted to be able to prove not everyone would cancel prom.”
Martin, an honor student who tutors at-risk elementary and middle school students after school, knew the move would be controversial for the town of about 5,200 residents.
At his high school, prom dates from outside counties must be approved in advance, so Martin went to his principal and asked.
“At first she said no, Cochran wasn’t ready for it,” he said.
Then last week, school officials said they have no policy in place against it.
“You don’t have the right to say no,” principal Michelle Masters said. “As a principal, I don’t judge him. I’m taught not to judge. I have to push my own beliefs to the background.”
She’s just hoping it won’t become an issue in the community and distract from juniors and seniors who have looked forward to the event all school year.
As fellow senior Errin Lucas put it, “Have you seen Cochran? There is nothing else to live for.”
Charlotte Pipkin, the superintendent of schools, said the school board didn’t take any votes on Martin’s request, but the board did discuss the matter during a board meeting.
“Students are allowed to bring their date to prom,” Pipkin said. “There’s nothing that says who the date is.
“I want this to be an enjoyable event, and I don’t want anything to take away from that,” she added.
Martin came out as gay during his sophomore year in high school, but even now he said not all his classmates are tolerant.
He expects he may get attention during the prom “lead out,” in which the school announces each senior’s name and the date’s name.
“I’ll take out insurance on my tux,” he said.
It’s a big step for the high school — and the community, many townsfolk said.
“With our town being so small and country, it’s a very big thing,” Lucas said. “It’s unexpected, but I’m glad. We have to move forward.”
A sampling of residents Monday drew plenty of objections to Martin’s plan, but few people were willing to give their name.
Miranda Taylor, who was working behind the counter at a Wendy’s restaurant, said “a lot of people will stare,” but she thinks the move shows Bleckley County is more open.
The high school prom will have security.
Even if there is a backlash, both educators said they won’t cancel or change their plans for the prom. It would not be fair to the students, Pipkin said.
Martin said he could have settled for what he did last year and simply attend the prom with a female friend, but he didn’t want to do that this year. “It’s standing up for the rights thing, especially after the Mississippi canceled prom,” he said. “It’s senior prom. It’s pretty big.”

And subsequently, his parents kicked him out.

[wolveraptor]

JACKSON, Miss. – An 18-year-old Mississippi lesbian student whose school district canceled her senior prom rather than allow her to escort her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo said she got some unfriendly looks from classmates when she reluctantly returned to campus Thursday.

...

The district announced Wednesday it wouldn't host the April 2 prom. The decision came after the American Civil Liberties Union told officials a policy banning same-sex prom dates violated students' rights. The ACLU said the district not letting McMillen wear a tuxedo violated her free expression rights.

...

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.

Presgraves said his organization hears about school districts that prohibit same-sex prom dates and gay-straight alliance clubs at schools. He said those kind of policies are detrimental to gay students.

"It sends a message that these students shouldn't be treated the same," Presgraves said.

Just pointing out that her wearing a tuxedo was a relevant issue. It isn't just the fact that she was bringing a same sex date.

[Darth Wong]

Hell, I'm willing to shrug that off as a grumble, since he didn't say "Nuke 'em" the way PhilosopherOfSorts did.

I don't want to dogpile Mystikal, but I would like to say one thing:

The school is being cowardly by trying to blame the student for their decision. They didn't have to cancel the prom.

I wouldn't call it "cowardly" so much as "bullying" (although the two concepts are admittedly related). We've all seen the teacher who decides to punish a wayward student for some minor infraction (which would not warrant formal punishment) by punishing the entire class and hoping that the class will viciously torment the student in retaliation. This is just the same petty behaviour, writ large.

[Simon_Jester]

Just pointing out that her wearing a tuxedo was a relevant issue. It isn't just the fact that she was bringing a same sex date.

Thing is, that doesn't really make their position stronger. As far as the law goes, at least there's a precedent for schools telling students what they can wear. There's no (currently accepted) precedent for schools telling students who they can date.

[Alyrium Denryle]

And subsequently, his parents kicked him out.

Which is a shame. They will calm down eventually.

Also: He is REALLY cute.

[Pint0 Xtreme]

Also: He is REALLY cute.

At the risk of spamming, yes he is very cute.

[ShadowDragon8685]

Case in point: this thread.

It takes an immense amount of emotional and mental fortitude to stand up for one's rights amidst fundetarded, hillbilly, back-water redneckville so backwater that they actually call the high school an Agricultural school. This is the serious boondocks here.

You realize you just made a huge generalization and pronounced sentence on millions of people due to it, right?

When it comes to persons from the rural south, I prefer to take the same approach as Yachtzee to videogames: I presume they're shit until they prove they are not-shit. So as far as making huge generalizations about the South - especially the rural south - go... I'm fine with that. It's not nice, but it's certainly borne out statistically.

As far as pronouncing judgement and passing sentance, as was said, that's just a grumble.

The Deep South pisses me off. Their politics piss me off, their views on religion piss me off, their views on pretty much everything except what constitutes a damn good barbeque piss me off, in fact.

More than that, though, these people inevitably vote conservative. Inevitably. Conservative politics are those which have repeatedly sabotaged progress in this country; I believe I have a very legitimate case to consider these people, as a statistical voting block, a clear and present danger not only to my own personal health, security and well-being, but a clear and present danger to the country at large.

Given that, and contrasting the fact that they're carrying firearms to pollitical rallies and the most I do is occasionally indulge in internet tough guy fantasies involving either the Great Continent of Fundietopia and people being dropped on it ne'er to return, or, when I've had a really bad day, the Shep Soloution, I think I'm really not that bad. Yes, I know that to actually do so would be heinous, wrong, and against everything this country and I personally stand for, but that doesn't mean they don't piss me off, or that I'm not entitled to a little aggrevated fantasy catharsis.

[Night_stalker]

Yeah, the South is more concerned about how they were "victims of the War of Northern Aggression(their name for the Civil War, which THEY started)". In addition, they focus more on social lifes and oppressing minorties than actually being decent Christians. I know I may seem like I am generalizing, but I lived for 3 years in Florida, and that I think entitles me to complain about them, while I'm in nice safe New England!

[hunter5]

What I find more amazing is these supposedly Christian people are more worried about a couple of homosexuals at the prom than the fact Prom was on Good Friday. Show where their Christian priories are

[ShadowDragon8685]

What I find more amazing is these supposedly Christian people are more worried about a couple of homosexuals at the prom than the fact Prom was on Good Friday. Show where their Christian priories are

Because their "Christian Values" don't concern themselves with things like holy days or good works, just loudly and fervantly condemning anyone and everyone they don't like.

[Night_stalker]

Hey take a look at the Southboro Baptist Church, and tell me how in the hell are they Christian?

[ShadowDragon8685]

Hey take a look at the Southboro Baptist Church, and tell me how in the hell are they Christian?

They wawship 'da lawd' and properly rebuke the heathens, the faggots, the jews and all the rest, though primarily the faggots.

You know, they're s.

[Night_stalker]

Well, considering the KKK hates them, that's a sign that they really, really have issues and need to learn how real Christians act.