16-Year-Old Lesbian's Win-Lose Verdict

March 23. 2010

Constance McMillen

A 16-year-old lesbian that challenged her high school, demanding that she be allowed to wear a tuxedo and bring a female date to the prom, suing them for the right to do so, was handed a win-lose verdict today by a federal court judge. The judge upheld her constitutional right to express herself through clothes and dating a female, but he shot down her request to force the school to accept her doing so at the prom.

Generally, schools have been allowed to dictate the dress code and theme on their premises and functions they hold. Straight or gay, if something is deemed inappropriate or disruptive, the school usually has the right to instruct the student to rectify the situation or leave the premises.

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Judge won't force Miss. district to hold prom

JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi school district violated a lesbian student's rights by banning her from bringing her girlfriend to the prom, a federal judge ruled Tuesday, but he stopped short of forcing the district to hold the event. 

U.S. District Judge Glen H. Davidson denied an American Civil Liberties Union request for a preliminary injunction that would have forced the Itawamba County school district to sponsor the April 2 prom and allow Constance McMillen to escort her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo...Days after the district announced it would not host the prom, local townsfolk posted signs on the high school reading "What happened to the Bible Belt?" and "Why would we condone this?"

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