Prom Faked for Lesbian Student
Constance McMillen thought she'd finally won the right to take her girlfriend to her high school prom -- only to show up and find out she'd been duped.
The Mississippi teen who made news recently for standing up to a high school administration that decided to cancel the prom rather than allow her to wear a tux and invite her girlfriend told The Advocate she was sent to a "fake prom."
Way to go Itawamba, Mississippi! You've just reminded me why I'm relieved to have escaped high school with my sense of self . . . and terrified of the day my daughter will enter it.
School officials have acted like children from the beginning of this ridiculous venture, from the original edict that girls can't wear tuxes and students must attend the dance with a partner of the opposite sex.
But this topper smacks of a high school prank -- the sort members of a football team would be benched for or the cheerleading squad made to clean the bleachers over.
It's the sort of thing I'm trying to teach my daughter is beneath her, not what you'd expect from a group of adults.
Making it that much more repugnant is the news that of the seven kids at this fake prom, held while their peers were at the "real" prom (which has been chronicled on Flickr), were two students with learning disabilities. The school's decision to cast off the gay troublemaker is disturbing; its decision to treat children with a handicap as a pawn in their cruel game shows the value they put on human life.
Whitewashing the prom may serve to comfort these adults who are not forced to face their bigotry in the eyes on prom night, but its taught a poor lesson to the other students.
What would you do if your daughter was treated this way by her school?
Written by Jeanne Sager on The Stir @ CafeMom.
Related links:
Racially Segregated Proms Still Exist
