The story of the day: Fulton MS: The World’s Cruelest Town
How in the world can people go to all the work it took in order to be mean, nasty, cruel and deceptive to a teenage students, one of whom just wanted to attend the prom with the date of her choice? Constance McMillen, the girl who wanted to go to prom with her girlfriend/date, had been told that the prom was canceled. Later, she got a letter from an attorney for the school board, inviting her to a privately-sponsored event. One of my favorite bloggers, Jim Burroway, posted coverage of the story, here.
With all that young people go through, you would expect that adults could do more than make life worse or more difficult. Not only were some students invited to this "separate but equal" (and it was NOT equal)
It would seem that somehow this "parent/teacher/chaperone group" figured their plan would be enough to get around the ACLU threat of a lawsuit.
Meanwhile I wonder who will come forward to support girls or boys like Constance, when, not IF the same situation presents itself in your town, at your local school. I hope when it happens in YOUR local school that many will not make such a disgrace of a simple request to go to the prom.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
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6 comments:
This is Mississippi, where you can actually see the time warp when you cross the state line. Most southern states are thinly veiled theocracies where fundmentalist churches reign supreme and rule the roost.
It's so sad for her and I hope the ACLU whoops the s&%t outta that school board.
The BoxTurtleBulletin post was good. That led me to the FireDogLake post that hooked me for the past couple of hours. Meanest Town In America
I just spent the last 2 and 1/2 reading posts about this and reading comments, LOTS of comments! Now it's too dark to walk the dogs. Thanks a LOT, Carol! ;)
I hope that some good comes from this for everyone involved. (I hope the kids who went to the secret prom grow from this experience.) I hope the rejected kids are able to move on, too.
Itawamba 2010 and the Lesbian
Yes, this was horrible. It certainly put a spotlight on a cruel community conspiracy.
There will be plenty of outrage over this, and rightfully so.
Refreshingly, there are positive stories out there as well. I like to celebrate those when I come across them... or it's just too much.
I went to a little high school in conservative country.
I posted a story about this on my Facebook.
Since then, 2 classmates that I haven't seen since graduation ('92) have messaged me.
One is now obsessed with the story and wondering how people can be so cruel. He's reading everything he can.
It's times like this that I am so hopeful about change- and social media/facebook/blogs are making a huge difference.
The other wrote to tell me that we all have reason to be proud of our alma mater.
They've had a gay couple attend the Homecoming and Winter Dances, and expect to see them at the Prom- kissing, holding hands, sitting on each others' laps- just like any.other.couple.
No big deal.
Now, THAT's a big deal!
Itawamba 2010 – The Bullies, The Bullied, and the Bystanders
The people in that town are just plain cruel. Constance is a better human being than the rest them combined. I reckon Constance will go on to make a happy, productive life and be a strong affirming member of whatever community she becomes a part of. Somehow, I don't think that town is gonna be a big part of her future.
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