<p>[Miss</a>. prom canceled after lesbian’s date request - USATODAY.com](<a href=“http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-03-10-noprom_N.htm]Miss”>http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-03-10-noprom_N.htm)</p>
<p>What a terrible message…</p>
<p>I agree. I am also shocked, because when I graduated hs back in the 80’s we had a homosexual couple attend. Nothing was made of it, afterall, the kids all knew they were gay, the teachers knew, it was no big deal. Actually, the only big deal was which one of them asked the other (rule of thumb whoever asks has to pay for the tickets).</p>
<p>Very sad.</p>
<p>My high school didn’t have a prom king/queen tradition. Some of the older students told me that it was because a few years earlier, the students had chosen a lesbian couple for that honor. The people running the school at the time, apparently less accepting than the student body, decided to avoid that happening again by getting rid of the prom king/queen.</p>
<p>That poor kid. Hopefully her classmates will rally around her rather than blaming her for the school board’s selfish action. I’m saddened that this kind of thing can still occur in 2010. But I take comfort in the words of Gandhi . . . “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”</p>
<p>The worst part-- the school urged parents to set up a private prom. A private prom, wink wink, where the wrong kind of people wouldn’t have to be allowed to attend.</p>
<p>This is absolutely ridiculous. The only criteria that our small public school has in place regarding dates is that freshmen are not allowed to attend. Every year there are gay kids who choose to bring their same-sex date and no one bats an eye. Everyone gets along.</p>
<p>What’s wrong with school boards these days? (I’ve been following that thread about webcam spying in the parents forum.) There seems to be a distinctive lack of common sense about consequences of their decisions.</p>
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<p>yes, you think it’s a loophole, but I think you can get the government to regulate the private prom too because of the way it’s organised</p>
<p>for all intents and purposes it’s a publically-organised event by proxy – hence 14th amendment should apply here too. If the parents refuse drag them to court.</p>
<p>I feel like looking up the school’s number and posting it online and setting up a fb group so we can bombard their high school (and any conspiring parents who want to organise a “private” prom) with phone calls.</p>
<p>Anyone with me? I think they’ll have to relent when a 500,000 strong fb group starts bombarding their phone lines with 1,000 calls per hour and also starts spamming their fax machines.</p>
<p>I mean clearly this school wants to take it to the level of war and outright hostility. I say we give them their cake.</p>
<p>hurry if they’re not on spring break their offices are still probably open. I’m recruiting everyone I know. call them at least, to voice your disapproval.</p>
<p>I was literally about to post the same story! Lol. </p>
<p>This is pathetic to be completely honest. As long as the student is bringing someone over the age of 21 or with a criminal record or someone who was expelled from school, I don’t see how it’s ANYONE’s business who is going with whom. </p>
<p>I remember at my school they asked if I was bringing a student or a non-student. If it was a non-student, we had to had parents sign and say that the person was under 21 and not expelled at any point. They most definitely did NOT ask the gender of the date and I don’t really think it’s their business whether one brings a male or a female.</p>
<p>This would be a completely different argument if it were a religious school, but it is a PUBLIC school. Absolutely ridiculous!</p>
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<p>Unfortunately, I think that the students were against the lesbian couple anyway.</p>
<p>I was just about to post this! I find it terribly sad for all students involved; the girl in question and her date, of course, for all the added meanness they’re likely to get from their peers after this, but also for the rest of the students at the school, who really were punished after doing absolutely nothing wrong (not that the girl in question did anything wrong, either).</p>
<p>The article didn’t mention her parents’ involvement, so it doesn’t seem too likely that they’re going to fight back. Hopefully other parents will let the school know how disappointed they are with a) their children’s night being taken away, and b) the civil rights they’re taking away from one of their seniors. I understand that many parents wouldn’t complain about the second point, but hopefully a large enough number would complain about the first one to get the school to reconsider.</p>
<p>In short, this is ridiculous. I know that my generation is more tolerant than our parents about LGBT rights, but I wish that people didn’t have to suffer, period.</p>
<p>yes but don’t just sit there writing on CC. CALL THEM!</p>
<p>It’s in central Mississippi, should we really be surprised?</p>
<p>you live in Texas^^</p>
<p>It is so disgusting to me. So much work needs to be done. </p>
<p>It is horrible for the couple for one thing. Discrimination to the nth degree. </p>
<p>Now everyone else is going to not get their school prom. This will ostracize these two young women even more.</p>
<p>The reasoning I read in an article for canceling the prom mentions for the “safety” of the students! That is unbelievable. </p>
<p>And now they schedule a private prom as if to say they wish to discriminate against gays but because it is a public school, it might get them in hot water, so they will do it another way but maintain the discrimination.</p>
<p>All that aside, at our HS, you don’t have to have a date to attend the prom in the first place.</p>
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<p>Aye, and the best way is to combat this is through the actions of private citizens. Let them know America can play their game if they want to take it that far. CALL THEM </p>
<p>Also we are in the process of obtaining the phone numbers of those parents/businesses who might be “interested” in sponsoring a private prom, both at home, and at work. (Essentially our aim to dissuade/pressure any private organisers, and if that fails to work, prevent their business/work from functioning.) But we can’t do this alone – we need all the help we can get. Tell your colleagues, tell your friends.</p>
<p>Also I don’t have access to free fax right now, but those who do, please send them a few pages of your thoughts. Preferably copied x 100. </p>
<p>When we get a hold of the private prom organisers (probably still quite tentative) we’ll post their phone/fax numbers too.</p>
<p>I don’t agree that spamming their e-mail account or intentionally seeking to disable or disrupt their phone lines by overloading them with calls is particularly productive. That’s an action out of a furtive political operative’s playbook, something you get from a person who intends to incite rather than instruct, and then moves on, leaving the rest of us to figure out what to do next.</p>
<p>The School Board’s decision is clearly silly. I could see SOME point in restricting students attire to modest choices, but I don’t recall that a Tuxedo ever mugged or molested anyone.</p>
<p>it pressures the school board into rescinding their decision; it places pressure on all fronts (together the ACLU’s litigation, etc.) </p>
<p>Plus the ignorant administration seems aloof of the goings-on of the world, as though nothing the world says or does has any impact on them, so they can freely ignore civil rights with their backwater values. Disruption is a secondary effect – the primary effect is to make them think hard about what they are doing.</p>
<p>Their school is probably in the process of closing for the day right now. But never fear; I’m currently compiling a list of home phone numbers of the staff members involved in this ridiculous affair. If they do not comply with the ACLU’s demands let us ensure they will regret not doing so.</p>