Lesbian teen back at Mississippi school after prom canceled
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30 Comments
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0
adaydream
I can't believe that a school district would cancel a prom because of this.
Talk about acting childish. < :-)
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LostinNagoya
That's Mississipi...
0
TumbleDry
Welcome to the middle-age!
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kokorocloud
“However, at this time, we feel that it is in the best interest of the Itawamba County School District, after taking into consideration the education, safety and well being of our students.”
That is the poorest excuse I've ever read! I don't understand the point of ruining prom for everybody because of something like this. Did they think they were going to show up there waving rainbow flags and banners? Or since it's a "safety" issue, did they think they'd come in carrying machine guns? The stupidity is really astounding here...
I feel bad for that girl. Everyone's going to blame it on her sexual orientation instead of the school board who made a really dumb and unfair decision.
0
Beelzebub
There are still people in that state fighting racial integration in schools, let alone this kind of "coming out." This is not San Francisco: at school-sponsored events, communities are entitled to set their own standards.
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Odogma
This is world news?
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skipthesong
That's Mississipi..." Well look on the bright side, it could have been worse had she been in Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc.. and I'm not even going to get to her orientation yet. Just the dancing part
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limboinjapan
Don't have "proms" as per say where I come from but we do have a graduation dinner and I guess some dancing! I showed up in a kilt and 2 of my female class mates showed up together one in a dress the other in a suit (everyone knew the were together!) and no one said a thing! This was in a Catholic school board system and all the way back in 1980! No one gave it even a second thought!
I think Americans spend too much time worrying about trivial things! In a country that claims to be the land of the free, they sure spend a lot of time fighting about what is "acceptable" freedom and what is not!
But this should not surprise anyone as this is the same state that up until 2 years ago, at least one high school still had separate proms for "whites" and "blacks"!
0
LostinNagoya
That's skipthesong...
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skipthesong
LIN: just pointing out the ultra lib twisted view on things. Here you guys are, again, coming down hard "white christian conservatives" yet you throw your support for other non-christians conservatives. Why pick on only one?
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skipthesong
at least one high school still had separate proms for "whites" and "blacks"!" Well, I would prefer my kid at least have their own hispanic prom.... the mix of the country, hip hop, salsa, music alone is awful.
0
borscht
Ultralib? You mean respecting the rights of others is now ultralib? Back in Goldwater's day it was called ultraconservative. And where does it say the school board members who are frightened by non-hetereosexual sexual orientation are 'white christian conservatives'? And who is throwing their support to 'non-christian conservatives'? I'm confused. However..
I agree, if this woman were in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, or half-a-dozen other countries, dancing would be one problem; her lesbianism would probably get her killed.
0
motogaijin
Can we undo the Civil War and let the southern states be their own country, please? Between Texas refusing to bring itself up to 21st century educational standards, and now this clusterfrak in Mississippi, the lands south of the Mason-Dixon are becoming more and more of an embarrassment to civilized America.
0
LostinNagoya
Skip, I don't see where I full supported non-christians conservatives, as you are saying. I support freedom, of every kind - including religion - as long this freedom doesn't interfere in othe people's own freedom. I think you are mentioning the fact that I agreed with Ahmadinejad's point of view about 911. So, please reread all my posts and you'll see that's the only thing he does or says that I agree with. And he happens to be a non-christian. Please don't mix things.
And FYI, I somehow do not agree with this lesbian girl. While the officials were really childish cancelling the prom ball, she was a PG (that's a Professional Gay) who wants to paint the world shock-pink.
0
pamelot
Her mistake was to ask to wear a tux. She formally made a big deal, right there. Had she just shown up in it, it probably wouldn't have made much of a big wave. But this girl wanted much, much more than permission, she wanted to be validated, and they were not ready for it. The outcome seems a bit harsh, though. But this girl put them in this position. Damned if they say 'yes', damned if they say 'no'. She should have just shown up dressed however, and left it at that.
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limboinjapan
Beelzebub: "at school-sponsored events, communities are entitled to set their own standards."
So along this line of thinking, the world and the USA should not be saying anything about the treatment of women and other minorities in other countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc..!
skipthesong: "Well look on the bright side, it could have been worse had she been in Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc.. and I'm not even going to get to her orientation yet. Just the dancing part"
This is the standard response when someone is in the wrong "hey look at them, they are doing worse things"! This type of response would not be an acceptable defense for a car thief by pointing out that his neighbor is a mugger!
The USA self proclaims its high standard of freedom but when things like this come up it retreats to the position of "other are doing worse" and "this is our country and we will do as we please"!
0
skipthesong
LIN: I really wasn't pointing you out per say. I'm just getting more and more confused with many who claim to be left/lib/over lib/not lib enough..... who yell and scream when an American Christian does something like what this school has and then turn around support other countries leaders who is, in my opinion, worse.
If the girl is gay, that's her business but why would she want to attend a prom in a place where she is old enough to know how they are going to react?
