# US school cancels prom to avoid lesbian student bringing a date **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 11, 2010, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-school-cancels-prom-to-avoid-lesbian-student-bringing-a-date/532108 "2010-03-11T15:28:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-school-cancels-prom-to-avoid-lesbian-student-bringing-a-date/532108/161 "2010-03-22T16:19:04Z")
Oh, the ACLU has it. It’s part of their lawsuit, which is being heard today in Federal court. I pray that justice is served for Constance and for anyone else in her shoes. And I don’t know anyone who attends there: our local paper published that memo. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-school-cancels-prom-to-avoid-lesbian-student-bringing-a-date/532108/162 "2010-03-22T16:41:50Z")
Here is another example showing that not everyone in the state is against the young lady: > [@](#): > > Meanwhile, an official with the Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition, which advocates for gay and lesbian students, said the organization has more than enough money pledged by supporters of Itawamba senior Constance McMillen to hold a “second-chance” prom that would welcome all students. > [@](#): > > Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition spokesman Matthew Sheffield said the organization is “making progress” on plans for a privately held prom that would welcome gay students and “straight allies.” He said so many people have offered money that the organization is attempting to steer additional contributions toward the coalition’s regular work assisting gay and lesbian students. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-school-cancels-prom-to-avoid-lesbian-student-bringing-a-date/532108/163 "2010-03-22T17:13:27Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > All we need now is a car full of clowns and we’ll have a full blown circus… Fear not - I’m sure the Westboro Baptist folk will make a special road trip just for the occasion. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-school-cancels-prom-to-avoid-lesbian-student-bringing-a-date/532108/164 "2010-03-22T17:24:18Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > It was more an observation that lots of people in this thread are falling over themselves to be super-tolerant and accepting of one minority, but not super-tolerant and accepting of an alternative view on the same issue, that’s all. > [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I hate to think what you’d say if I actually _did_ think it was entirely the girl’s fault and they should apologise to the rest of the school community for ruining their formal (and let me reiterate that’s not my opinion on the subject)- I’d be willing to bet it wouldn’t be “Well, I respect your opinion and see where you’re coming from, and isn’t it great that we can have such a wide range of opinions here?”. Blacks are stupid and Mexicans are lazy, and women should be forced to bear a child a year until they die. I’m not too keen on the Jews either, so I think I should be able to beat them up for their wallets. I eagerly await you being super-tolernat and accepting of my views. > [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > My understanding is that the girls were allowed to attend, provided they both wore evening gowns and had a male companion. I don’t think there was anything stopping them from simply finding a couple of understanding guys to take them, then just going off and doing their own thing once they got to the formal (that’s what at least one lesbian couple did at one of my high school formals, FWIW). > > Of course, one of them would have had to wear an evening gown instead of a tux but personally I’d call it a pretty fair compromise for the most part- certainly a lot better than having no formal at all because people are being unreasonable stick-in-the-muds about something. Well, since I think Blacks are stupid, clearly I don’t want them marrying any whites. But if they just “marry” each other and then swap houses to miscegenate, I guess I can’t prevent it. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-school-cancels-prom-to-avoid-lesbian-student-bringing-a-date/532108/165 "2010-03-22T18:09:03Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I eagerly await you being super-tolernat and accepting of my views. You’d better watch out. The only thing we DON’T tolerate on this board is mis-spelling !!! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-school-cancels-prom-to-avoid-lesbian-student-bringing-a-date/532108/166 "2010-03-22T18:37:02Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Fear not - I’m sure the Westboro Baptist folk will make a special road trip just for the occasion. We don’t want them! Eww! Cooties! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-school-cancels-prom-to-avoid-lesbian-student-bringing-a-date/532108/167 "2010-03-22T18:38:17Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > You’d better watch out. The only thing we DON’T tolerate on this board is mis-spelling !!! At least it wasn’t an “I don’t know how to spell that word” misspelling, but rather an “I didn’t notice that I’d transposed some letters” misspelling. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-school-cancels-prom-to-avoid-lesbian-student-bringing-a-date/532108/168 "2010-03-23T06:52:11Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > Probably just like any other high school in America. I have a feeling high school students in Mississippi will tend to be more homophobic than in most other states. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-school-cancels-prom-to-avoid-lesbian-student-bringing-a-date/532108/169 "2010-03-23T07:27:54Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > I have a feeling high school students in Mississippi will tend to be more homophobic than in most other states. I’m inclined to agree. Children tend to take on the views and beliefs of their parents. ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-school-cancels-prom-to-avoid-lesbian-student-bringing-a-date/532108/170 "2010-03-23T07:55:06Z")
