School district cancels prom rather than face gay rights issue

AP Photo/Matthew Sharpe: Constance McMillen, 18, reads online messages about her dashed desire to attend her senior …How far we haven't come.

The good news is this AP story about a Mississippi school district canceling a school-run senior prom to avoid legal complaints in support of a lesbian student--who was told she could not attend with her girlfriend and could not attend wearing a tuxedo--is getting lots of play. The bad news is the 18-year-old student had a tough day returning to school after the Itawamba County school board made its decision. And she doesn't think she'll be invited to a privately organized prom.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which notified school officials that a policy banning same-sex prom dates violated students' rights. The ACLU also argued that not allowing Constance McMillen to wear a tuxedo violated her free expression rights. So instead of dealing with any of it, the district canceled the prom "due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events." It never mentioned McMillen by name or the ACLU for that matter, but no further comment was forthcoming.

McMillen went back to school to face some nasty comments from fellow students about ruining their senior year and messing up prom plans. A brave move by a brave young woman who challenged a Feb. 5 prom memo that said, in part, that a person's date must be of the opposite sex. She's pretty sure if there's a privately run prom, she won't be allowed to bring her date or wear a tux because whatever rules they want to apply will be applied. But what McMillen is doing is having a far greater impact on the rights of gay students than the ability of one couple to attend one prom in rural Mississippi.

"My daddy told me that I needed to show them that I'm still proud of who I am," McMillen told the AP. "The fact that this will help people later on, that's what's helping me to go on."

Go on, girl! We know this isn't making senior year fun for you, either, but there is never a wrong time to be true to yourself, and you've done that and more.