Constance McMillen Wanted to Take Her Girlfriend to the Prom, So the School Board Canceled it

By: Carlin DeGuerin Miller
Topics: Daily Blotter

Constance McMillen (Personal Photo)

Jackson, Miss. (CBS/AP) When Constance McMillen fought the law, the law canceled the fight.

With the backing of the ACLU, McMillen fought an Itawamba County school board to be able to take her lesbian partner and wear a tuxedo to the Itawamba County Agricultural High School prom, in the small town of Itawamba, Miss. about 20 miles east of Tupelo.

The school board responded Wednesday by announcing they were canceling the entire prom, scheduled for April 2.

Memo Given to Students (Credit: WIAT)

A Feb. 5 memo to students laid out the criteria for bringing a date to the prom, and one requirement was that the person must be of the opposite sex. The ACLU told board members the restriction violated the students' rights and not allowing McMillen to wear a tux violated her expression rights.

McMillen almost didn't return to school Thursday for fear of retribution by her classmates who had just lost their prom because of her.

"My daddy told me that I needed to show them that I'm still proud of who I am," McMillen said. "The fact that this will help people later on, that's what's helping me to go on."

Same-sex prom dates and cross-dressing are new issues for many high schools around the country, said Daryl Presgraves, a spokesman for GLSEN: Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, a Washington-based advocacy group.

He said those kind of policies are detrimental to gay students. "It sends a message that these students shouldn't be treated the same," Presgraves said.

McMillen said she did feel some hostility toward her on campus, explaining, "Somebody said, 'Thanks for ruining my senior year."'

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by broadwayluvr23 August 31, 2011 11:42 PM EDT: I am so mad at this! How can people be so mean to people like her! Being gay shouldn't affect her normal life in high school, and anywhere else for that matter. And I'm glad she stood up for herself even though there were many people who went against her. She deserved to be able to bring her girlfriend to prom. Being gay shouldn't be an everyday thing that people see and label on people who are homosexual. It doesn't matter if anyone's gay or not. They should as well be treated as anybody else. Equality is important, and that was such a rude thing to do to cancel the prom for everyone, including her. I think the school deserved to be sued because they don't see what I see. Gay people are the same as anyone else, they're human beings! And they deserve to be treated right. Remember the Golden Rule: Treat others as you would want to be treated. And the silver rule: One should not treat others in ways that one would not like to be treated. Also, that was pretty rude for people in her school to complain to her and blame her for ruining prom and their senior year. Of course, I understand prom is a very anxiously awaited thing in many schools, and it was unfair that they cancelled the prom for EVERYONE, but they should be blaming the school, not HER. It's just unjust and unfair for her to be treated this way. Including her girlfriend. So send a message if you read this comment to stop judging people who are ****...see them as any other human on this planet earth!!; Reply to this comment


by freddythe1 May 14, 2011 11:26 AM EDT: i feel so sorry for this poor little girl. her classmates see her sexual preference only as "looking for attention". maybe if she hadn't been DISCRIMINATED AGAINST in the first place, she wouldn't have had to "ruin their prom" by standing up for herself! at least she has family support! i hope she pulls through all this ok, and doesn't suffer the effects of bullying for years to come.; Reply to this comment


by phillipeb October 12, 2010 2:31 PM EDT: Thankfully here dad knows whats up. Its all about standing up for what you believe in, especially if you have the support system that others may not. Good luck in your fight.; Reply to this comment


by SLC_Lady July 22, 2010 5:55 PM EDT: 20 ?If a man beats his male or female slave with a club and the slave dies as a result, the owner must be punished. 21 But if the slave recovers within a day or two, then the owner shall not be punished, since the slave is his property."
Exodus 21:20-21

LOL the bible says a lot of things. Please use facts, not mythology to try and prove your point!; Reply to this comment


by BrandiR15 June 22, 2010 11:13 PM EDT: First off people should not throw religion or anything into this situation. Who cares what people do with their life? If that's the way they want to live it then why is it bothering you so bad? I think it's stupid that people are so consumed over "Oh my god homosexuals are digusting". No it's people like you that make people want to kill theirselves, and make this world horrible. Live your own life and stop trying to live others. Everybody needs to be treated equally no matter who or what they are. And I'm pretty sure that anyone that wrote something bad in these comments, if you think long and hard about I guarantee you've done alot worse in your own life. So grow up and leave this alone and deal with your own problems.; Reply to this comment

by Gloria62 June 22, 2010 1:48 PM EDT

I will state this as simply as the God states it in the Holy Bible.

1 Corinthians 5 verse 9: Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

If you do not repent, and ask for God's forgiveness, the bible indicates how God's judgement will fall. Yes, God is about love, but God is also just. And he will not deal with society's decline much further. Christ is coming soon!

