Miss. prom canceled after lesbian's date request

[BigBadWlf]

Its very sad that the school board is using the threat of canceling the prom to promote their hate based politics

 

[Pinhead]

Its very sad that the school board is using the threat of canceling the prom to promote their hate based politics

"hate based politics"

 

[a_nony_mous]

"hate based politics"

Explain to me how exactly discriminating against homosexuals isn't hateful, please.

 

[Followers4christ]

It's great to hear a school having some kind morals.The town that the schools is in according to the article below is a conservative Christian town of about 4,000 people live there.It's good to hear that there are still some schools not willing to indoctrinate kids that homosexuality is a normal human attraction. God Bless

From the article:

"It's a small town in Mississippi, and it's run by an older generation with money. Most of them are more conservative and they don't agree with it," she said."

"It's near Pontotoc County, Miss., where more than a decade ago school officials were sued in federal court over their practice of student-led intercom prayer and Bible classes."

Lesbian teen sues Miss. school over prom flap - Yahoo! News

 

[a_nony_mous]

It's great to hear a school having some kind morals.The town that the schools is in according to the article below is a conservative Christian town of about 4,000 people live there.It's good to hear that there are still some schools not willing to indoctrinate kids that homosexuality is a normal human attraction. God Bless

From the article:

"It's a small town in Mississippi, and it's run by an older generation with money. Most of them are more conservative and they don't agree with it," she said."

"It's near Pontotoc County, Miss., where more than a decade ago school officials were sued in federal court over their practice of student-led intercom prayer and Bible classes."

Lesbian teen sues Miss. school over prom flap - Yahoo! News

So you're saying that I'm not normal simply because I'm bisexual? (And no, I did not choose to be this way.)

Also, how is it moral at all to discriminate against people? Last time I checked, discrimination was hateful, and hatred was immoral.

 

[CaptainNemo1138]

You know, I don't understand why some people hate love so much. I suppose being raised in an environment of hate can do that to a person.

 

[a_nony_mous]

You know, I don't understand why some people hate love so much. I suppose being raised in an environment of hate can do that to a person.

I know. It's sad. How can a person be so twisted that they think that loving another human being, no matter whether that human being is straight, gay, black, white, disabled, mentally ill, young, old, etc., is a bad thing? Love is always a good thing, and I don't see why some people can't get that into their head, no matter how many times it's explained to them. It's as though some people want to be hateful or something. Either that, or they have some sort of a mental block against the concept of "love is good."

 

[lux et lex]

Just another reason I'm glad I don't live in the south.

 

[lawtonfogle]

It's great to hear a school having some kind morals.The town that the schools is in according to the article below is a conservative Christian town of about 4,000 people live there.It's good to hear that there are still some schools not willing to indoctrinate kids that homosexuality is a normal human attraction. God Blesshttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_lesbian_prom_date

Please will people stop using the 'normal' word. It can mean so many different things, and different people use it differently, it just gives me a splitting headache.

Homosexuality is not normal. Only a minority of the population has it, thus it is not standard. That said, there is no reason for a secular government to ban it, or for a secular school system to teach it is wrong.

The school should be teaching that all law abiding people deserve a certain level of respect, even if you disagree with their personal choices (also should probably teach that depending upon what laws are broken by criminals, they deserve different degrees of less respect, in other words the guy who happened to J-walk deserve equal respect, but the murderer be kept locked up in jail).

 

[lawtonfogle]

So you're saying that I'm not normal simply because I'm bisexual? (And no, I did not choose to be this way.)

No you are not.

And last I checked, I am not normal because I am 21 but have never drunken alcohol.


Abnormal DOES NOT mean bad, it just means you aren't normal.

Also, how is it moral at all to discriminate against people? Last time I checked, discrimination was hateful, and hatred was immoral.

Really depends if the discrimination is justified. For example, I will not let any child of mine be alone with a convicted murderer. That said, I don't see any justification in any of the discrimination that many GLBT people get.

 

[lawtonfogle]

Just another reason I'm glad I don't live in the south.

Just the other day I was talking with one girl (white) who was telling me how surprised she was with how sunned she was when others in her class found out she had been dating a black guy (have since broke up). And universities are supposed to be liberal and open minded...

 

[a_nony_mous]

No you are not.

And last I checked, I am not normal because I am 21 but have never drunken alcohol.


Abnormal DOES NOT mean bad, it just means you aren't normal.

As someone who has struggled her entire life with not fitting in with my peers due to the fact that I'm abnormal (in addition to being bisexual, I also have Asperger's Syndrome and severe social anxiety), I can tell you that being abnormal is a bad thing, for me at least, since it causes me to feel lonely almost all the time. If you know what the pain of loneliness is like, you'll understand why it's such a hard thing for me to deal with.

Please don't assume you know what my life is like better than I do. Last time I checked, I would be the ultimate authority on what is and is not bad in my own opinion better than you would.

Really depends if the discrimination is justified. For example, I will not let any child of mine be alone with a convicted murderer. That said, I don't see any justification in any of the discrimination that many GLBT people get.

True. I didn't even think about that. I guess discrimination isn't as black-and-white of an issue as I thought it was.

 

[united4Peace]

Because High school students would totally never do that.

