Can you help me see that? She asked the board for a letter stating she would be allowed at prom in non-traditional attire and with a same sex companion. It was common knowledge this was allowed, written policy notwithstanding. But going to her principal and superintendant, the people who have to enforce the policy but not make it, and requesting a public statement against policy was futile. Going to the board and asking them to contravene policy (since it could have led to their changing it) was correct but not in the time frame she had given them.
Had the request been to change the written policy I could see your point, but it was not. The ACLU contacted her and offered to file the lawsuit not the other way around. For the record, I am glad they did and hope this will end such probitions. That doesn’t change the fact her focus appears to have been soley on herself.
The big deal (and this is probably a cultural difference) is that she chose to act in a rash manner with little hope for success. There was a well known tradition of allowing interracial couples all the freedoms same race couples had.
Diosa, nobody is saying the policy was okay. Grave is simply pointing out that her chance of sucess in getting the policy changed in time to attend prom would have been greater, had she started earlier.
No, he’s not saying “Yeah, go get 'em girls! Should have done this earlier!”
He’s saying that since they didn’t pipe up earlier, they should keep their mouths shut now. Every moment of every day is the right time to fight against policies that are wrong.
I get that the kid may have not have gone about what she was trying to accomplish in the most organized or effective manner, but she’s a freaking kid. The spirit of what she is doing is wonderful. And sometimes it takes something minor (like refusing to get off a seat in a bus) for the spark of change to occur.
I’m a little horrified by this idea that she should have just sat back and went along with it because hey, even though on paper she isn’t afforded equal rights, everybody looked the other way and let her use the water fountain.
False. This is a matter a civil rights, even though you don’t see it as one. It seems minor, it’s just a prom, but the fact that there is a rule on the books that gay students are not treated equally is absolutely ridiculous. I’m sorry you don’t see those two things as the same, but basic human rights (equality, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness- all that good stuff) apply to all.
Actually, I would be saying that were I in such a discussion. I am not however; I am only trying to provide a less sensationalized point of view than has been present in this thread so far. Hopefully, a point of view that helps people better understand the dynamics of the situation.
As far as every moment being the correct moment to fight… no, it isn’t. That is a rather nice rallying cry I suppose, but there are correct ways to deal with public policy. This was not one of them.
Exactly. I can think of few instances in which social justice and civil rights were served by simply being polite and waiting for someone in power to, finally, realize that rights are being denied.
You could be right that she wasn’t looking to change the policy. Reviewing the initial events, I’m not sure. But if she would have been allowed to bring her date and wear a tux, it was only allowed by the principal’s whim and it could be reversed just as easily. Maybe she didn’t feel like relying on his good graces.
Where do you get that she asked for a public statement? It seems to me that she asked for an assurance the principal would make the same exception for her that (according to you) he’d made in the past. She says she was told she would not be allowed to take her girlfriend or wear what she wanted. Should she have just assumed she would be allowed even though she’d been told she would not?
No. EVERY moment is the right moment to fight. I know, it’s hard to let go of the status quo. I know, it’s fun to fight for the underdog. I know, maybe you want the gays to fail. I know, maybe you think they’re attention whores.
It’s not a stupid rallying cry. Every single moment is the right moment to fight. Rebellion against shit policies is what this fucking country is all about.
Yup. And by looking hopefully at our menfolk with adoring eyes and thinking that maybe, maybe someday, we might get to cast a vote. We wouldn’t be so rude as to agitate, that sort of thing might distress people!
Hussy! Showing me such scandalous imagery! Go back to your husband post haste and make a pot roast. I’m convinced now more than ever that you don’t deserve suffrage!
But hey, maybe your husband will let you vote for him! Sure, on paper you don’t get to vote, but you get to do it anyway. That’s fun, isn’t it, little lady?
No, not false. It was (in retrospect) so much easier to fight for racial equality. The lines were drawn by colors, and visual identifiers which were so, so much easier to decry and defeat. When it comes to homosexuality (or really, anything beyond vanilla hetero) the lines are not so easy to see. All races tend to be very vocally anti-homosexual, religion plays a crucial part… to conflate the two is to dimish them both. While both may be civil rights, the struggles are not the same.
Perhaps I am reading this wrong, but it seems you hope to goad a response and as such I am both bemused and slightly confused. The correct moment to fight is in the court on your appointed day. The correct moment to fight is when you are in front of the board. The correct moment to fight is when you have everything in order to win or try your best.
I can think of none, actually. I would never advocate such a path.
That is a very valid point, and I do not think there is anyway to conclusively prove or disprove it. I choose, looking at the overall situation, to not believe that to be the case. Perhaps that is where our differences lie.
Yes, actually. Constance asked her assistant principle and superindentant for assurances that were beyond their power to give. She chose to do so in the face of data that said they would not follow the published policy. She asked for a public statement in (and perhaps this isn’t stated in the news) that she asked for a written letter and not verbal assurances. Once she escalated the issue to the board she ask for a written letter as well. Anything written is, by default, public when issued by an official body.
However, if you want to get the school board to change a policy you have to allow time to make the request, discuss/fight about it, and come to a resolution.
Certainly.
Again, I’m not seeing that idea in Grave’s posts. That idea is not in my posts either.
Again, I don’t get that message from Grave’s posts.
