Constance McMillen Invited to Private Prom, Lesbian Partner and Tux Allowed

JACKSON, Miss. (CBS/AP) Constance McMillen has (finally) been invited to the private senior prom meant to replace the one that was canceled by the school board in her small Mississippi town.

An attorney for the Itawamba County school board, in Itawamba, Miss., about 20 miles east of Tupelo, said Tuesday that McMillen will be allowed to escort her girlfriend to the dance Friday at the Fulton County Country Club. The prom is being held by the parents of a student at McMillen's school.

McMillen was told by school officials in February that she would not be able to bring her partner, who is also a student at Itawamba Agricultural High School, to the school-sanctioned dance, nor would she be able to wear the tux she planned to wear. The ACLU got involved shortly after and the school board responded by canceling the dance altogether rather than allow her to attend with her girlfriend.

The ACLU filed a lawsuit against the school board in February claiming that the school violated McMillen's constitutional rights. A federal judge ruled March 23 that McMillen's rights were violated and that he would hold a trial on the matter later.

But the judge stopped short of requiring the school board to reinstate the prom, as parents had already formulated their plan to hold a private prom.

McMillen had previously said she wasn't sure whether she would attend the privately sponsored prom even if she was invited because of the reaction from her classmates.

"My nerves are shot," she said March 23 after the judge's ruling. "I'm going to school [March 24] and will get a feel of how everybody feels about me. That will help me make my decision."

MORE ON CRIMESIDER
March 24, 2010 - Lesbian Prom Update: Constance McMillen's Rights Violated, But School Doesn't Have to Hold Prom
March 23, 2010 - Lesbian Prom Update: We'd Been Thinking of Canceling the Prom For, Like, a Million Non-Lesbian Reasons, Says School Board
March 11, 2010 - Constance McMillen Wanted to Take Her Girlfriend to the Prom, So the School Board Canceled it