Mississippi School Agrees To Revise Policy And Pay Damages To Lesbian Teenager Denied Chance To Attend Prom

For Immediate Release
July 20, 2010
Agreement Marks First School Policy Protecting LGBT Students In Mississippi

http://www.aclu-ms.org/news/itawambajudgement.htm

ABERDEEN, MS – Itawamba County School District officials agreed to have a judgment entered against them in the case of a recent high school graduate who sued her school for canceling the prom rather than let her attend with her girlfriend. The agreement ends a precedent-setting lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of 18-year-old Constance McMillen, who suffered humiliation and harassment after parents, students and school officials executed 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.

"I'm so glad this is all over. I won't ever get my prom back, but it's worth it if it changes things at my school," said McMillen, who was harassed so badly by students blaming her for the prom cancellation that she had to transfer to another high school to finish her senior year. "I hope this means that in the future students at my school will be treated fairly. I know there are students and teachers who want to start a gay-straight alliance club, and they should be able to do that without being treated like I was by the school."

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Anti-Gay Miss. School Agrees to LGBT Program
by Kilian Melloy
Tuesday Jul 20, 2010

http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=108225

Most of America knows the story of Constance McMillen. She was the 18-year-old Mississippi lesbian who took her high school to court when the school refused to allow her to attend prom in a tux, with her girlfriend in tow. Faced with the suit, the school canceled prom altogether--then, when the case went to court anyway, the school promised to organize an inclusive school dance, only for most of the students to gather at one location while Constance and a handful of others were shunted to a poorly attended separate event. (The Itawamba School Board subsequently denied having mounted what the media characterized as a "sham prom" for Constance and a handful of less popular kids.)

Constance went on to become a poster child for GLBT youth: self-assured, relaxed before the camera. She appeared on Ellen DeGeneres' televised talk show and Michelangelo Signorile's radio program, and attended a plethora of GLBT events, including New York's Pride march, where she served as one of three Grand Marshals.

It's easy to read the index-card version of McMillen's story and come away with a stereotypical impression of the South: anti-gay, morally rigid, unwelcoming. But that's not the full story, reports Slate.com in a July 7 article.

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Mississippi school pays damages to lesbian teen over prom dispute
By the CNN Wire Staff
July 20, 2010 1:14 p.m. EDT

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/07/20/mississippi.lesbian.settlement/?hpt=T2

(CNN) -- A school district in Mississippi has agreed to pay a recent high school graduate $35,000 in damages and adopt a policy prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, according to a statement released Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The settlement comes after the ACLU sued the school district in Fulton, Mississippi, on behalf of Constance McMillen, a lesbian teen who was told by Itawamba Agricultural High School officials she and her girlfriend would be ejected if they attended the school-sponsored prom.

The agreement, which was filed Tuesday, ends the lawsuit.

Well, it's something I guess.

Think of all the number of schools we did not hear about in the news.  I would hope that at least some of them had both GLBT students and humane policies of acceptance and more than a little bit of fun.  Remember though, we did not hear about them if they did!!