I know a couple of Charlotte high school students, a young man and a young woman, who attended their prom together a couple or so years ago. Shes bisexual and hes gay. She dressed in a tux and he wore a gown. And, heres the kicker, nobody really cared; certainly, no one griped about it. Such is the general mindset of an increasingly high percentage of youth today: Gay? Who cares?
I bring this up as preface to our Stupid Thing of the Week, namely, the Itawamba County, Mississippi school board, which canceled a high school prom rather than allow senior Constance McMillen attend with her girlfriend. McMillen, by the way, like the female Charlotte student I mentioned, planned to wear a tux. So the wise folks on the Itawamba County board would rather waste money they've already spent on the prom, and disappoint the rest of the seniors and garner yet more publicity for their woebegone state as the back-assward capital of Redneck America than recognize that gay and lesbian students are human beings with rights, the same as anyone else. Frankly, this episode reminds me of the pinheads in my hometown who, back in the 60s, shut down a terrific public swimming pool rather than let blacks swim there. There are few things more vile or stupid than mixing irrational bias and spite with official power, as proven long ago by those Gaffney goobers, and now, reconfirmed by the proud winners of our Stupid Thing of the Week award, the jerks on the school board of Itawamba County, Mississippi.
By the way, the ACLU has now asked a U.S. District Court for an injunction that would order the school to hold the prom as scheduled, and allow McMillen and her date to attend. The suit claims that the schools policy banning same-sex dates violates students rights, and their refusal to allow McMillen to wear a tux violates her rights of free expression. We agree 100 percent.
Meanwhile, Congressman Jared Polis (D-Colo), has introduced a bill that would make it illegal to discriminate against gay and lesbian school students. Polis says the law is modeled on state laws that have already been enacted in at least 10 states. More power to him.
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