tagged w/ Constance McMillen
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JACKSON, Miss. — A rural school district that canceled its prom rather than allow a lesbian student to attend with her girlfriend has agreed to pay $35,000 to settle a discrimination lawsuit the ACLU filed on her behalf.JACKSON, Miss. — A rural school district that canceled its prom rather than... more
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Lesbian teen wins $35K in prom case
Mississippi school pays damages to lesbian teen over prom dispute
By the CNN Wire Staff
July 20, 2010 1:14 p.m. EDT
Constance McMillen in her own words
(CNN) -- A school district in Mississippi has agreed to pay a recent high school graduate $35,000 in damages and adopt a policy prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, according to a statement released Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union.
The settlement comes after the ACLU sued the school district in Fulton, Mississippi, on behalf of Constance McMillen, a lesbian teen who was told by Itawamba Agricultural High School officials she and her girlfriend would be ejected if they attended the school-sponsored prom.
The agreement, which was filed Tuesday, ends the lawsuit.
"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," McMillen said in a statement released Tuesday.
The prom, originally scheduled for April 2, was eventually canceled by school board officials who previously said they reached their decision based on "the education, safety and well-being of [its] students."
Officials at McMillen's former high school are not commenting at this time, and a call to the north Mississippi school district seeking comment Tuesday wasn't immediately returned.
According to the ACLU statement, McMillen "suffered humiliation and harassment after parents, students and school officials executed a cruel plan to put on a decoy prom for her while the rest of her classmates were at a private prom 30 miles away."
McMillen believes the alternative prom she was sent to was a sham because only a handful of people attended. "A lot of people were talking about how it was a joke just set up for me," she previously said.
In March, a federal judge ruled that McMillen's First Amendment rights were violated when her school district refused to let her attend her prom in a tux with a girl.
That was good news, said her attorney, Christine Sun, senior counsel with the ACLU's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender project. It set a precedent and helped broadcast an important statement, which was made stronger by virtue of where it came from, she said.
"We're in a conservative area of the country, where people tend to think we can do what we like," said Sun, who lives in New York but has traveled multiple times to Mississippi on McMillen's behalf. "This case sends a strong message that that's not going to fly anymore."
In 2004, the national gay rights group GLSEN -- the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network -- issued a report that said of all 50 states, Mississippi had the most hostile environment for gay youths.
"We hope this judgment sends a message to schools that they cannot get away with discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students," said Bear Atwood, interim legal director at the ACLU of Mississippi.
Since McMillen's name made national headlines, the lesbian teen advocate has served as the grand marshal for New York's Gay Pride Parade, she received a $30,000 college scholarship from an anonymous donor, and a Facebook page called "Let Constance Take Her Girlfriend to Prom!" had attracted nearly 410,000 fans as of Tuesday.
"It means a lot to me," McMillen said. "The amount of support helps me to continue with the fight."Lesbian teen wins $35K in prom case
Mississippi school pays damages to lesbian teen... more
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Happy Gay New Year (or as it's officially called, Gay Pride)! This week, Bryan Safi takes a long hard look at the last 12 months and asks: just what are we so proud of? From Constance McMillen and gay proms to surprise support from Eminem and McDonald's, it's been quite a year for the gay world.
That's Gay is a recurring segment on the weekly television show infoMania. In each episode of That's Gay, Bryan Safi explores gay issues and stereotypes as they are portrayed by the clueless media. For more Bryan visit http://current.com/groups/thats-gay/ and Current TV.
infoMania is a half-hour satirical news show that airs on Current TV. The show puts a comedic spin on the 24-hour chaos and information overload brought about by the constant bombardment of the media. Hosted by Conor Knighton and co-starring Brett Erlich, Erin Gibson, Ben Hoffman, Bryan Safi and Sergio Cilli, the show airs on Thursdays at 10 pm Eastern and Pacific Times and can be found online at http://current.com/infomania/ or on Current TV. And make sure to check out our facebook profile for special features at http://facebook.com/infomania.Happy Gay New Year (or as it's officially called, Gay Pride)! This week, Bryan... more
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Constance McMillen, the lesbian teenager at the center of a prom season controversy at her Mississippi high school, will attend an LGBT Pride month event to be hosted by President Barack Obama at the White House on Tuesday.
