A rural Mississippi high school cancelled the prom when senior Constance McMillen told them she wanted to bring her girlfriend to the 2010 dance. Now, she has settled a lawsuit against Itawamba Agricultural High School, winning $35,000 in damages, and forcing the school to amend its discrimination policy.
In a statement from the American Civil Liberties Union, which sued on behalf of McMillen, “school officials agreed to implement a policy banning discrimination or harassment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, the first policy to do so at a public school in the state of Mississippi.”
McMillen was happy with the decision:
”I’m so glad this is all over. I won’t ever get my prom back, but it’s worth it if it changes things at my school,” said McMillen, who was harassed so badly by students blaming her for the prom cancellation that she had to transfer to another high school to finish her senior year. “I hope this means that in the future students at my school will be treated fairly. I know there are students and teachers who want to start a gay-straight alliance club, and they should be able to do that without being treated like I was by the school.”
Even though the school cancelled the prom and McMillen and her friends were sent to a “fake prom” while other students attended a private function, officials there denied they did anything wrong:
Schools attorney Michelle Floyd noted that the district did not admit wrongdoing by settling the suit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. “The Itawamba County School District believes that Constance McMillen’s rights under the United States Constitution were not violated by any act, omission, policy, custom or practice of the district,” she said in a statement.
McMillen, a child of the Bible Belt, credited her faith with helping her to get through the ordeal:
”God has helped me, and I’ve been praying a lot,” McMillen said. “Regardless of what you believe, I’m a Christian. Sexual orientation doesn’t make a religion.”
While this win is wonderful for McMillen and can help students that come after her, Candace Gingrich-Jones called the settlement a “band-aid.”
There has been no justice for Juin Baize, kicked out of the same school just months earlier for wearing clothes (heels, skinny jeans, etc.) that were deemed a “distraction” to other students. Daily, students who are LGBT face harassment, discrimination and the violation of their civil rights. One way that this could be addressed is by passing the Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA) which would prohibit discrimination against students in public schools on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Help pass SNDA by sending a message to your member of congress today.
