Girls Banned from Attending Prom Together

by Alex DiBranco · 2010-03-05 14:19:00 UTC
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If two girls want to attend prom together, hang out together, dance together, and yes, even show some high school-appropriate PDA, why should that be anybody else's business?

I went to prom with half-a-dozen other girls, navigating the obstacle of poofy dresses, and singing too loud (and off-key) to the radio. We sat at a table with guys at various points on the friend-to-boyfriend spectrum, played musical chairs with other tables, and danced with who we wanted. Yeah, we had a heteronormative prom court, king, and queen, but the school didn't ask or interfere with who people came with, what they wore (oh yes, the T-shirt tux is always snazzy, guys), or who they boogied with. Unfortunately, the Itawamba Agricultural High School is Mississippi is more uptight -- and okay with infringing on students' rights.

Not only did the school deny senior Constance McMillin the right to arrive prom with her girlfriend, a fellow student, they said if while at prom their presence made any other students "uncomfortable" with their girlfriending ways they'd be kicked out of the dance. The school also deeply disturbed by the concept that one of the girls might wear a tuxedo instead of a gown.

The American Civil Liberties Union must be getting tired of these cases discriminating against queer students: they keep cropping up, and the courts keep ruling that the schools are committing an unconstitutional action. It's just a waste of everybody's time to keep fighting the same battles over and over again. Perhaps the schools figure that, with the country still discriminating against same-sex couples by denying them the right to get married, they can get away with forcing queer students to put on a straight face at the prom.

Tell Itawamba Agricultural High School that everybody deserves to have fun at the prom, including queer students.

Photo credit: Ana Santos

Alex DiBranco is a Change.org Editor who has worked for the Nation, Political Research Associates, and the Center for American Progress. She is now based in New York City.
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