About two weeks ago I reported that a school in Mississippi canceled its prom rather than let a lesbian student attend with her girlfriend. They had originally banned her from the prom, then canceled the event outright when the ACLU filed a lawsuit on the student's behalf.
The ACLU then tried to get the court to order the school to reopen the prom. The judge refused, according to a story on Above the Law. He apparently reasoned that he can't be responsible for planning the event. He did say, though, that the school violated her rights by canceling the prom in the face of her lawsuit.
The local (straight) kids will get to dance, though. Apparently a group of parents is hosting a private prom...at a furniture mart. Lesbians need not apply.
This trend of private, discriminatory proms is not a minor occurrence, apparently. Before it was a gay-rights issue, it was a racial issue. According to the Christian Science Monitor,
I can't say it better than Above the Law, so I'll give them the last words:
The ACLU then tried to get the court to order the school to reopen the prom. The judge refused, according to a story on Above the Law. He apparently reasoned that he can't be responsible for planning the event. He did say, though, that the school violated her rights by canceling the prom in the face of her lawsuit.
The local (straight) kids will get to dance, though. Apparently a group of parents is hosting a private prom...at a furniture mart. Lesbians need not apply.
This trend of private, discriminatory proms is not a minor occurrence, apparently. Before it was a gay-rights issue, it was a racial issue. According to the Christian Science Monitor,
Charleston High School in Mississippi held its first racially integrated prom just two years ago. The event came about only after the school accepted actor and Charleston native Morgan Freeman's offer to pay for the senior prom. His only condition: That both blacks and white could attend. Some whites, however, still held their own “white only” prom.Yes, that's right. It took Morgan freaking Freeman to get this town to integrate their prom, and even then some of the...extremely well educated, respectable, welcoming, not-at-all bigoted people in Charleston, Mississippi felt that they had to have a "white only" prom. Two years ago.
I can't say it better than Above the Law, so I'll give them the last words:
We want to be able to defend the South against stereotypes of racism, and backwardness, and cousin-humping. But stuff like this makes it pretty tough.
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