But for the record, I wouldn't live in a back woods country area to begin with. If I found myself there, I try to just get out instead of trying to change them.
What's this Goldwater thing?
limoinjapan: who here proclaims America is the one setting the example? I sure as heck haven't.
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LostinNagoya
Ok, got you Skip. Your problem, then, is that you forget that the topics of this forum deals with the whole world and there are peole from different parts of the world giving their opinions here. Be a little flexible, things will be easier...
0
Odogma
Wrong. The USA is a republic, of 50 separate states which are often likened to laboratories or even crucibles of political struggle and experimentation.
Mississippi hardly represents all of America.
And freedom does not mean you are free to do whatever you choose; it means you have the freedom to choose how you will be governed.
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pamelot
Jackson, Mississippi is not a backwoods place- It's an elegant small city. All of you who make this assumption could be accused of being 'ignorant' as well.
0
5SpeedRacer5
I won't talk about lesbianism, Christians, or Mississippi, but I will still be topical.
Guess what? The school did the right thing. This is what America has come to. Gridlock. People cannot live and function together at all, so reduce the responsibilities of the community. That is exactly what happened, and it makes perfect sense in the context of their community. If they had excluded the girl, they would have gotten sued. If they had the prom with her, 50 other people would have complained, and probably sued. You know how it goes. So the school said... forget it. Who needs a prom?
Ah. Who needs a prom? How much longer before people say Who needs a highway? Who needs a new school? Who needs social programs? Who needs a library? Who needs a police force? Who needs fire protection? After all, if people cannot afford them, why should they have them? The market will provide with its invisible hand. All these social initiatives really just start lawsuits anyway. It has been getting worse for a long time people. It is the unravelling of polity, and it is true from Mississippi to California to New York to the US Senate. It WILL get worse because Americans are teaching their children that this is the way to solve problems.
We agree that everyone deserves to have sexual preferences, as long as they are exactly the same as ours. What a terrifically mature attitude. Lets cancel a traditional school event because of one student's sexual preferences.
0
Odogma
In the end maybe this will be an opportunity for a new arrangement - hold two dances, off campus.
Maybe the ACLU, ever solicitous and on the watch out for 'opression,' will volunteer to chaperone the gay affair.
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RomeoRamenII
Though a bit extreme by the school district, it is nonetheless their house, their rules and her classmates must pay the price because of her "rights" to flaunt a deviant lifestyle.
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LostinNagoya
CNN is reporting that the school is being sued for this cancellation. Here comes the hurricane.
0
smithinjapan
What a bunch of cowards!
I wouldn't worry too much though, as I see only two possible outcomes in terms of the school and prom:
1) the prom is reinstated and the two women allowed to go as they please, after all the phone calls, complaints, and lawsuits.
2) even if this prom remains cancelled, in the future they will not be able to avoid allowing same sex couples unless they stop prom altogether.
skipthesong: enough with the racism/homophobia, bud.
0
smithinjapan
RomeoRamenII: "Though a bit extreme by the school district, it is nonetheless their house, their rules and her classmates must pay the price because of her "rights" to flaunt a deviant lifestyle."
It's only 'deviant' in the minds of TRUE deviants. Some of you guys really need to come to terms with your own fears and insecurities, and get with the times.
The prom will be back, and they'll have no choice but to allow the same-sex couple.
0
Odogma
Stories like this always seem like back-handed recognition and admission of the fact that the US, for all its faults, is light years ahead in its respect for 'diversity.'
As has been said upthread this wouldn't make news in most parts of the world, simply because it is unthinkable that the situation/condition could reach the point of contention [2 openly gay h.s. students challenging a state-run institution] here being tolerated,democratically resolved and (if LostinNagoya is correct) soon to be challenged in a court of law - - on the taxpayer's dime.
Poor maligned Mississippi is far more progressive than vast portions of this planet, i.e. nearly anywhere outside of N Europe.
0
sailwind
I think the issue here is more of her demand to be allowed to wear a tuxedo than allowing a same-sex couple to the prom myself. Talk about bringing all the attention to yourself.
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smithinjapan
sailwind: Do you really think so? I have very little doubt in my mind this is about homosexuality and the fear of it as opposed to a female wearing a tux.
LostInNagoya: "Skip, I don't see where I full supported non-christians conservatives, as you are saying."
Skip tends to skip B and jump straight from A to C when his mind is set on some issues. I don't mean him any offense by that, but there have been dozens of comments where he suddenly launches into some completely unrelated tirade and accuses me of saying something I did not when I commented on some threads. He's carrying a lot of personal baggage and it often gets in the way of making logical deductions based on people's comments. Anyway, my point is not to take it to heart that he completely misread your comment and accused you of saying something you did not.
0
Triumvere
This reminds me of a story about a year or so ago about a different school district (also in the deep south) which ended up permenantly cancelling the prom not because of homosexual couples, but rather to prevent interracial couples from attending.
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