Constance McMillen and Mississippi LGBT Students Win Big

She may not have been able to attend her high school senior prom, but Mississippi student Constance McMillen has proved that all it takes for a little social change is the courage to speak your mind. Constance, you might remember, is the lesbian 18-year-old from Mississippi, who was told by her high school that she couldn't attend her senior prom with a same-sex date.

Legal wheelings and dealings ensued, as well as a sadistic high school prank where Constance was tricked into going to a fake prom by some of her more homophobic classmates. Eventually a judge ruled that the school violated Constance's rights by refusing to allow her to attend prom, and yet while that was good news, it didn't change the toxic environment that Constance faced in her high school. Toward the end of the school year, she transferred to a much more accepting school in Jackson, Mississippi, where she finished out her senior year.

But finally, as the ACLU notes in a press release that just went out this morning, some tangible justice is coming Constance's way, and it's a victory that not only helps Constance, but one that could help many other LGBT students in Mississippi.

According to the ACLU, Constance's high school, Itawamba Agricultural High School, is going to settle a court case by paying Constance $35,000 (plus attorney fees), and instituting a school-wide policy that will ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. It will also become the first public school in the entire state of Mississippi to adopt such an inclusive anti-discrimination policy. Wow. Talk about turning lemons into lemonade.

Constance's attorneys at the ACLU noted that this settlement is historic, and will make the environment much safer for LGBT students at Itawamba Agricultural High.

"Constance went through a great deal of harassment and humiliation simply for standing up for her rights, and she should be proud of what she has accomplished,” said Christine P. Sun, senior counsel with the ACLU Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Project. “Thanks to her bravery, we now not only have a federal court precedent that can be used to protect the rights of students all over the country to bring the date they want to their proms, but we also have the first school anti-discrimination policy of its kind in Mississippi.”

All because an 18-year-old had the courage to speak up. Damn, that's impressive.

But while this story has a surprisingly rosy ending (at least for now), Constance's ordeal is emblematic of what thousands upon thousands of students experience each year during the school season. Bullying, discrimination, fear of harassment, and anxiety over real or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity is par for the course for a number of students all throughout the U.S. Which is exactly why we need two critical pieces of legislation to move forward in Congress.

The first is the Student Nondiscrimination Act, which has been sponsored in the U.S. House by Rep. Jared Polis, and in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Al Franken.  But there's a second piece of legislation that is equally critical, and it's called the Safe Schools Improvement Act. It's been introduced in the U.S. House by Rep. Linda Sanchez, and one of these days, Sen. Bob Casey is supposed to get around to introducing it in the U.S. Senate. What would it do?

It would help schools and school districts put in place anti-bullying and anti-harassment policies that deal with preventing bullying before it starts, whether it's based on race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or gender identity. The ACLU earlier this week threw their collective organizational heft behind this bill, saying that it's a much needed piece of legislation to make sure that students like Constance McMillen don't have to live in fear when they walk the hallways or attend math class.

"The Safe Schools Improvement Act (HR 2262) takes important steps forward in addressing the problem of bullying and ensuring safe learning environments for all students. Among other aspects of the legislation, the inclusion of especially vulnerable student populations, like those who are LGBT, is particularly commendable and important," the ACLU wrote this week. "Every student deserves the opportunity to learn free from harassment and bullying."

Amen to that. And bravo to Constance McMillen. Now let's take her victory and make it national in scope by urging Congress to get with the program and pass both the Student Nondiscrimination Act and the Safe Schools Improvement Act.

Photo credit: Let Constance Take Her Girlfriend to the Prom (Facebook)