Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Who Does This To A High School Kid? **UPDATED**

You may have heard recently about Constance McMillen, the young woman who wanted to take her girlfriend to the prom. Rather than having the prom at all, her school district in a little town in Mississippi canceled it. That's right, they canceled the entire prom rather than let her bring her girlfriend.

Wow.

Well, to make matters worse, not only did they initially cancel the other one, but after some, um, "consideration," provided an alternative. Except it wasn't really: McMillen: I Was Sent to Fake Prom. Bear in mind, this is a high school girl. What were these people thinking? I contend they were not:
Constance McMillen confirmed to The Advocate that she was sent to a "fake prom" while the rest of her class partied at a secret location at a parent-organized event.

To avoid Constance McMillen bringing a female date to her prom, the teen was sent to a "fake prom" while the rest of her class partied at a secret location at an event organized by parents.

McMillen tells The Advocate that a parent-organized prom happened behind her back — she and her date were sent to a Friday night event at a country club in Fulton, Miss., that attracted only five other students. Her school principal and teachers served as chaperones, but clearly there wasn't much to keep an eye on.

"They had two proms and I was only invited to one of them," McMillen says. "The one that I went to had seven people there, and everyone went to the other one I wasn’t invited to."

Last week McMillen asked one of the students organizing the prom for details about the event, and was directed to the country club. "It hurts my feelings," McMillen says.

No kidding. If course it hurt her feelings, which anyone, especially a PARENT should have known:
Two students with learning difficulties were among the seven people at the country club event, McMillen recalls. "They had the time of their lives," McMillen says. "That's the one good thing that come out of this, [these kids] didn't have to worry about people making fun of them [at their prom]."

In March, after the Itawamba County School District refused to allow McMillen to bring a female date to the prom, the district canceled the event altogether. McMillen and her lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union challenged that decision in court, and a judge ruled the district could not bar McMillen and her date.

The judge declined to force the school district to hold the prom because a parent-sponsored, private prom was being organized — and the understanding was that McMillen and her date were invited to that event. But Hampton says McMillen was never invited and organizers made it very difficult for her to find information on the time and location. That prom was later mysteriously canceled, with the Friday night event at the country club officially replacing it.

These people are THAT intimidated by two little lesbians? Holy cow, people - get a grip already! What did they think she was going to be doing at the prom besides dancing? And it isn't like high school kids don't know homosexuality exists or anything. So cruel - incredibly cruel - of them to have treated her this way.

When your high school, your school district, your classmates, and their parents, all treat you like a pariah simply because of your sexual orientation, yeah, it's gonna hurt your feelings just a tad (and no wonder suicide among L/G/B/T youth is four times - I said FOUR TIMES - as high as it is for heterosexual kids). I am glad Constance is standing up for herself, though. What a lot of strength this young woman is demonstrating. That kind of intestinal fortitude should put her in good stead as she makes it through life.

In the meantime, shame on the people in her town, the parents and the school district members, especially. If someone treated their child like Constance is being treated, they wouldn't like it one little bit. And they wouldn't stand for it.

And they shouldn't expect Constance to stand for it, either.

Update: Meileen, at NQ, mentioned that the parents in this school district are teaching hate, and this is how another high school dealt with that issue:

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm appalled at this, Rev, but the worst part is that the parents were at the core of it. What are they teaching their kids? That it's okay to be cruel. It's okay to be thoughtless. It's okay to be homophobic. It's okay to lie.

And when their kids grow up to be cruel, thoughtless, lying, homophobes the parents will blame the schools, the teachers, and society in general.

Those parents need parenting lessons. The students and their parents need lessons in humanity. And every school official who participated in this cruelty needs to be fired. Immediately.

Unfuckingbelievable.

And how are you feeling???

Mary Ellen said...

You know, LA, just this morning I was thinking about how hateful our society has become. Honestly,it's getting to the point that I can't stand looking at the news anymore.

I've seen this among many in my own neighborhood, too. Suicide rates among teens in general are climbing, but as you pointed out, it's even higher among the LGBT community. And the sad thing is, those who are spewing the hate about the gay community, call themselves Christians.

Mary Ellen said...