I think it is to keep away the 24 year old dating a 17 year old senior, because that tends to make people feel very uncomfortable. Kinda like when two guys/gals are dating.

Funny...When I was 17 I was dating a 23 yr old who was about to turn 24...
Eventually we married...now 20 yrs later I have come to the conclusion he is much too old for me, so Im looking for someone more my age...lets say about 21... (second thought make it 25...haha)

In all seriousness though, when we went to highschool dances, girls went in one group and guys in another....we'd even dance together (girls and girls)...

 

[katautumn]

While I think the school is behaving terribly, I don't think the ACLU really has much of a case. Proms are not public school functions and not every student is granted the "right" to attend. Schools can cancel the prom at a moment's notice at their discretion. Like I said, prom is not a right, it's a privilege. Schools make certain prom policies such as you cannot come to the prom under the influence of alcohol, you have to maintain a certain dress code and some schools won't allow you to bring a date from another school.

Remember a few years ago when the girl from Houston was asked to leave her prom because of her too revealing dress? Of course, this begs the question - if the prom is a private function that the students (most of which are seventeen and eighteen years of age) must pay a fairly hefty price for tickets, should students be given more freedom as to what they wear and who they bring? Where would they draw the line in terms of rules?

 

[lawtonfogle]

As someone who has struggled her entire life with not fitting in with my peers due to the fact that I'm abnormal (in addition to being bisexual, I also have Asperger's Syndrome and severe social anxiety), I can tell you that being abnormal is a bad thing, for me at least, since it causes me to feel lonely almost all the time. If you know what the pain of loneliness is like, you'll understand why it's such a hard thing for me to deal with.

Being treated as an outcast for being abnormal is different than just being abnormal. The former really depends a lot on how the people you are around treat you.

Please don't assume you know what my life is like better than I do. Last time I checked, I would be the ultimate authority on what is and is not bad in my own opinion better than you would.

Where did I ever do that? All I said is that being abnormal does not mean being bad. I never said people will openly accept you even if you are abnormal.

True. I didn't even think about that. I guess discrimination isn't as black-and-white of an issue as I thought it was.

Well, most discrimination people (at least myself) encounter day to day is pretty black and white.

 

[katautumn]

Just another reason I'm glad I don't live in the south.

Yes, because clearly homophobia doesn't exist anywhere outside of the South. *headdesk* I sure hope no one overlooks the fact that we're all racist down here as well.

 

[Beechwell]

Being treated as an outcast for being abnormal is different than just being abnormal. The former really depends a lot on how the people you are around treat you.

Unfortunately, though, people (especially kids) tend to not like to socialize with those they consider 'abnormal'. The term - as it is generally used - implies something that is "not as it is supposed to be, it implies a defect.
That is just how society (at least as I know it) reacts to the label 'abnormal', so it is better avoided.
Maybe "atypical" would be a better label for someone who brings a same-sex date to a prom, or who has never drunk alcohol at the age of 24.

 

[rambot]

Yes, because clearly homophobia doesn't exist anywhere outside of the South. *headdesk* I sure hope no one overlooks the fact that we're all racist down here as well.

Well no, but I welcome many more stories about how there is racism in every other geographic portion of the US...

 

[katautumn]

Well no, but I welcome many more stories about how there is racism in every other geographic portion of the US...

Racism exists everywhere. Racism is not something unique to the South, just as it isn't unique to the United States, just as it isn't unique to Republicans, Christians or even white folks. My grandfather is a pretty racist/anti-semitic man. He was born and raised in Yarmouth, Maine. He learned how to hate the blacks and Jews from his father, an upper-class Cadillac dealership owner. Let's see, who else? Ah! A guy I knew from San Francisco who was probably the most racist person I've ever known.

It bothers me when people cast aspersion on the South and claim we're all a bunch of inbred rednecks who still string gays and blacks up in trees. First of all, these were not horrors unique to the South. Second, we've come a long way, despite this one isolated story. When we think of a bastion of tolerance and progressiveness we think of places like Colorado, Vermont, New York and California. But then people think of the Bible Belt and their first thought is racism.

What people don't understand is that the states that they assume epitomize tolerance are only known for bustling liberal meccas. It isn't that New York, as a state, is all embracing and tolerant. There are certain areas that are more progressive and they get the exposure. California is one of the most conservative states in the country, and yet places like LA, San Fran and Berkley are the ones representing the state creating the illusion of the entire state being progressive. I don't think many people realize that there are liberal areas of the South, as well; Atlanta, Knoxville, Birmingham, New Orleans.

 

[Saving Hawaii]

I can't see where any logic in dictating what someone can or can't wear to the event, especially since I doubt they have a school uniform for the rest of the year. As to the who you can and can't take to the dance.. what ever happened to land of the free?

You're not from the states mate. We're living in the land of freedom here. I can't think of any schools without a dress code (that's reasonable), and there's quite a few that require uniforms or have a very restrictive dress code (I'll pass on that). Even at my high school, the bastion of liberal public education that it was. Of all my teachers, Mrs. Mayzak was the most political in her lectures; she was a big fan of John McCain (pre-2008 primary anyways). Definitely a left-wing institution.

If anybody is wondering how I became a liberal (it certainly wasn't my school's handiwork), it's because my dad was a union thug. Maybe someday the right wing will drop the hyperbole and character assassinations.