Rather than allow a female student to attend the prom with another female student, a Mississippi school has cancelled the prom. The ACLU is now suing the school.

What is it with Mississippi? If you've seen the excellent documentary Prom Night in Mississippi, that school had separate proms for the black and white students. The actor Morgan Freeman agreed to pay for the prom if the school would host an integrated prom--which they did, and which was a great success. However, some of the white parents still went and organized a separate whites-only prom.

All these students--white, black, gay, straight, lesbian--they all go to the same school, they're on the same teams, ride the same school buses, eat in the same cafeteria, are friends with each other. Why then would you not allow them to attend the same prom together? Mississippi, what's going on down there? Wake up! This is the 21st century.

Reason #863 why I want virtually nothing to do with the Deep South. Honestly, I think the heat affects their brains, and by this point, it has become a genetic trait.

Yeah so instead of trying to actually TEACH kids about tolerance (if not acceptance), let's ostracize this girl even more and give the student body even more reason to hate this girl. Brilliant!

You know. When I see stories like this, or hear some religious rube, who invariably comes from the deep south, spew ignorant interpretations of the Bible, or read Darwin awards entries, I wonder if the rest of the US wouldn't have been better off had we let them secede and stay seceded in 1860.

Think about it. Segregation would have ended sooner. No Jesse Helms. No Lester Maddox. No George Wallace. Probably less of a red state/blue state divide. We gays would probably have rights more along the lines of Canada and western Europe. Think about. No Pat Robertson. No George W. Bush.

Keep those Confederate dollars. Let's hope the South will rise again.

Only if we get to keep William Faulkner, Sam Clemens (unless you want to exclude Missouri as a compromise state) and especially Tennessee Williams - to name a few.

And I have a great deal of respect for Duke University, despite what they've done to my Terps over the years. What they have done to preserve the sad history of Black Slavery in the USA is invaluable in helping us to finally deal with that ugly chapter.

Come to think of it. Why not start with Texas? They want to secede anyhow. They could unite with Mexico, who have always wanted them. Or they could finally have a formal union with Saudi Arabia, which is their governing and economic model from the look of things.

And GWB would not have to go so far to hold hands with the prince or visit his buddies the bin Ladens. The more I think about this secession thing the more I like it. What is the net flow of federal dollars in the South?

Basically....and Mississippi is one of those deep south states I think of that I still would not want to get caught traveling through late at night and get broke down in the middle of bumf**k nowhere. I am so glad I didn't not cave into the pressure of following so many other professional blacks who moved to Atlanta because I just don't have a southern mentality and I just know me and know that I would've gotten in trouble for snappin off at some redneck son of a bitch who thought we were still back in Jim Crow. Ungh ungh...let me keep my behind right where it is.

For what it's worth, Mississipit got $2.02 in federal money for every dollar in federal taxes paid in 2005 and Texas actually only got $0.92 per dollar.

So Texas should be happy to go on its own.

Of course their national defense expenditures could increase a bit. (See previous post.) They are sure to be the object of a takeover by another state with a larger military and even more ruthless leaders than their own.

But this is all just idle (if pleasant) speculation

Wasn't 2005 the year of Katrina. If so, I have no problem with them getting extra federal $.

As for the subject of the thread, it is pretty sad. But in general the young woman learned a valuable lesson. Prom was canceled because she asked for permission. She should have just showed up with her date.

The school district itself may be learning a valuable lesson itself.

New Orleans hotelier Sean Cummings has offered to host the Mississippi school's prom at one of his hotels, such as the stylish International House.

Ontarians will recall the case of Marc Hall, who had to fight for his right to bring his same-sex date to the prom. Yes, this happened in CANADA (in 2002) and was turned into a movie, Prom Queen: the Marc Hall story.

Constance McMillan on the Ellen Degeneres show.

Apparently, a private prom is being organized for the students--one where Constance McMillan is not invited. And, being a private event, organizers have every right to exclude Constance and her "gay activist" friends--which is what they're doing.

Well, that's what private means. I've had private parties at my place where I wouldn't invite co-workers or even relatives that I don't like. Private means, you can invite and not invite anyone you want. It's their choice who they want to exclude. The reasons can be homophobic, or any other stupid reason they desire.

If Constance has friends, who are truly her friends, I'd hope they'd decline to go to such a prom. Or, if they go because they want a prom experience (which is understandable at that age) I hope they still spend some quality time with her as a friend, even if it's not a prom setting. I'd wonder why she'd want to be around such ignorant people in the first place. I hope she has her own private prom, or party, for herself, her date, and their true friends.

Ellen says that she offered to organize a prom for Constance, but I think her (Constance's) feeling is that she doesn't want a special prom for her and her friends. She wants to go to the main prom with the rest of her graduating class. And I think that's an important point she's making. Like we see in Prom Night in Mississippi, where a school held separate white (parents organized) and black (school organized) proms. The point was that all of these kids go to the same school and, whether they are friends or not, they are in the same graduating class and deserve the right to attend the official school prom together. If anybody wants to organize their own private party--that's fine. But the official school event should be something that all students are allowed--and encouraged--to attend. By cancelling the event, the school board is denying all the students their chance for a school prom--and, making Constance the scapegoat, the target of everyone's resentment. Great way to educate kids!

I don't know if anyone else here reads Don Savage's weekly column "Savage Love", but he has recommended readers show support for Constance McMillen by contacting the Itawamba County School Board. You can either email the superintendant Teresa McNeece: twmcneece@itawamba.k12.ms.us or call 662-862-3104, ext 14. I just phoned and left a courteous but firm message expressing my support for Constance and disappointment with the board's intolerance.

As Savage said in his column: Constance needs to know that there are people all over the world who are on her side. And more importantly, Itawamba County Schools needs to know that we're not going to let them get away with this. Be respectful, but be relentless. Let's show these bigots what a real "distraction" looks like.

Well, here's my letter to her:

March 21, 2010


Dear Superintendant Teresa McNeece,

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Millerbeach, and I live in XXXX, Indiana. The reason for my writing is in regards to a recent decision by your school corporation to cancel Prom 2010.

While I understand a school's concern for many matters, I believe schools should be teaching, regardless of whether or not this teaching occurs during typical school hours.

An opportunity to teach an important lesson on tolerance was sadly squandered by the canceling of the prom. One of the most needed aspects of our global economy is to have tolerance for those different than us. It will serve all students very well to learn this lesson.

As a Christian, I would hope that the lessons Jesus taught us while He graced this planet could serve as a template for all of our lives, especially those entrusted with the education of our children, who truly are our future. Please remember scriptures in the Bible which clearly state Jesus walking with the lepers, the prostitutes, the tax collectors...the "undesireables" of society. Jesus Christ defended his company with them, reminding us that we are to love our neighbors the same way we love his Father, God.

I pray you make the right decision and hold the 2010 Prom. It would teach your students the important lesson of tolerance, and provide an excellent example of leadership.

Sincerely,

Millerbeach

(Edited to add...after about 20 minutes, I received an error message, saying it "failed" How poetic.)

What about the kid in smalltown, GA who got permission from his Principal to bring his bf to prom only to have his parents kick him out of the house after the news broke.

What a screwed up world we live in.

A small group of students are protesting that a gay male student will be bringing his boyfriend with him to the prom.

On a positive note:

Wow...just gotta love the notion that the Teacher of the Year would kick his own son out of his house. Brilliant.