From prom-wrecker to hero? [updated]

Constance McMillen

Yesterday, I blogged about the sad affair where Constance McMillen, a lesbian senior in Mississippi, had to involve the ACLU to try and convince her high school’s administration to let her go to the prom with her girlfriend whilst wearing a tuxedo, despite this being against their policy – only for the school to retaliate against her by canceling its prom altogether and making it clear to the students that this lesbian prom-wrecker was to blame.

Of course, this sort of mindless and outright discriminatory act was also profoundly reckless, serving only to pull the school into the pits of legal troubles by violating its students’ rights in that way. I noted that the ACLU would never let go of a constitutional challenge such as this.

And guess what? They’re suing.

The phrase “told you so …” comes to mind.

The American Civil Liberties Union will sue a Mississippi high school after it canceled its prom this year rather than let a lesbian student bring her girlfriend as a date.

The suit in the U.S. district court for northern Mississippi calls for Itawamba Agricultural High School in Fulton to reinstate the prom on April 2.

“All I wanted was the same chance to enjoy my prom night like any other student," Constance McMillen, the 18-year-old senior, said in a statement on Thursday. "But my school would rather hurt all the students than treat everyone fairly. This isn’t just about me and my rights anymore — now I’m fighting for the right of all the students at my school to have our prom.”

[…]

“Itawamba school officials are trying to turn Constance into the villain who called the whole thing off, and that just isn’t what happened,” said Kristy Bennett, legal director for the ACLU of Mississippi. “She’s fighting for everyone to be able to enjoy the prom. The government, and that includes public schools, can’t censor someone’s free expression just because some other person might not like it.”

I previously noted how this act on the school’s part was doubly cruel: not only were the students out of a prom (and for no other reason than the school board’s bigotry and senselessness), but the whole thing was orchestrated so that the blame would fall squarely on poor Constance, who only wanted to bring her girlfriend to the greatest night of their lives until now and who instead ended up the scapegoat for a pathetic administration’s cowardly misdeed.

However, things may just turn for the better with the advent of this lawsuit. Now that the ACLU is exercising its not-so-inconsiderable legal influence to try and get the board to clean up their act and put the prom back on track, especially with Constance spearheading the affair, the may instead begin to be seen as the girl who is actually trying to get the students their prom back. Who knows; with a bit of luck and perhaps a twist of fate, she might just be seen as the hero she truly is in all of this, sacrificing her own reputation to try and do what’s right and change archaic old policies that have no place in these modern times.

Let’s just keep our fingers crossed until the next development … hopefully a good one.

(via @todayspolitics)

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UPDATE: (03/13/09 12:01 AM) – Via @Newsydotcom, this video showing different news channels’ perspectives on the case. Guess which “news” channel has the most skewed and unfavorable spin?

HOST: The host of Fox News’s Red Eye takes a lighter approach to the situation, questioning the girl’s motivation.

GREG GUTFELD: Here’s my problem with this story. Most teens, whether they are gay or straight – everything they do is to seek attention. So, is this the case, that these girls just want to blow everyone away with their progressiveness? It wasn’t really about the prom.

Typical Faux: she’s a lesbian student who’s fighting for her rights, so naturally, she’s just an attention whore who’s milking this thing to try and push her evil progressive views on everyone. (Then again, though, I’ve touched on Gutfeld’s patheticness before.)

I do like the offer from New Orleans hotel owner Sean Cummings to have students who are interested in a great and non-discriminatory prom brought over to his building, free of charge. How cool. Finally, someone who’s willing to do the right thing for these students.