Sadly, a northern Mississippi school district elected to cancel its junior/senior prom instead of following what is pretty well-set law.
Constance McMillan, a senior in the Itawamba school district did everything right in terms of approaching school officials first to discuss the issue. She was told “no” in several ways: she and her girlfriend couldn’t show up together, she couldn’t wear a tuxedo, and if she and her girlfriend made anyone uncomfortable, they would be asked to leave. The ACLU got involved, and rather than deal with a change in policy or a lawsuit, the school district up and canceled the prom, encouraging private citizens to hold events for the classes missing their big night.
The saddest thing about this is that instead of doing the right thing and letting her go to the prom, the school district has now demonized a child in the eyes of many of her classmates. When they don’t have a prom, they’re gonna remember that “the uppity dyke” was the reason. While the school won’t confirm this (d’uh), it has cited a disruption in the “educational process” as the reason for the cancellation. And now Candace has to go to school every day until graduation knowing that a good number of her classmates blame her for no other reason than she wanted to enjoy her high school prom as herself, not as someone she wasn’t.
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