Constance McMillen Photo: AP
Posted on 04/07/2010 7:56:09 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Disappointment as US high school students snub 'lesbian-friendly prom'
Senior prom fell far short of the rite of passage Constance McMillen was hoping for when she began a legal battle to challenge a ban on same-sex dates.
Published: 7:00AM BST 07 Apr 2010
Constance McMillen Photo: AP
The 18-year-old lesbian student said that she was one of only seven students to show up at a private party chaperoned by school officials. She said the rest of her peers went to another private event where she wasn't invited.
"It was not the prom I imagined," she said. "It really hurts my feelings. These are still people who I've gone through school with, even teachers who loved me before this all started. I've never been a bad student and I don't feel like I deserve to be put through this."
Her case drew a national spotlight after she and the American Civil Liberties Union challenged an Itawamba County School District rule that banned same-sex prom dates and a requirement that only male students wear tuxedos. Proms are parties held for students, generally in their senior year in high school.
The ACLU sent a demand letter to Superintendent Teresa McNeece in February, saying the rules against same-sex prom dates and girls wearing tuxedos violated Miss McMillen's constitutional rights. The district responded by withdrawing its sponsorship and cancelling the April 2 event.
In an apparent compromise, school district officials said parents would organise a private event with school chaperones that Miss McMillen could attend.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Warning #4 on this comment
So if I am to understand your position correctly, you believe it was unChristlike for the other students to arrange and attend a private party that excluded this girl?
Does it not occur that to attend the school prom would be defacto endorsement and condoning of her sexuality?
Christ is on record condeming the sin and ate with those repentant of those sins. So it is the Christian way to force those kids to attend the 'prom'.
I find this logic to be poorly constructed and lacking
The private dance was specifically intended to disinclude at least one, if not all seven, inviduals who were not invited. They were within their legal rights to invite/ disinvite anyone ... but, so long as the rules were followed, I think disinviting only a few is morally wrong.
SnakeDoc
No, you objected to the outcome because you believe it represents the "ostracization" of the students that attended the "official" party - without any evidence that the other students failed to invite the others. So you are imputing certain thoughts and motives to the students hosting the private party - that they refused to invite these 7 students, and did so because they are "outcasts". Your outrage is based on your interpretation of the intent of the majority of the students, and hence, constitutes a "thought crime" mentality.
>> Christ is on record condeming the sin and ate with those repentant of those sins. So it is the Christian way to force those kids to attend the ‘prom’.
They have every right not to attend the organized prom. I believe they should’ve instituted rules for the private party ... and invited all seniors to the party provided they obey the rules. If Constance chooses not to attend, fine. If she chooses not to obey the rules, throw her out.
SnakeDoc
She was invited to the prom under the rules that you propose and her response was to sue them. Obviously, she preferred her sin to their company. It was she that ostracized them, and not the other way. They merely gave her what she said she wanted, but decided not to have any part of it, since it would be condoning her lifestyle.
There is nothing morally wrong with freedom of association, which includes the freedom not to associate.
Snakey is being too nicey-nice here. The girl showed every sign of wanting to disrupt, and no wish to be repentant. After Satan has showed himself to you enough times in a particular apparition, you really don’t owe that apparition another chance.
Once again, you are making statements that seem to have no basis in reality. I can find nothing in the article that indicates that the students that attended the "official" party were sent to the "wrong place" - the attended the officially sanctioned party. And there is no evidence that the location of the other party was withheld - the article clearly states that even the lesbian knew of the other party and its location.
It seems that you are really reaching in an attempt to defend a weak position. And using falsehoods to support your position does not help your credibility in this matter.
My outrage is based on the fact that at least one, if not seven, individuals were sent to the wrong location rather than being told about the real location of the actual prom/party.
I don’t care what they were thinking.
SnakeDoc
And invite the ACLU to show up with another lawsuit? Again, the focus will once again be the drama queen and it will ruin another moment for the class as a whole. What evidence is there the she'd 'follow the rules' anyway? None that I know of, so there is nothing unChristian about the alternate event or not inviting her.
... or anyone else for that matter... "The will of the people" tends to be a blunt instrument... a sledgehammer, which is not generally useful for plinking away at tacks...
I find this exercise to be quite uplifting - Folks reacted by ignoring the complainers and did what's best for their kids... without violence, and without rancor, if the testimony of the participant upthread is any indication.
Kudos to them all.
Snakey wanted “one more chance” for her, making a gesture that predictably would have been spurned. One does not throw pearls before swine.
once again you are assuming facts not in evidence to support this theory of ostracization that you are intent upon. to label UNchristian anyone who doesn’t invite the entirety of any group to any function is beyond judgmental. so you are comfortable being seen as saying, “well it’s ok for the REST OF YOU HEATHENS to behave like that but I, for one, in all of my Christian sanctimony, would never raise MY children to behave thusly.”
A face only a blind mother would love.......needed fixin’.
Thank you, that is my observation too. It was a political/sexual statement she was making - trying to force acceptance of her homosexual behavior on the rest of the class, school and community. She got what she 'wanted' - a prom, but she didn't get the acceptance of her 'identity' by her classmates and community.
Methinks it’s feewings.
They were NOT “sent to the wrong location”. The lesbian knew about the other party beforehand.
Your moral pronouncments of what the proper standard of behavior for Christians have been quite clear. i am sure we all thank you for them.
That can be said with a hey nonny nonny and a ha cha cha and a rof rof rof and a lol lol lol.
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