http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_lesbian_prom_date

JACKSON, Miss. – A northern Mississippi school district will not be hosting a high school prom this spring after a lesbian student sought to attend with her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo.
The Itawamba County school district's board decided Wednesday to drop the prom because of what it called recent distractions but without specifically mentioning the girl's request, which was backed by the American Civil Liberties Union.

A Feb. 5 memo to students laid out the criteria for bringing a date to the prom, and one requirement was that the person must be of the opposite sex.

Wow!

WTF is it to them if a chick goes to the prom in a tux w/ her gf? I could MAYBE defend it if it was a private school, but it sounds like this is a public district.

They're going to get hell for this, and rightfully so.

I know most don't always agree with the ACLU, but i think we should all be cheering for them to bring it to that school district.

I forget...do you have to declare whom your bringing to a prom?

Shoulda just showed up for it with the date.

Gotta go with my first reaction to this story......Good for the school district.

Agreed with all that has been said. It's a shame that those students have to miss out on their prom because of this.

There has to be more to this story. I cant imagine they would cancel an entire prom because of this request.

thavoice wrote: I forget...do you have to declare whom your bringing to a prom?

Shoulda just showed up for it with the date.

Gotta go with my first reaction to this story......Good for the school district.

Why good for the school district?

Eric Taylor wrote: There has to be more to this story. I cant imagine they would cancel an entire prom because of this request.

From what was on the radio this morning the girl wanting to bring her girlfriend was seeking to sue the school district for this.

So they district said the hell with it and cancelled the whole thing.

Pretty overboard if you ask me....too bad all the kids had to miss out because of this.

I know our prom had rules to it. Dont know if in it ya had to bring someone from the opposite sex but that was a given. One of the rules was they had to be a jr or sr so there were some people who couldnt bring their bf/gf's. We had no PDA allowed in school at all..not even hand holding....some other local schools allowed such stuff but ours never did.

As for my comment on good for the district......it wasnt good that they cancelled it, it was good they stuck to their beliefs to keep immoral behavoir out of school sanctioned events..

thavoice wrote:

Eric Taylor wrote: There has to be more to this story. I cant imagine they would cancel an entire prom because of this request.

From what was on the radio this morning the girl wanting to bring her girlfriend was seeking to sue the school district for this.

So they district said the hell with it and cancelled the whole thing.

Pretty overboard if you ask me....too bad all the kids had to miss out because of this.

I know our prom had rules to it. Dont know if in it ya had to bring someone from the opposite sex but that was a given. One of the rules was they had to be a jr or sr so there were some people who couldnt bring their bf/gf's. We had no PDA allowed in school at all..not even hand holding....some other local schools allowed such stuff but ours never did.

As for my comment on good for the district......it wasnt good that they cancelled it, it was good they stuck to their beliefs to keep immoral behavoir out of school sanctioned events..

Not really a public school's role to use a purely religious ideal to determine what is moral and what is not.

cbus4life wrote: They're going to get hell for this, and rightfully so.

I know most don't always agree with the ACLU, but i think we should all be cheering for them to bring it to that school district.

I agree.

cbus4life wrote: Not really a public school's role to use a purely religious ideal to determine what is moral and what is not.

The whose roll is it? A federal judge? Perhaps a decree from Washington? Or those that live, work, and children attend the school. Someone has to decide.

majorspark wrote:

cbus4life wrote: Not really a public school's role to use a purely religious ideal to determine what is moral and what is not.

The whose roll is it? A federal judge? Perhaps a decree from Washington? Or those that live, work, and children attend the school. Someone has to decide.

Why should someone (other than the student and maybe their parents) be able to determine who a student brings to the dance?

If SHE brings a GAY to the dance, all the other children will become GAY because GAYNESS spreads through close contact.



So get your facts straight.

i think that the school is 100 percent wrong for doing this... i mean who cares

I would not have made the decision that the adminstraters have but I don't know how they have done anything wrong.

They are charged with creating an environment and culture they believe is best suited for all students as it relates to classroom and extra-curricular activities. If they felt they could not do so in the case of the prom the simple chose not to offer the event.

