If it had been against school policy to allow gays to attend the prom together, then it needed to be addressed and it needs to be dismantled. Just because the current principal had been bypassing the policy doesn’t mean diddly. “Oh, it’s not causing any harm” is BS, I think. It’s mere existence shows how behind the times this school district is. The principal shouldn’t have to ignore the policy- the policy shouldn’t exist to begin with.
So then what would be the harm in rewriting the school policy so that it says that people can attend with a date of either gender? I don’t understand where all the drama is coming from if people here are as open minded as you claim. Surely it would simply be a matter of stating that the policy had changed and just holding the prom.
I would not disagree with you on that point at all. There are correct ways to address issues of policy, ways that can produce fruit, and this simply wasn’t one. Even for a teenager, the concept that the school board sets policy is rather easy to grasp.
I do not, however, believe that was the girl’s intent, since she has never indicated such. Nor has she tried to organize or promote any such changes to the community at large.
As I stated before ma’am or sir, I feel the policy is incorrect. While the staff at the high school might be understanding, the community is not. Many are of a religous view that sees homosexuality as a sin, so there won’t be a simple statement of change. It would be hotly debated and perhaps even defeated the first few times it was tabled. Still, if that is what Constance sought she could have attempted to change it by addressing the board.
The school board is often wrong. She brought attention to what she believed to be a worthy cause. As for the fact that she has never done it before–there’s always gotta be a first time. Frankly, I’m not that surprised. Growing up different in a town like that–I’d be pretty reluctant to put myself forward. Especially considering how they basically black balled her from the “real prom.”
Allow me to apologize for my lack of skill with words, but that notion is exactly what I sought to combat. Constance was never black balled - she was so (to quote a teacher there) “determined to cause fights” that the other students decided to not associate with her. Even those who had supported her initially. Nor has she ‘brought attention to a worthy cause’ - in fact she seems to have no cause at all beyond what observers have associated with her.
And before you write off the town as some hellhole for those who aren’t “normal”, please be aware Constance plans to attend community college there. With scholarship offers from several sources she could easily leave for different community standards, yet chooses not to.
Generally good people from that corner of the state, if not up to the standards of the SDMB 
As for the name, I imagine they are - that’s a small family by southern standards.
Thank you for the compliment.
I don’t know any of these people personally so I’m not really qualified to make judgments I suppose. But frankly, she shouldn’t have to leave. It’s her home, too- despite what the community may want to believe.
Grave: You’re very welcome. I’m partial to the Northern part of the state, I’m from Lafayette County. 
AClockworkMelon: I think the point was that she chooses to go to school there, not that she has to leave or that the community wants her gone.
As far as I saw or heard, no one expects her to leave. I was offering that as a counterpoint to FS’s attack on the town.
Just so I’m clear on this. The principal had no problem with letting her and her girlfriend go to prom. But the reason this became a big deal is that she wanted administrators to go out of their way to actually change whatever policy was on the books instead of just simply ignoring said policy.
Is that correct?
The administrators couldn’t change the policy, it would have to be changed by the school board, as I understand it.
That is more correct than not, yes. Please note she also made the request in a manner that had no chance of success. on edit, what NinetyWt said
Color me impressed with the
[quote on this page]
(http://lafiga.firedoglake.com/2010/04/05/wheres-constance-photos-from-a-private-proms/) from a high school student in Canada. I wish I could have been that articulate and wise back when I was in high school.
If this is actually true, why has no one in the school administration said anything about it to the media?
Why do I get the urge to watch the documentary “Shut Up and Sing”?
Something…so…familiar…it’ll come to me…
Defamation issues, possibly?
I think it’s the principle of the matter- just because someone looks the other way for a rule doesn’t make it the right thing to do.
A (terrible) analogy to me would be if Rosa Parks sat on a Bus and refused to move, yet someone said, “Hey, forget about it, just take my seat and I’ll go to the back of the bus”. It’s not the initial actions that seem to be the issue here, but rather in the bigger scheme of things someone’s got to stand up and bring attention to the cause vs. just simply allowing people to get by through the kindness of people who “look the other way”.
Constance may seem like an attention seeker to some, but I’m sure there are others who would just as equally point out that how long must we as a society “look the other way”?
Her actions could certainly be seen as “selfish” but I’d say her actions also have served a greater purpose, whether her intentions were as such or not, as it certainly has snowballed into a way to get people to discuss the issues of homosexuality and equality, regardless of their stance on it, they’ve been forced to at least discuss it further due to the actions of someone else coming into the spotlight.
What about if it’s made people decide that gay people really are attention-seeking Drama Queens who deserve whatever they get for annoying people?
Getting people to “Talk about issues” isn’t always a good thing.
Then perhaps that’s what needs to be found out about these gay drama queens and we can finally just treat them as the attention whores they are.
Avoiding the issue certainly helps nothing, nor does tabling it for a later date if nothing really comes about of it.
I’d like to have a little faith though that my belief that perhaps though some may not be perfect, that for the most part people are people, and they’re no different than anyone else. If I’m wrong through the course of these discussions, then I suppose I’m wrong. But to simply treat actions where people look the other way simply because someone doesn’t quite fit in with the norm is not always the best solution. But I certainly do admit that I could be wrong in that position, I am human after all.
I don’t know Constance personally, but this sounds like baloney. Expecting her oh-so-tolerant school officials & classmates to back her in getting the school board to do the right thing is not ‘causing’ fights. The school board’s policy -should- be fought and fought loudly. However the ‘cause’ of those fights is the policy itself and the people who defend it or whitewash it or just stand around politely complicit.
And that’s assuming we buy your characterization of all the many tolerant charitable people who supposedly supported Constance, except, you know, when it actually counted.
She’s in the middle of a federal lawsuit filed on her behalf with the ACLU. She won a preliminary ruling saying that the school board had violated her first amendment right. The full court hearing is coming up eventually. So yes, she is in the middle of bringing attention to the issue and yes, she might just prevail on forcing the school board to change its policy. Which, by the way, is a perfectly valid way of effecting policy change without wasting time arguing with the bigots on the board.
Constance, incidentally, says she was told she couldn’t arrive at prom with her date, and that if they slow danced they could be kicked out. Not exactly the tolerant situation you describe above. cite
Good for her. I hope she stays strong.
As for your town, Grave, you yourself admit that most of the people there are religious bigots who wouldn’t accept civil rights for gay students without a serious fight. You say that most people consider homosexuality a sin and that they are anti-homosexual. You know, even if everyone is just so nice and polite, it doesn’t mean it’s not a hellhole.