Ooops...I called you LA instead of Rev.Amy. My brain is not functioning this afternoon. Sorry.

Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy said...

SF, you are so right. This is coming from the parents. Some people are saying that the School District had the right to do this because they have a dress code, and Constance wanted to wear a tux (don't we know someone else who prefers pantsuits??? Yes we do, and we LOVE her!).

I think that is a red herring. They held a SEPARATE prom and sent her, as well as some of the disabled kids, to a totally different place. Clearly, they were shunning them.

Pathetic.

If you get a chance, take a look at the video someone mentioned at NQ. Awesome!

Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy said...

ME - no problem! Who the heck is "LA"?? LOL...

Exactly right abt the spewing hate people! Again, if you have a chance, take a look at the video I added on this topic.

And believe you me, having a bad cough/cold while taking care of a 5 1/2 yr old, I know ALL abt loss of brain function!

Mary Ellen said...

Rev.Amy-- Oh man...five year old and a cold at the same time. Ugh. No matter how much ya love kids, they're like sharks..they know when you're weak and that's when they strike!

LA is a guy who's blog I was at just before yours. Somewhere in-between writing comments, there was a phone call and that's all it took for my brain to get scrambled.

I'll go check out that video now.

Anonymous said...

OMG, I love Gunn High School! And they're here in the Bay Area (Palo Alto). The students from Gunn should take their message of love and tolerance to other high schools, starting with that f'ing school in Mississippi.

Although, I'm wondering if the leftist will have something to say about the NAME of the school...Gunn ...doesn't that name just incite violence? Oh, what a quandary. A name that incites violence but a student body that incites love.

Sometimes it must be so hard to be a leftist. Sucks to be them.

LOL about the pantsuit. That was the best that Mississippi school could come up with? I guess our Hilary wouldn't be allowed to attend one of their dances, either.

And I can't even imagine taking care of a 5-1/2 year old when you're sick! Yikes!

Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy said...

Mary Ellen, no kidding - that's exactly right! Though he was very cute this morning when he said, "I am sorry you're so sick!" when I as coughing my fool head off.

Y'all, I have to say, a number of the comments over at NQ on this post have really just made me very, very sad. Regulars - not the Obot regulars, but the other ones - have said some very negative things, including claiming that there is only 4% gay people in the country, and we are trying to "wag" the rest of the 96%. WOW. Huh - how's that working out for us? Well, we still don't have full rights here, so NOT SO GOOD!!!! Sigh...

Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy said...

SF,so cool that they're from your area! What a great group of kids they are.

And yes, they need to take their show on the road Across the entire country, apparently, since, you know, people like me are out to force people like you to do our bidding. Mwahahahaha!! Ahem.

LOL abt the name, though - that is funny! Thanks for the levity - I needed it after the stuff people were saying at NQ. YIKES. Talk abt having far to go...

Anonymous said...

Wow, I'm shocked at some of the comments at NQ. How sad. I just don't get it.

But then, you've been brainwashing me all along and forcing me to do your bidding (ummm, what was it you wanted me to do again, Your Highness?). Otherwise, I'm sure I would disown my gay & lesbian cousins instead of loving them as much as I do. Harumph, they've probably been brainwashing me, too, all these years, and I just didn't know it!

Yeah, y'all are just so freakin' demanding, wanting to be treated like real people and everything. Sheesh. Just put on that dress and hush up, now, would ya?

Oy vey. Can we go to Montserrat YET?

Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy said...

Hey, SF -

I know - I admit, I am not usually up this late, especially after running around with a child all day, but wow. Those comments got to me.

And yes, that's right - I HAVE brainwashed you! You want to go to Montserrat now, don't you? Never mind that it's LOADS cheaper, or FAR closer to the States - that has nothing to do with it, I am sure! :-)

You know, this past election really opened my eyes to a LOT. Obama can hang out with openly homophobic people. yet Dems will swear up and down that he supports us, women get trashed like I haven't seen in DECADES, and race is the ONLY thing that matters (meaning, absolutely everything is seen through that lens, with charges of racism flying fast and furious if you dare to disagree on policy. "You don't like this? You must be a racist!" Holy smokes.).

And now some kid is being treated like scum because people accuse her of wanting "special rights"? Oy vey indeed...