Judge: School Violated Lesbian Teen's Rights By Canceling Prom
Written by Kris Alingod Wednesday, 24 March 2010 07:39
Mississippi high school officials violated a lesbian teen's rights when they canceled a prom to keep her from taking a same-sex date, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.
In a 12-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Glen Davidson said the Itawamba County School District violated the First Amendment rights of Constance McMillen when it prohibited her from attending the dance in a tuxedo and with her girlfriend.
The judge did not order the school to hold the April 2 prom, saying a private dance sponsored by parents would allow the high school senior to attend with her girlfriend.
“The record shows Constance has been openly gay since eighth grade and she intended to communicate a message by wearing a tuxedo and to express her identity through attending prom with a same-sex date," the judge said. "The Court finds this expression and communication of her viewpoint is the type of speech that falls squarely within the purview of the First Amendment. "
"The Court is also of the opinion that the motive behind the School Board's cancellation of the prom, or withdrawal of their sponsorship, was Constance’s requests and the ACLU’s demand letter sent on her behalf,” the judge added.
McMillen, 18, approached school officials early this year about bringing her girlfriend to the prom, and was told that they would not be allowed to arrive together to the event. She was prohibited from wearing a tuxedo, and was warned that she and her girlfriend may be thrown out of the event if they made other students "uncomfortable," according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
On Feb. 5, shortly after McMillen's talk with officials, the school issued a memo banning same-sex dates at the prom, garnering national attention.
The memo also prompted the ACLU and the Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition to demand that McMillen be allowed to bring her girlfriend as a date. The advocacy groups gave officials until March 10 to respond to their demand.
School officials canceled the dance on the day of ACLU's deadline. The next day, ACLU filed its lawsuit seeking a preliminary injunction against school officials.
The Itawamba County School District said in its reply to the lawsuit that it "had to address a very explosive and disruptive issue and how to get beyond it for the sake of the school."
"This is not an issue where anyone has been denied an education," the school argued. "This is a social event that is disruptive to the school environment and the core public education function of the school because people are on all sides of the issue. Since the Board of Education cannot control the emotions of both sides, the only rational option in order to minimize... distraction of students, harmful divisiveness, and the risk of potential liability, was a decision not to host this social event."
Despite the court's decision not to reinstate the prom, the ACLU has hailed the ruling as a victory.
“Public schools can’t just stomp on students’ free expression rights just because they don't want to deal with these students, and if schools do try to do that they’ll be dealing with us," Kristy Bennett, legal director of the ACLU of Mississippi, said in a statement.
McMillen, who has more than 400,000 fans on a Facebook page devoted to supporting her cause, said, "All I ever wanted was for my school to treat me and my girlfriend like any other couple that wants to go to prom. Now we can all get back to things like picking out our prom night outfits and thinking about corsages."
The teen now has two proms to attend: the private dance that is open to all students and the Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition’s Second Chance Prom on May 8.
Read the original article in All Headline News
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