I find it hard to believe that even isolated Indian tribes deep in the Amazon basin aren’t burned-out on this gay/lesbian buzzkill. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-school-cancels-prom-to-avoid-lesbian-student-bringing-a-date/532108/171 "2010-03-23T10:57:49Z")
> [@Claude\_Remains](#): > > I find it hard to believe that even isolated Indian tribes deep in the Amazon basin aren’t burned-out on this gay/lesbian buzzkill. Those darned gay people just ruin all our fun. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-school-cancels-prom-to-avoid-lesbian-student-bringing-a-date/532108/172 "2010-03-23T15:34:44Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Those darned gay people just ruin all our fun. Makes the term “gay” kind of misleading, doesn’t it. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-school-cancels-prom-to-avoid-lesbian-student-bringing-a-date/532108/173 "2010-03-23T16:03:38Z")
> [@Claude\_Remains](#): > > I find it hard to believe that even isolated Indian tribes deep in the Amazon basin aren’t burned-out on this gay/lesbian buzzkill. Despite their isolation they surely also have strongly held opinions about the degree of homophobia and backwardness in Mississippi. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-school-cancels-prom-to-avoid-lesbian-student-bringing-a-date/532108/174 "2010-03-23T16:26:07Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > I’m inclined to agree. Children tend to take on the views and beliefs of their parents. There are those of us in Mississippi who are not homophobic: a lot more than you guys are giving us credit for. Things are changing here. Come down and see for yourselves. The past is the past. Let the past die in peace. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-school-cancels-prom-to-avoid-lesbian-student-bringing-a-date/532108/175 "2010-03-23T23:01:19Z")
> [@Juliana](#): > > There are those of us in Mississippi who are not homophobic: a lot more than you guys are giving us credit for. Things are changing here. Come down and see for yourselves. > > The past is the past. Let the past die in peace. You’re right, you’re not all homophobic. But the Bible Belt is very real and there is a higher concentration of Christian fundamentalism and the homophobia that typically accompanies it in the South than elsewhere in the United States. Thus I’d be inclined to agree that in a Southern high school there is likely a more concentrated element of homophobia- which is demonstrated by the school’s reaction to these two girls. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-school-cancels-prom-to-avoid-lesbian-student-bringing-a-date/532108/176 "2010-03-24T00:11:04Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > I have a feeling high school students in Mississippi will tend to be more homophobic than in most other states. I wonder - in all seriousness - if there would be any way to measure that. Is there any reason why would you say Mississippi? Have you been here? Have you been to other states? (I mean, states other than your home state). It is true that in the Bible Belt there tends to be more anti-gay sentiment. Fear, really, is what it is. Another thing here … in the case of this particular school, I’m not sure if outsiders really understand how rural this place is. In the 2000 census, the entire population of the county was only 22,770 folks. I think we’re all aware that prograss comes more slowly to rural areas. ---
**Author:** ![Condescending\_Robot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a183cd/32.png) [@Condescending\_Robot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Condescending_Robot)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-school-cancels-prom-to-avoid-lesbian-student-bringing-a-date/532108/177 "2010-03-24T00:53:26Z")
> [@Juliana](#): > > There are those of us in Mississippi who are not homophobic: a lot more than you guys are giving us credit for. Things are changing here. Come down and see for yourselves. > > The past is the past. Let the past die in peace. What, you mean this prom thing that happened two weeks ago? That past? ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-school-cancels-prom-to-avoid-lesbian-student-bringing-a-date/532108/178 "2010-03-24T01:42:01Z")
Yet another example of women ruining everything. I kid the double X’s. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-school-cancels-prom-to-avoid-lesbian-student-bringing-a-date/532108/179 "2010-03-24T01:48:58Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > Yet another example of women ruining everything. This had me in stitches. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-school-cancels-prom-to-avoid-lesbian-student-bringing-a-date/532108/180 "2010-03-24T02:20:26Z")
Here’s something interesting - [Baptists as a percentage of total residents, 2000](http://www.valpo.edu/geomet/pics/geo200/religion/baptist.gif). [Mormons.](http://www.valpo.edu/geomet/pics/geo200/religion/mormon.gif) [Religious adherents](http://www.valpo.edu/geomet/pics/geo200/religion/adherents.gif). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-school-cancels-prom-to-avoid-lesbian-student-bringing-a-date/532108.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-school-cancels-prom-to-avoid-lesbian-student-bringing-a-date/532108.md?page=10)