Guest Author - Jason P. Ruel

Constance McMillen is a high school senior who is looking forward to what most seniors around the country are looking forward to. She can’t wait to graduate. She wants to be finished with classes and move on to her next adventure. She also wants to go to the prom. Like any other high school senior, prom is a hallmark of their high school career. However, Constance won’t be able to go to her prom. Why? Because she’s a lesbian, her school won’t let her bring a female date, and so they canceled prom all-together.

The school district canceled the dance rather than letting the couple attend. Now, she is asking a federal judge to force her school district to reinstate the dance so that she and her classmates, both gay and straight, can attend.

According to the Associated Press, “The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi on Thursday filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Oxford on behalf of 18-year-old Constance McMillen, who said she faced some unhappy classmates after the Itawamba County School District said it wouldn't host the April 2 prom.”

She has been ridiculed by her own classmates as ruining their senior year by causing their senior prom to be cancelled and for trying to force her views on others.

The lawsuit seeks a court order for the school to hold the prom. It also asks that McMillen be allowed to escort her girlfriend, who also is a student at the school, and wear the tuxedo.

The district's decision banning same-sex prom dates violates students' rights. The ACLU said the district violated McMillen's free expression rights by not letting her wear a tux.

The school board statement said it wouldn't host the event "due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events" but didn't mention McMillen. District officials didn't return calls seeking comment Thursday.

"A lot of schools actually react rather than do the research and find out what the rights of these students are," said Presgraves.

In 2002, a gay student sued his school district in Toronto to allow him to attend a prom with his boyfriend. A judge later forced the district to allow the couple to attend and stopped the district from canceling the prom.

U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., said a bill he's introduced in Congress would make it illegal to discriminate against gay and lesbian school students. He said at least 10 states have such laws, and his bill is modeled after those.
"This situation with the prom is a perfect example of why we need to protect students from discrimination. In this case it's a prom. It other cases, it's getting beaten up or killed," Polis said.

The school district had said it hoped a privately sponsored prom could be held.

The issue at hand is whether a school should be forcing students who are comfortable with whom they are to deny that and sneak into their prom by attending with a person of the opposite gender. Many small groups of male and female students attend their proms without dates. They go “stag” and meet up with others at their dance. However, a student should be allowed to attend their dance with the person whom they are in a relationship with, whether it is a gay or straight couple. School districts should be held to the same standard and if they allow opposite-gender couples to attend, same-gender couples should also be allowed to attend. Just because they are students does not mean they don’t have the same rights as an adult would.

School districts need to research the rights of their students. The law states that all students must be treated equally. This is why we have men’s and women’s sports and cannot just allow one or the other. The same should be required of any extracurricular activity such as dances.

In the end, this female student will lose. If the dance is held, she loses. If the dance isn’t held, she still loses. Why? Because people aren’t going to remember the dance for the rite of passage it is, but remember this student because she stood up for her beliefs and ruined the fun for everyone.

Such a shame! Bravo Constance for standing up for your beliefs and who you are!