Lesbian Constance McMillen Excluded From Alternative Prom Organized By Students' Parents
Written by Amanda Terkel Wednesday, 24 March 2010 08:10
Yesterday, Constance McMillen appeared in federal court and asked a judge to reinstate her school’s prom after administrators called it off when she challenged the ban on same-sex couples at the dance. “I feel like I had the right to go to the pro
m just like someone straight,” McMillen said. School officials have repeatedly said that they canceled the prom because of “distractions to the educational process” caused by McMillen’s request, although upon cross-examination at the trial, officials “conceded no classes were canceled before or after the school board decision.” School administrators had suggested that a private organization could instead host an alternative prom, but the Clarion-Ledger reports that McMillen has even been excluded from that event:
The school board’s response states parents have organized a private prom at a furniture mart in nearby Tupleo. [...]
“Constance has not been invited, so it is clear to me that what is happening is that the school has encouraged a private prom that is not open to all the students,” she [ACLU attorney Christine Sun] said. “That’s what Constance is fighting for — a prom where everyone can go.”
McMillen said that when she returned to school after administrators had canceled the prom, she received some “some unfriendly looks from classmates,” and one student told her, “Thanks for ruining my senior year.” U.S. District Court Judge Glen Davidson “did not say when he would rule on the request for an injunction, but he acknowledged ‘time is of the essence.’”
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