Several students and their parents are banding together to create a “straights only” prom, and they don’t care who they offend to do it.
A group of Sullivan High School students in Wabash Valley, Indiana, who are joined by their parents, and at least one teacher, have set out to create a “traditional” prom, one banning all gay students from attending. High School administration has said there is nothing they can legally do to allow a segregated prom such as this, so several parents and students are “taking matters into their own hands.” As NBC 2 reports, several students have spoken up about their desire for a prom without gays. Kynon Johnson said, “If we can get a good prom then we can convince more people to come and follow what they believe.” He said there were other students in the high school who feel the same way but are “afraid to take a stand.” Another student told reporters, “We want to make the public see that we love the homosexuals, but we don’t think it’s right nor should it be accepted.”
Several local pastors have spoken out in support of what the students and thier parents are trying to do, but many others in the community are outraged. In fact, Gawker reports that “counter-campaign” has been started by other students at Sullivan High which is highly supported by not only students, but faculty, staff, and the community at large. According to Gawker, one student wrote on the Facebook page 2013 Sullivan Traditional Prom, which is no longer active, “Sullivan High School is ACCEPTING the same-sex couples and the staff at SHS is for the same-sex couples going and so are the majority of student and people in the community.”
Unfortunately, students having segregated proms is nothing new. Many high schools in the Deep South still segregate their proms, and as recently as 2009 a high school in Georgia made headlines for continuing this outdated, illegal, and in my opinion vile and immoral practice.
Unfortunately, students having segregated proms is nothing new. Many high schools in the Deep South still segregate their proms, and as recently as 2009 a high school in Georgia made headlines for continuing this outdated, illegal, and in my opinion vile and immoral practice. If a public school is holding and enforcing a segregated prom, then yes, that is illegal. If private parties hold a private prom or private social event, they can usually invite and exclude whomever they wish. In some of those Deep South areas, the “Black Prom” may in fact be the official school prom and is… Read more »
The video interview with the teacher saying that gays chose their sexual orientation was very telling. I think people like her cling to that belief because as long as they tell themselves that, then in their mind all of the gay bashing and discrimination is justified because those gays could be straight if they just prayed to Jesus hard enough. If they were to accept that gays cannot be changed then they’d find themselves in a real moral crisis because they’d be condoning prejudice against people simply for being who they are.
It’s not like their heads are going to explode if they accept the immutability of sexual orientation. Some Evangelical and Fundamentalist types do accept that gay people cannot change their orientation, but that does not change their condemnation. Orson Scott Card is probably the most vocal among these.
So, really, we’re talking about a prom in which the only gay people there are *closeted* gay people. Seriously, how will you actually detect gay people at the entrance? Will there be a gaydar machine? This is laughable. It would be a great, empowering moment, a giant “screw you!” to come out to everyone at this event. I see a great opportunity for flash mob action – gay students arrive in hetero date pairs and then at a pre-arranged moment split off into gay dancing couples, some same-sex snogging on the dance floor, etc. We’re here, we’re queer, wish we… Read more »
I’d suggest all the straight couples show up as transvestites–girls in men’s suits, boys in dresses.
“What? You said you were blocking gays, and we’re straight. And we followed the dress code….”
In other words, “We love you, we just want to completely shame and exclude you.” How kind.
And let’s not forget Constance McMillen in Mississippi.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Itawamba_County_School_District_prom_controversy
As much as that event was spun into some optimistic story of facing down prejudice, the coda is less encouraging. McMillen did receive praise and accolades nationwide, but she eventually had to transfer to a different school because of the harassment and hostility she faced. The majority of her classmates did not “come around.” This was not the story of a community overcoming its prejudice. The lesson became “It gets better…so long as you go somewhere else.”
No, her story isn’t about helping her community evolve; it’s about standing up for what’s right and being rewarded for it nationwide.
“All social progress is made, not by convincing the reactionaries that they’re wrong–this is impossible–but by waiting for them to die off. Then the next generation grows up wondering what all the fuss was about.”
Maybe. But that “die off” is slower to come in some regions. These reactionaries were the same age as her, and will be doing the bulk of the reproduction and inculcation of offspring in that area. Sadly, few people who take such a stand get rewarded with a guest spot on Ellen, and they may very well have to remain in proximity with the reactionaries, instead of getting to depart for more enlightened pastures. Perhaps the subsequent generations in that community will grow up “wondering what all the fuss was about.” But if some teenagers today still happily continue and… Read more »
!!? Ha! What are they going to try and ban next….fire? The wheel?
I doubt those parents really want a “traditional” prom. To my mind, a “traditional” prom means getting a hotel room, drinking too much, and having sex after the dance, maybe even sex in a limo. That is about as traditional as a corsage. Is that what parents really want, for their kids to do what they did in high school? Really?