Prom in Mississippi

[umbrella39]

Prom is a privilege, not a right.

Spoken like someone who couldn't find a date. /shock

 

[actuarial]

I also went to a parochial school. If I was caught in a kilt, I would have been kicked out. Schools have rules, follow them.

So all rules are fine and none should be changed? You have to follow them? If they make blacks use a separate washroom, that's fine, because the school has rules, follow them.

There's a REALLY easy test to see if they are discriminating on gender.
Is John allowed to wear a tuxedo?
Is Jane allowed to wear a tuxedo?

You're only allowed to choose one answer. If you have two answers, you're discriminating. The only thing a school should do that violates this test is having separate washrooms, but that's for safety reasons.

 

[Double Trouble]

I disagree. The school has no right to set that kind of rule, and I will fight any such restriction in every way I can.

Yes, it does have the right to set that rule, like it or not. You can fight all you want, but that won't change.

I don't think there should be boys and girls bathrooms, but I can let this one slide because there's more of a threat of misbehavior than there would be if a girl wore a tux to the prom.

Are you one of those nutcases that thinks men and women are the same? That all the differences can be explained by "societal indoctrination" or some other such rubbish? There are not men's and women's bathrooms bathrooms because there is a "threat of misbehavior", there are different bathrooms because both genders realize they would generally be more comfortable not sharing a bathroom with the other.

 

[zsdersw]

Yes, it does have the right to set that rule, like it or not. You can fight all you want, but that won't change.

No, it doesn't. Public schools do not have free reign to set whatever dress codes they want. The Supreme Court has set certain conditions and criteria for them. This specific kind of dress code likely would not meet those conditions.

Are you one of those nutcases that thinks men and women are the same? That all the differences can be explained by "societal indoctrination" or some other such rubbish? There are not men's and women's bathrooms bathrooms because there is a "threat of misbehavior", there are different bathrooms because both genders realize they would generally be more comfortable not sharing a bathroom with the other.

It's up to you to decide for yourself if you think I'm a "nutcase".

As for the "threat of misbehavior", that ties directly into being "more comfortable".

 

[Theb]

Fortunately for that southern highschool the Westboro Baptists have their back. Have fun with your new friends.

The Westboro Baptist Church has announced it will picket the graduate of lesbian student Constance McMillen, who challenged her school's anti-gay policy.

The Kansas-based church, which has achieved notoriety for picketing the funerals of dead soldiers, is vehemently homophobic.

In a press release, it said: “[We] will picket the graduation of Itawamba Agricultural High School to remind the parents, teachers and students of this nation that God said 'Thou shall not lie with mankind, as with womankind, it is abomination'.

“This generation has been raised to believe that they can live for the devil and still go to heaven, that God has no standards and the biggest lie of all – that God loves everyone.”

Ms McMillen took her school to court last month after she was barred from attending prom with her girlfriend.

The judge ruled the school had violated her right to freedom of expression but did not force it to reinstate the cancelled prom, as an alternative "inclusive" one was said to have been organised.

However, the 18-year-old student said earlier this month that she and her girlfriend had been sent to a "fake" event with only a handful of other students, while her classmates enjoyed an event held at another venue.

Westboro Baptist Church is currently in a legal fight with the father of a dead soldier whose funeral it picketed.

Albert Snyder's son Matthew, a marine, was killed in Iraq and his funeral was held in 2006 in Maryland.

However, the church picketed the funeral with banners saying "God hates fags" and "Thanks God for dead soldiers".

Mr Snyder originally sued the church for $5 million for invasion of privacy and emotional distress.

But when a lower court ruled their freedom of speech was protected by the First Amendment, Mr Snyder was told he must pay their legal fees of $16,500 (£11,000).

He has now decided to challenge the decision in the Supreme Court to win the original $5 million reward.

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2010/04/26/god-hates-fags-church-will-picket-lesbian-students-prom/

 

[PJABBER]

fortunately for that southern highschool the westboro baptists have their back. Have fun with your new friends.

LOL!

It took me a moment to wipe the grin off my face because this is just so rich.

However, I am in favor of gay rights but not particularly in favor of the proposed cross dressing.