FatHobbit wrote:

majorspark wrote:

cbus4life wrote: Not really a public school's role to use a purely religious ideal to determine what is moral and what is not.

Then whose roll is it? A federal judge? Perhaps a decree from Washington? Or those that live, work, and children attend the school. Someone has to decide.

Why should someone (other than the student and maybe their parents) be able to determine who a student brings to the dance?

A local school district is a local governing body. Rules are made by the elected school board. There is a process to address these issues. Trust me you do not want individual students or their parents making individual decisions as to which rules need to be followed.

If they sent out a Memo on February 5th stating that the date must be of the opposite sex, does this girl really have any legal fight?

Eric Taylor wrote: If they sent out a Memo on February 5th stating that the date must be of the opposite sex, does this girl really have any legal fight?

Yes. It is discrimination, plain and simple.

I understand majorspark's point, but this case is pretty cut-and-dry. We no longer live in a society where this attitude is acceptable. She was discriminated against based on sexual orientation. That is wrong.

I hope the girl and her parents fight it, take it as far as it needs to go, and demand equal rights in this regard.

School districts basically do not have to answer to anyone, and it always holds up in court that way as well. It's frustrating as hell.

Even though it is discrimination, at least it's a school event.
But when schools can get away with suspending students for drinking underage at their own house (aka nowhere near school/nothing to do with school) without question, they can EASILY get away with discriminating at a school event.

majorspark wrote:

FatHobbit wrote:

majorspark wrote:

cbus4life wrote: Not really a public school's role to use a purely religious ideal to determine what is moral and what is not.

Then whose roll is it? A federal judge? Perhaps a decree from Washington? Or those that live, work, and children attend the school. Someone has to decide.

Why should someone (other than the student and maybe their parents) be able to determine who a student brings to the dance?

A local school district is a local governing body. Rules are made by the elected school board. There is a process to address these issues. Trust me you do not want individual students or their parents making individual decisions as to which rules need to be followed.

I agree that the school board is elected to make rules, but I don't think they have any business making rules about who a student can or can't date, or who they can or can't bring to prom. That's outside their authority in my opinion.

The right to attend is very equal in this case. No one is afforded the opportunity.

I too hope they choose to legally pursue the district so that legal clarification may be set.

ts1227 wrote: School districts basically do not have to answer to anyone, and it always holds up in court that way as well. It's frustrating as hell.

Except in the case of desegrating the schools, though this case isn't on that level.

The decision on the part of the school district is extremely dissappointing. They should be promoting a culture of acceptance, openness, etc., and this decision does the exact opposite. Gives the impression that these types of students aren't welcome to express themselves, be individuals, grow as people, etc. I know this is just one event, but the message the school board is sending to this student and her partner will have lasting effects on their experience throughout the remainder of their time at the school. Basically saying that we don't condone who you are and that you aren't welcome at our events. Shame on them.

Con_Alma wrote: The right to attend is very equal in this case. No one is afforded the opportunity.

I too hope they choose to legally pursue the district so that legal clarification may be set.

Well, yes, but the reason they cancelled is the problem.

FatHobbit wrote: I agree that the school board is elected to make rules, but I don't think they have any business making rules about who a student can or can't date, or who they can or can't bring to prom. That's outside their authority in my opinion.

In your opinion it is outside their authority. In others it is not outside their authority to decide what can be done on school property at a school sponsered event. Let the locals decide.

It also strange to me that the same people will jump all over a child or parent who wants to say a prayer at a school event such as graduation. Is the student not expressing his or her own personal beliefs?

majorspark wrote:

FatHobbit wrote: I agree that the school board is elected to make rules, but I don't think they have any business making rules about who a student can or can't date, or who they can or can't bring to prom. That's outside their authority in my opinion.

In your opinion it is outside their authority. In others it is not outside their authority to decide what can be done on school property at a school sponsered event. Let the locals decide.

It also strange to me that the same people will jump all over a child or parent who wants to say a prayer at a school event such as graduation. Is the student not expressing his or her own personal beliefs?

Well, that is a little trickier because it is a religious action.

I admit that i don't have a problem with that at all, but it is a little different, given that their sexual orientation or the action of the girl bringing her partner to the dance is not a "religious" action.