check your sugarcoat at the door

Lesbian teen back at Miss. school after prom flap

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — “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.”

Some of the comments, and I read less than a dozen, shook me to my core.

My own: “What many commenters are saying is that Constance ruined the prom, however the DISTRICT canceled the event. She did not request the event be canceled, only that it accept her. Sounds absolutely reasonable to me. And brave, to boot! I hope the unfair treatment is acknowledged and spreads widely to prevent discrimination against sexuality in other schools.”

I have my rants about California, but I can say with confidence that if this happened in the county I live or those around it, I sincerely believe the discrimination wouldn’t fly. And if for one second, it almost did? I have so much faith that the younger generation around here would raise a fair amount of non-discriminatory hell and have that shit overturned real quick.

of note, did you see Constance McMillen’s picture? How cute would she be in a tux?!

*EDIT: In a post on Toward a Moral Life (It became necessary to destroy the prom to save it), you can get WHAT I THINK is the correct contact info to give your opinion to the school superintendent.

On the subject of the big, bad gays – when I took a human sexuality class in college, the PFLAG speaker’s bureau came to visit and talk about their organization. I hadn’t really considered PFLAG to be something for me, as I don’t need support to love on the LGBT population. I do it every day. But they explained how the support of LGBT equality is the essentail mission & goal there (don’t quote me, official goal is here) and I knew that was something I could get behind. I vowed to attend one of their monthly meetings.

Then two years passed.

It’s like when I vowed to donate blood and then fell asleep for more than half a decade. But I figured it wasn’t too late to get my ass in gear, and so last night I wandered a huge, beautiful church until I found the room where they would be meeting. There was maybe fifteen people and when I say they were all different – I mean so. very. different. It isn’t my place to tell their stories but I can say that one woman was reduced to tears, along with several others that she moved, one couple had us roaring with laughter, and one man had our jaws in our laps. They came from every age group (I’m thinking one couple was pushing eighty and I was the youngest though they’ve had some teenagers in the mix) and ethnicity (where English was exceptionally new to one) and background (someone from middle America, someone from another country) but they all had some version of the goal of equality and they were all SO damn cool and welcoming. When it was my turn to speak last in the circle, I said things I didn’t know I could say, as the speech I’d been rehearsing in my head wasn’t nearly as personal as it came out.

I can’t wait to go again next month, is what I’m sayin’. I’m thinking I’ve found the organization that is going to help cross volunteer my time in the name of equality off my mighty life list.

-CJ