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by mathematicsteacher August 11, 2010 3:48 PM EDT: No he's not. His second coming was supposed to happen in the early 2nd century. Didn't happen then or the other times that the writers of the bible pushed it back to , time and time again. Live your life outside the mental repression of religion and you shall grow into humanity.


by Matthew7_3 May 26, 2010 12:26 AM EDT: As a Christian, your comments are highly offensive, idontbuyit. Because of hate-filled, selfish, judgemental people like yourself, others are missing out on what the true Love of God is about. Whenever I talk to people about God and Christianity, more times than not, my words are tarnished because of experiences they have had with "Christians" in the past, who speak words similar to the ones you have written.

You know, in all the accounts I've read, the Bible speaks of God coming to love and heal and save and all other sorts of good things. I don't read where He tells us to judge, offend, put-down, and criticize others. In fact, I can think of more than one passage where God specifically directs us not to do these things.

Sure, there are interpretations of passages where we are directed about what things in life are right and just and what is harmful to the body and spirit. But here's the thing: We're supposed to make sure our own lives are in check first. (look up the scripture in my user name, I'm sure you'll recognize it) Also, we aren't the ones to judge a person. That is only God's job. How do you know what will send a person to Heaven or to Hell? You don't. And the bottom line is, if God chooses to let all these people into Heaven who are 'not worthy' in your eyes, are you really going to argue against God for that? Be glad that He loved you enough to give you an opportunity for salvation.

Let God decide the fate of people, and just do what we were called to do: love others. I'm sure you recognize this also:

1 Corinthians 13
Love
1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,but have not love, I gain nothing.

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Stop spreading words of hate and tarnishing the witness of Christians who are actually seeking to love others as God loves us. I can guarantee you that a non-Christian is going to be willing to listen to you talk about God more if you are loving and kind to them, instead of shoving all sorts of insults down their throats.; Reply to this comment

by roaringdinosaur May 3, 2010 7:35 PM EDT

Okay, for everyone who uses 'God' as an excuse to attack loving, honest people because they just happened to love someone of the same gender (seriously guys, not that big of a deal) I'd just like to give them a little food for thought. Never in the bible does it say 'Stone the gays'. Now, there are some fanatics out there waving their hands in the air screaming 'YES IT DOES, YES IT DOES!!!' and *technically* it does. In the New Testaments. As in, the man-made one. In the *Old* Testements on the other hand, there isn't a word spoken against homosexuals. Oh, and abortion, they don't say that it's wrong. Basically, the words that are supposedly straight from God's mouth, is the Old Testaments, the New ones are actually infulenced by people.

Guys, if the flippin' Vatican is okay with it (I probably shouldn't even mention them because of the current controversy, but I will because they aren't *all* involved in the scandal, if you don't know what I'm talking about...jeez, you really are an idiot, aren't you?) I think you can knock down those racist walls in your mind.

And the story itself, not being allowed to wear a tux, really, why is it so wrong? The school board wants young women to dress in the shortest dress, highest heels, and lowest neckline they can find? So why is it okay for a girl to wear boys' clothes at school then? (eg, baggy pants, skater shoes, big shirts, boyfriend jackets) This is just...well, it's disgusting. I really hope that someday society will look back at this, and see the close-mindedness as an ugly blemish in America's history books.

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by mathematicsteacher August 11, 2010 3:53 PM EDT: Umm, have you read the old testament? Genesis, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. There are specific scriptures in each of these that condemns homosexuality. The more you read it, the more you understand it is JUST A BOOK.


by RodneyMcLean1982 April 12, 2010 11:38 AM EDT: Religious fanatics crack me up. In the end the question is simple: Who do you think God is going to kick out of Heaven? Those that loved, unconditionally, and allowed others to do the same; or those that made sure they hated each and every single person that their man-made religion told them too?
Regardless of what your answer is when you die my boyfriend and I will be the ones sitting just inside Heaven?s gate, laughing and pointing with our cosmos and a rainbow over our heads. I hope all of you pathetically angry people someday find happiness. Amen.; Reply to this comment


by tigereye_0 April 7, 2010 3:23 PM EDT: I agree with the parents and their children. They did what they wnated, and they didn't break a law to do it. A parent had their own party, and everyone chose to go to it. Citizens have that right. Constance could have thrown her own party too, but she didn't.
I think it shows that overall, America does not agree with the gay rights movement. Sorry ACLU. Liberals try to shove it down our throats and call us ignorant and stupid. We have opinions too, and they often get tossed aside in the name of freedom. Those of us that don't agree with gay philospohy are bigoted against and sued.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and own action. Yes Constance was left out, and it's not fair, but the parents did nothing wrong in the eyes of the law. And I applaud them for being aware of their children and teaching them what is moral and right.; Reply to this comment