I will offer my strictly personal opinion that a prom is something special for the kids that go. It can be romantic, I guess, for some, but it seems to me to be kind of a "playing at being adult" activity.

Isn't the idea that they dress up formally so that they can demonstrate manners that they are not accustomed to? Isn't the very fact that it requires formal dress an implication that the behavior should be proper rather than orgiastic or clownish? Cross dressing, dressing down, all seem like deliberate rejections of the adult life they are about to enter, and which they are play acting out at a dance like this. They can do that at other venues and reserve a prom for formal behavior.

Or not.

Of course, like I said, this is just my idea. I know some really go there to dress up and have a memorable time and others go to get shit faced and stay up without sleep until 8AM while descending into the bad habits they will refine to perfection in college or on the McDonald's serving line.

It is up to the school and the parents to set the standard, whatever that may be. Or, in this case, to give up on resolving the innate conflict and introduce the kids to the real world where there are no proms at all because a few think they are more special than everyone else.

 

[Brainonska511]

It seems like the community just doesn't get it. They arranged a decoy prom to further harrass and humiliate her:

http://sdgln.com/news/2010/04/21/aclu-complaint-expands-add-decoy-prom-constance-mcmillen

ABERDEEN, Miss. - The American Civil Liberties Union filed legal papers today in federal court on behalf of lesbian high school student Constance McMillen regarding a cruel plan to put on a "decoy" prom for her while the rest of her classmates were at a private prom 30 miles away.

The amended complaint alleges that the district's violation of the free speech rights of Constance, an 18-year-old high school senior who sued her school for canceling the prom rather than let her attend with her girlfriend, have repeatedly caused Constance to be humiliated and harassed.

"I really hoped that prom night would make all that I've been through worth it, then April 2 came and those hopes went out the window,"
Constance said. "All I ever wanted was to go to my school prom with my classmates and my date, like anyone else, and instead I was the target of a mean, nasty joke."

On March 23, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi issued a preliminary ruling in Constance's case that school
officials violated her First Amendment rights when it canceled the high school prom rather than let Constance attend with her girlfriend and
wear a tuxedo. The court stopped short of ordering Itawamba Agricultural High School (IAHS) to put the school prom back on the calendar relying on assurances that an alternative "private" prom being planned by parents would be open to all students, including Constance.

However, according to legal papers, at a meeting with school officials, parents then decided to cancel that private prom without notifying
Constance because they did not want to allow Constance to attend, instead organizing a "decoy" prom for Constance and her date and still another prom for the rest of the class.

Constance and her date then attended the event the school had told her was "the prom for juniors and seniors" on April 2, where they found only seven other students attending. Principal Trae Wiygul and several school staff members were supervising that event while most of Constance's classmates were at the other prom in Evergreen, Miss.

"Constance is a very brave young woman, and she has suffered tremendously because of the animosity and hate she's felt coming from her classmates and her community which the school's actions have encouraged," said Kristy Bennett, legal director of the ACLU of Mississippi.

"Even after a federal court found that the school violated her constitutional rights, an 18-year-old girl has been made the scapegoat and an outsider in the town where she's lived all her life. For the school to subject Constance to this type of hostility is simply inexcusable."

Today's amended complaint contains new details about events that have taken place since the ACLU first filed Constance's case on March 11, including about the way her classmates have treated her. Most of Constance's classmates no longer speak to her, and some have posted Facebook messages saying they wish she were dead and sent her such text messages as, "I don't know why you come to this school because no one likes your gay ass anyways."

In response to the court's March 23 order, the complaint also adds a request for compensatory damages for an amount to be determined later at trial.

"After the court ruled that IAHS acted illegally when it canceled the prom, we hoped that Constance would be able to attend the private prom without further incident," said Christine P. Sun, senior counsel with the ACLU national LGBT Project, who represents Constance along with the ACLU of Mississippi.

"But instead there was a malicious plan to further ostracize and humiliate her. It is hard to conceive of adults behaving in such a cruel way."

Constance is represented by Bennett and Sun, as well as by Norman C. Simon, Joshua Glick, and Jason Moff of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, and Alysson Mills of New Orleans.

The case name is Constance McMillen v. Itawamba County School District, et al.

Additional information is available at www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/fulton-ms-prom-discrimination.