Itawamba Agricultural High School in Fulton, Mississippi cancelled its prom after the administration learned student Constance McMillen wanted to bring a female date and wear a tuxedo, BBC News reported March 23.
McMillen, who identifies as a lesbian, lives in Fulton. Mayor Paul Walker acknowledged the town is “conservative” and “deep in the Bible Belt” with a Baptist following.
School officials said they cancelled the prom because McMillen’s situation was becoming a “distraction to the learning process.” The principal has received several e-mails supporting McMillen’s cause, in which he has been called a bigot and a homophobe for canceling the event.
McMillen recently appeared as a guest on the Ellen DeGeneres show, where she was given a $30,000 cheque to go towards her college tuition.
For a school to be preoccupied with the identity of any student’s prom date is trivial, but the outcry in McMillen’s case is unfair and unwarranted.
Her school’s belief that opening the floor to same-sex prom dates would be distracting to students’ learning is shortsighted. Encountering issues of sexual orientation is more likely to inform students’ perspectives than to detract from their education.
Cancelling Itawamba Agricultural High School’s prom this year has caused significant upset among students and has the unfortunate effect of pitting McMillen against the rest of her classmates. The school’s decision is reprehensible in that it ostracizes a student for her identity.
Presenting McMillen with a scholarship is a strange response to the issue that fails to address her real concerns. The donation links socioeconomic status with homosexuality, a parallel that may not be intentional but is nonetheless harmful. In this case, money is misguided altruism that will do little to make up for the scorn McMillen will undergo in her school community.
Given the town of Fulton’s strong Baptist convictions, it’s not surprising same-sex prom dates are causing a stir. But it would be limiting to peg the school’s decision on faith alone without considering other reasons for the choice.
It’s unfortunate McMillen’s school principal has to shoulder the blame and face pejorative labels for a decision made to reflect the views of the larger community that may have little to do with his personal ethics.
Regardless of the fate of the prom, McMillen should be applauded for coming out in her hometown, where it’s clear a queer identity is not as accepted as it should be.
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