Mississippi School
Agrees To Revise Policy
And Pay Damages To
Lesbian Teenager
Denied Chance To
Attend Prom
Agreement Marks First
School Protecting LGBT Students
In Mississippi Policy
July 20, 2010, Brent
Cox, ACLU of Mississippi, (601) 502-5520;
bcox@aclu-ms.org
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Constance McMillen |
ABERDEEN, MS -– Itawamba
County School District officials agreed to have a judgment entered against them
in the case of a recent high school graduate who sued her school for canceling
the prom rather than let her attend with her girlfriend. The agreement
ends a precedent-setting lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union
on behalf of 18-year-old Constance McMillen, who suffered humiliation and
harassment after parents, students and school officials executed a cruel plan to
put on a “decoy” prom for her while the rest of her classmates were at a private
prom 30 miles away.
“I’m so glad this is all over. I won’t ever get my prom back, but it’s
worth it if it changes things at my school,” said McMillen, who was harassed so
badly by students blaming her for the prom cancellation that she had to transfer
to another high school to finish her senior year. “I hope this means that
in the future students at my school will be treated fairly. I know there
are students and teachers who want to start a gay-straight alliance club, and
they should be able to do that without being treated like I was by the school.”
As set forth in documents filed in court today, school officials agreed to
implement a policy banning discrimination or harassment on the basis of sexual
orientation and gender identity, the first policy to do so at a public school in
the state of Mississippi. The school also agreed to pay McMillen $35,000
in damages and pay for McMillen’s attorneys’ fees.
“Constance went through a great deal of harassment and humiliation simply for
standing up for her rights, and she should be proud of what she has
accomplished,” said Christine P. Sun, senior counsel with the ACLU Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual and Transgender Project. “Thanks to her bravery, we now not only
have a federal court precedent that can be used to protect the rights of
students all over the country to bring the date they want to their proms, but we
also have the first school anti-discrimination policy of its kind in
Mississippi.”
In addition to today’s legal judgment against the school, an earlier ruling in
the case set an important precedent that will help prevent other students from
suffering the kind of discrimination McMillen experienced. In March, the
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi issued a ruling in
McMillen’s case that school officials violated McMillen’s First Amendment rights
when it canceled the high school prom rather than let McMillen attend with her
girlfriend and wear a tuxedo.
“We’re pleased that the school district agreed to be held liable for violating
Constance’s rights. Now Constance can move on with her life and Itawamba
school officials can show the world that they have learned a lesson about equal
treatment for all students,” said Kristy L. Bennett, co-counsel on McMillen’s
case. “This has been about much more than just the prom all along -– it’s
about all of our young people deserving to be treated fairly by the schools we
trust to take care of them.”
After IAHS’s original prom date was canceled by school officials in response to
McMillen’s request that she be allowed to bring her girlfriend and wear a
tuxedo, parents organized a private prom at which district officials told a
federal judge McMillen and her date would be welcome. That private prom
was then canceled as well, allegedly because parents did not want to allow
McMillen to attend, instead organizing a “decoy” prom for McMillen and her date
and another prom for the rest of the class. McMillen and her date then
attended the event the school had told her was “the prom for juniors and
seniors” on April 2, where they found only seven other students attending.
Principal Trae Wiygul and several school staff members were supervising that
event while most of McMillen’s classmates were at the other prom in Evergreen,
Mississippi.
“We hope this judgment sends a message to schools that they cannot get away with
discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.
LGBT youth just want to be treated like their peers and do all the normal high
school things, like going to the prom with the date they choose,” said Bear
Atwood, Interim Legal Director at the ACLU of Mississippi. “We’re very
proud of Constance for standing up not just for her rights but the rights of
LGBT students everywhere.”
McMillen is represented by Sun, Bennett and Atwood, as well as by Norman C.
Simon, Joshua Glick and Jason Moff of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, and
Alysson Mills of New Orleans.
The case name is Constance McMillen v. Itawamba County School District, et
al. Additional information is available at
www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/fulton-ms-prom-discrimination. There is also
a Facebook group for people who want to support McMillen, “Let Constance Bring
Her Girlfriend to the Prom,” at
www.facebook.com/pages/Let-Constance-Take-Her-Girlfriend-to-Prom/357686784817.
Brent Cox, ACLU of Mississippi, (601) 502-5520;
bcox@aclu-ms.org
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