The wrong messages

Most people have distinct memories of their high school prom: renting tuxedos and buying dresses, spending hours at the salon to have the perfect hairdo, dancing in these uncomfortable clothes to a local garage band or DJ. You might also have decided that the gaily-clad affair did not strike your interest, and you opted for other activities on that night.

Regardless of which side of the aisle you happen to fall, you likely landed there due to your own choice. The same cannot be said for Constance McMillen, a senior at Itawamba Agricultural High School in northern Mississippi, who was recently told that she would not be allowed to attend prom because she wanted to wear a tuxedo and bring a date that happened to be of the same sex.

After being told that she would be barred from attending for the aforementioned reasons, the American Civil Liberties Union argued in federal court on her behalf that the school’s stance was discriminatory. A district court judge agreed and ruled that preventing her attendance and choice of attire was a violation of her First Amendment rights.

In a response reminiscent of the 1960s, the school decided to cancel the prom “due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events.” The ruling of the judge stated that the school was not required to hold a prom.

What is the point of hosting a school-wide event if only certain individuals can participate? Schools are supposed to stand as the crowning achievement of a society. They represent the quest for knowledge and should exist as a place where tolerance and open-mindedness are the core values.

If Itawamba Agricultural High School wants to teach its students important life lessons, perhaps it should begin by educating the administrators.

Is our country so blinded by tradition that we must follow it at all costs?

With every step forward in the quest for equality, it seems that there are always those who will seek out the next fashionable group to subjugate. The decision of Itawamba Agricultural High School is just discrimination for discrimination’s sake.

By canceling prom instead of submitting to the will of a higher authority, the school’s reactionary administrators did nothing more than subvert justice. They sent two messages to their students that will not be soon forgotten: one message that it is not OK to be different and another that it is acceptable to sidestep common decency, so long as you get your way.