Much speculation has surrounded the guest list for the White House event, which was announced last week. The event reportedly includes a focus on youth guests, which McMillen would exemplify.
According to USA Today, “McMillen will attend a White House reception Tuesday for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens from around the nation in recognition of gay pride month.”
This past spring, McMillen, 18, sued after Itawamba Agricultural High School in Fulton canceled the prom rather than allow the senior to attend with her girlfriend. A judge agreed that her constitutional rights had been violated, but the school was not forced to hold the prom. She eventually was directed to attend a fake prom that turned out not to be the prom the majority of her classmates attended.
Now a high school graduate with college plans, McMillen will serve as a grand marshal in this weekend’s New York City gay pride parade.Constance McMillen, the lesbian teenager at the center of a prom season controversy at... more
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The sacred institution of prom has been threatened by a girl who wants to dance - with another girl! infoMania's Bryan Safi exposes the cruelest commentary about student Constance McMillen and tracks the creation of the most terrifying, life-altering moment in any teenager's life: prom night.
That's Gay is a recurring segment on the weekly television show infoMania. In each episode of That's Gay, Bryan Safi explores gay issues and stereotypes as they are portrayed by the clueless media. For more Bryan visit http://current.com/groups/thats-gay/ and Current TV.
infoMania is a half-hour satirical news show that airs on Current TV. The show puts a comedic spin on the 24-hour chaos and information overload brought about by the constant bombardment of the media. Hosted by Conor Knighton and co-starring Brett Erlich, Sarah Haskins, Ben Hoffman, Bryan Safi and Sergio Cilli, the show airs on Thursdays at 10 pm Eastern and Pacific Times and can be found online at http://current.com/infomania/ or on Current TV. And make sure to check out our facebook profile for special features at http://facebook.com/infomania.The sacred institution of prom has been threatened by a girl who wants to dance - with... more
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You've probably heard about Constance McMillen by now. She's the openly-gay high school senior who wanted to take her girlfriend to the high school prom at Itawamba High School in northern Mississippi. The principal told the girls that all prom couples have to be boy-girl. Ms. McMillen called the ACLU, which threatened the school with legal action. In response, the school board canceled the prom. The ACLU then asked U.S. District Court Judge Glen Davidson to intervene and reinstate the prom. The judge ruled that although the school had violated Ms. McMillen's civil rights, he wouldn't force them to hold a prom. On Friday, April 2, Ms. McMillen attended an alternative prom at the Fulton County Country Club. According to the Associated Press, her girlfriend's parents wouldn't allow the 16-year-old girlfriend to go, so McMillen escorted another young woman instead. To make the story even worse, it turns out that the alternative prom at the Fulton County Country Club was a fake, with only seven kids attending, according to McMillen. The real prom, i.e. the prom which most of the seniors attended, was held at a still-undisclosed location, and McMillen wasn't invited.
The story continues to attract national attention because it's just so darn quaint. Imagine: there are still people who get upset when they see girls kissing other girls! Who knew?
Psychologist John Buss estimates that for most of human history, perhaps 2% of women have been lesbian or bisexual (see note 1, below). Not any more. Recent surveys of teenage girls and young women find that roughly 15% of young females today self-identify as lesbian or bisexual, compared with about 5% of young males who identify as gay or bisexual (see note 2, below).
As a physician and a psychologist, what I found missing in the noise surrounding the Constance McMillen story was any serious discussion of why a growing number of girls self-identify as lesbian or bisexual. Not that there's anything wrong with that, as Seinfeld might say. But why are young women today at least three times more likely than their brothers to identify as bisexual or homosexual? "I kissed a girl and I liked it," Katy Perry told us in her #1 hit single. Megan Fox, Lindsay Lohan, Lady Gaga, Anna Paquin, Angelina Jolie, Drew Barrymore - they all want us to know that they are bisexual. There is no comparable crowd of young male celebrities rushing to assure us that they go both ways. Imagine a young man singing "I kissed a boy and I liked it." Would that song reach #1 on the charts? Why not?
Why is it OK for girls to be bisexual or homosexual, but not boys?
