Southern School Cancels Prom Over Lesbians

(By Andrew MacKie-Mason)

Oh, Deep South. You always manage to do it. Every time we think that we can finally take you out of the house to meet new people, you make us realize that you'll just be our crazy great-aunt for the rest of eternity.

So what did Mississippi do this time? The Itawamba County school board canceled its senior prom...because it didn't want to have to accept that one of its students was a lesbian. Constance McMillen wanted two relatively simple things: she wanted to attend the prom with her girlfriend, and she wanted to wear a tuxedo. Apparently, though, that was to much for the school district. They originally just told her she couldn't go. When the ACLU got involved, though, the district apparently decided it would rather cancel the prom than let lesbians attend.

Oh, and by the way, it's not just the school board. "Fulton Mayor Paul Walker said he supports the school district's decision."

Thankfully, McMillen is a brave young woman with a supporting family.

McMillen said she didn't want to go back to Itawamba County Agricultural High School in Fulton the morning after the decision, but her father told her she needed to face her classmates, teachers and school officials.

"My daddy told me that I needed to show them that I'm still proud of who I am," McMillen told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "The fact that this will help people later on, that's what's helping me to go on."

Surprise: there is a pastor in the town who would take issue with the first paragraph of this post.

Southside Baptist Church Pastor Bobby Crenshaw said he's seen the South portrayed as "backwards" on Web sites discussing the issue, "but a lot more people here have biblically based values."

In other words, the south isn't backwards, its citizens just base their views directly on a book documenting events from two thousand years ago. It's a very progressive stance, if you think about it. Very, very, very hard. (By the way, does the town also ban from the prom dresses made of more than two different types of fabric?)

I'm sure Pastor Crenshaw would be pleased to know that some students at the school do share his "biblically based values."

Anna Watson, a 17-year-old junior at the high school, was looking forward to the prom, especially since the town's only hotspot is the bowling alley, she said.

"I am a little bummed out about it. I guess it's a decision that had to be made. Either way someone was going to get disappointed — either Constance was or we were," Watson said. "I don't agree with homosexuality, but I can't change what another person thinks or does."

Yes, either Constance was going to be disappointed (by not being able to attend the prom at all) or you were going to be disappointed (by having to be in the same large room as a lesbian couple.) In the end, though, you were both disappointed.

Mississippi, you have just made it back onto "Wait, You Really Believe That" list. Congratulations.

(Yes, yes, I know. The Deep South is not the only part of America that discriminates. However, to see something like this, combined with a reaffirmation of "biblically based values," just tends to confirm that the south still has a long way to go until people there truly begin to respect basic human dignity.)

H/T to the lovely vote_larry for the link.

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