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Lesbian Teen Sues, Wins and Changes High School Forever

By Joe Consumer

Kurt Vonnegut once said, ?True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country.? 

For most of us (except for Carrie here), that?s a pretty funny ?ha ha? joke.  But also, except for 18-year-old Constance McMillen,  a lesbian whose rural Mississippi school (i.e., the Itawamba County School District) canceled its prom rather than allow her to attend with her girlfriend.  (She had also wanted to wear a tuxedo.)   Not only that, ?they sent her to a fake prom while the rest of her class partied at a secret location at an event organized by parents.? 

She smartly brought the ACLU onboard and sued.  After a judge said her rights were violated, the school agreed to pay $35,000 for discrimination and harassment.  The school also agreed to a non-discrimination policy.

Constance said, ?she thinks the case resonated with so many people because ?prom is a common theme and everyone knows how it feels to want to go to prom.??  Can't say that's necessarily true, but whoever does want to attend the prom certainly should have the right to bring whomever they want and to wear whatever they want.  And hopefully, the bullies and the mean girls stay clear.

Full post as published by ThePopTort on July 21, 2010 (boomark / email).