Over the past seven years, I've posed this question to hundreds of teenagers and young adults across the United States. The most common answer I get isn't really an answer. "Girls kiss other girls at parties because guys like it," one teenage girl told me. "It makes the guys hoot and holler, so the girls do it again. They're just doing it for attention. It's not for real."
I point out, as gently as I can, that that response doesn't answer my question. Pretending to be lesbian or bisexual doesn't explain why a growing proportion of young women are lesbian or bisexual.
Or does it?
Female sexuality is different from male sexuality. If a straight boy kissed another boy, perhaps to amuse some girls who might be watching, he would be unlikely to undergo a change in sexual orientation as a result. But, as Professor Roy Baumeister at Florida State University and others have shown, sexual attraction in many women seems to be more malleable (see note 3 below). If a teenage girl kisses another teenage girl, for whatever reason, and she finds that she likes it - then things can happen, and things can change. If a young woman finds her soulmate, and her soulmate happens to be female, then she may begin to experience feelings she's never felt before.
Especially if all the guys she knows are losers.
Which brings me to the second point I've encountered in my interviews with young people. Twenty years ago, when I opened my practice in a suburb of Washington DC, it was rare to find 14-year-old boys who were looking at pornography every day. Today it's common, in fact it's becoming the norm. When I meet with a group of 14-year-old boys and I ask them, "how many of you guys subscribe to a porn site?", all hands go up. I don't believe them. But today, no boy wants to admit that he's the weirdo who doesn't look at online porn. Twenty years ago, hardcore pornography was tucked away in adult bookstores. Today any 14-year-old can access such photos online in seconds. Role models for young men, from pop singer John Mayer to the 2009 World Series MVP Hideki Matsui, talk openly about their collections of porn (see note 4, below).
More on linkYou've probably heard about Constance McMillen by now. She's the openly-gay... more
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Recently Mississippi's Itawamba Agricultural High School canceled prom because Constance McMillen, a lesbian who wanted to dress in a tux and attend it with her girlfriend. To make up for it's negative publicity the town threw two proms and invited Constance, two learning disabled students to the fake prom with 5 other attendees, while the real prom rocked on other side of town.
Article below:
Constance McMillen just wanted what teenage girls have dreamed about since time immemorial -- to go to the prom with the person she's dating. In McMillen's case, that person happens to be another girl. But the possibility of some same-sex jamming to "I Gotta Feeling" didn't sit too well with the folks at Mississippi's Itawamba Agricultural High School. Reasoning that no prom was better than a prom with lesbians, they abruptly canceled the whole affair last month. Cue media frenzy, ACLU lawsuit, Facebook uproar.
After an embarrassing glare of attention on Itawamba, it seemed a happy ending was in sight. Last Tuesday, the school agreed to host an off-campus prom and told Constance she could, per her stated intention, bring her date and wear a tux. On Friday night, McMillen and her girlfriend showed up at the Fulton Country Club ready to party. There, she says, she found just seven other revelers, including two learning disabled students.
Worse, she claims that her classmates were off doing the Macarena at an alternate event, arranged with the aid and consent of the parents and staff of her school. Speaking to the Advocate this week, McMillen said, "They had two proms and I was only invited to one of them ... everyone went to the other one I wasn't invited to."
Link to full story: http://www.salon.com/life/broadsheet/2010/04/06/constance_mcmillen_fake_prom/Recently Mississippi's Itawamba Agricultural High School canceled prom because... more
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The girl who was denied inviting her girlfriend to the school prom, who then had to worry about school attitudes after the school cancelled the prom. Had good news after winning court appearances stating districts could no prevent her from going to the prom with a date.
However, recently Constance McMillen found out that she and some other kids had been invited to a fake prom, while the other students attended a secret event.
"They had two proms and I was only invited to one of them," McMillen says. "The one that I went to had seven people there, and everyone went to the other one I wasn’t invited to." [...] But Hampton says McMillen was never invited and organizers made it very difficult for her to find information on the time and location. That prom was later mysteriously canceled, with the Friday night event at the country club officially replacing it"
-Advocate
Another blog post about this story states there are rumours that it was the school officials who set up the fake prom plan. http://nmisscommentor.com/2010/04/04/what-happened-at-constance-mcmillans-prom/The girl who was denied inviting her girlfriend to the school prom, who then had to... more
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