Meanwhile in Mississippi March 11, 2010
Posted by Matt in news.Tags: cowardice, discrimination, homosexuality, Itawamba County school district, Mississippi
5 comments
This year’s high school prom has been cancelled in the rural Itawamba County school district in northeast Mississippi on the Alabama border. So, you ask, why would they do away with an event so momentous for their soon-to-be graduating seniors? Was there a terrible accident? A fire? A tornado?
No, it turns out the reason the school district has cancelled this year’s prom is because an 18-year old high school senior, who also happens to be a lesbian, wants to attend with her girlfriend. School policy, though, requires senior prom dates be of the opposite sex. In the ensuing stalemate, the ACLU of Mississippi took the side of the young woman, arguing that banning same-sex prom dates violated her constitutional rights.
So, faced with prospect of being forced to crawl out of 1950, the school board met and announced that the school prom would be cancelled “due to the distractions caused by recent events,” following up with, “it is our hope that private citizens will organize an event for the juniors and seniors.”
There’s nothing like privatization to bring back some good old fashioned discrimination…
