Slog
News & ArtsMonday, April 5, 2010
Homo / News So How Was Constance McMillen's Prom?
Posted by Dan Savage on Mon, Apr 5, 2010 at 8:24 AM
It looks like Constance McMillen wasn't invited to prom after all.
The prom the school district promised at the country club in Fulton was a ruse. Only seven kids, Constance, and her date showed, and at the same time, everyone else held a “real” prom at a secret location out in the county.This is all after the school district had represented to Judge Davidson that Constance was invited to a parent-sponsored prom to be held at Tupelo Furniture Market. The school represented that Constance was invited in court filings, testimony, and representations by the school district and its lawyers. In reality, Constance had not been invited, but, based on the representations by the district and its counsel, Judge Davidson denied Constance’s request for a preliminary injunction that she could go to the prom.
The school reneged, or possibly didn’t ever intend to follow through on its representations to the court. The parents didn’t want Constance at the prom and didn’t want to be sued (as they told the Clarion Ledger), and so on Tuesday announced the cancellation of the prom.
But what they’d done was secretly relocated it.
More here. Via JoeMyGod. Here's hoping the ACLU goes after the school for a lot more than $1 in damages now—and the school officials who went into court and lied under oath.
2
Give it a rest.
You can't force kids to like Constance or her lesbian activism, and everything done so far is calculated to create the most resentment possible.
You can't force kids to attend the 'gay-friendly' prom, regardless of who is sponsoring it.
You can't stop private individuals from gathering on their own at a private event, even if 90% of the kids choose the private event over the 'school' one.
Dan has made his point.
The ACLU has forced it's will on the community as much as the law will allow.
Sure, go for a pile of cash.
No one will be surprised.
No hearts will be changed.
It's what they will expect from the HomoLiberal bullies.
It's time to move on.
You can't force kids to like Constance or her lesbian activism, and everything done so far is calculated to create the most resentment possible.
You can't force kids to attend the 'gay-friendly' prom, regardless of who is sponsoring it.
You can't stop private individuals from gathering on their own at a private event, even if 90% of the kids choose the private event over the 'school' one.
Dan has made his point.
The ACLU has forced it's will on the community as much as the law will allow.
Sure, go for a pile of cash.
No one will be surprised.
No hearts will be changed.
It's what they will expect from the HomoLiberal bullies.
It's time to move on.
6
@2 We absolute can't force anyone to feel a certain way.
We absolutely CAN force ANY government body, Federal state or local, or comply 100% with all laws that trickle down from the Federal>State>Local level.
Hitting someone in the pocketbook is how you educate them. It worked for the buses in Birmingham. It's worked in countless protests. If you make a massive example of every group every time they break the law, it will be fiscally irresponsible to break the law going forward. Eventually they will stop this shit.
Precedent will become practice, and that new practice is what the next generations will grow up in, and practice becomes standard. That's how women and blacks got rights. This is how it works.
We absolutely CAN force ANY government body, Federal state or local, or comply 100% with all laws that trickle down from the Federal>State>Local level.
Hitting someone in the pocketbook is how you educate them. It worked for the buses in Birmingham. It's worked in countless protests. If you make a massive example of every group every time they break the law, it will be fiscally irresponsible to break the law going forward. Eventually they will stop this shit.
Precedent will become practice, and that new practice is what the next generations will grow up in, and practice becomes standard. That's how women and blacks got rights. This is how it works.
7
I read this last night and didn't believe it. I guess I didn't want to believe it. My heart goes out to Constance and the others who were left out.
8
How do we know this was the school and not the parents? It seems like this story is more indicative of a shitty community rather than an irresponsible school (ignoring what they did in the past). I don't believe that the superintendent would have allowed this to happen.
9
It's unfortunate that I can't really think of a better way to go after them than financially. I mean, I'm not really for taking money away from a school district, but they they need their comeuppance in court.
10
Nice lesson to teach children! Lies and bigotry kids. Now do we see who is behind the bullying that's driving innocent children to their deaths? The adults are bullies. Christian bullies. If you don't live your life the way they demand, you suffer. She should sue the piss out of them and teach the children what happens when you act like bullies.
12
@6
A prom was held.
Everyone was invited.
Should the ACLU have sent thugs to force each and every child in the school to come and participate in Constance's Big Lesbian Coming Out?
Here is where your Precedence and Practice will lead- districts will hold perfunctory "inclusive" poorly funded poorly attended proms and the majority of kids will attend a private event that reflects their values.
A prom was held.
Everyone was invited.
Should the ACLU have sent thugs to force each and every child in the school to come and participate in Constance's Big Lesbian Coming Out?
Here is where your Precedence and Practice will lead- districts will hold perfunctory "inclusive" poorly funded poorly attended proms and the majority of kids will attend a private event that reflects their values.
13
@8: I really don't have any trouble believing any of the assholes involved with this whole fiasco would have allowed or encouraged this to happen.
14
I think the judge needs to look at the testimony of the school board members and see if perjury has taken place as well.
15
So who were the other seven kids and what was their offense that they were excluded? I'm guessing four Jews and three black kids.
16
@12 If the kids want to do that with absolutely not $0.01 of support from the government and districts, then they're legally entitled to do that.
But the initial actions that led to this -- the government-sponsored rejection of Constance -- needs to be fiscally destroyed in punishment to set an example, and to do it every time.
If some Mississippi school did this to say "We don't want blacks bringing a white date to the prom," we wouldn't even be having this conversation. The lawsuit filings would be hip deep to make them pay.
But the initial actions that led to this -- the government-sponsored rejection of Constance -- needs to be fiscally destroyed in punishment to set an example, and to do it every time.
If some Mississippi school did this to say "We don't want blacks bringing a white date to the prom," we wouldn't even be having this conversation. The lawsuit filings would be hip deep to make them pay.
17
Constance, please go to college in a large, loving LIBERAL community. These people are assholes, and they may well be assholes for the next hundred years.
18
@2, 12: you have to tolerate the people that you hate. it's a pretty simple lesson, i heard there was this preacher in palestine 2000 years ago who had some advice on this issue.
@ everyone else: this school district probably has no money - it's in the middle of nowhere rural south. i'd wager the only way to hurt them is taking away the football team.
@ everyone else: this school district probably has no money - it's in the middle of nowhere rural south. i'd wager the only way to hurt them is taking away the football team.
20
Holy shit. The lengths these people have gone to, just to be intentionally cruel to a teenage girl, are stunning. Who are the fucking adults in this story again?
I would like to personally punch all of these assholes right in their smug mouths.
I would like to personally punch all of these assholes right in their smug mouths.
21
18
You assume and accuse a large group of people, none of whom I'd wager you know at all, of "hate". That isn't very tolerant, fair or open minded.
You don't "have" to attend a prom.
If no hate existed previously, by the time Dan and the ACLU are done it will require Herculean character not to give in to resentment...
Your (or anyone else's) personal religious values are not an acceptable basis for forming public policy.
This school should not have to design their prom policies to satisfy your interpretation of the New Testament.
You assume and accuse a large group of people, none of whom I'd wager you know at all, of "hate". That isn't very tolerant, fair or open minded.
You don't "have" to attend a prom.
If no hate existed previously, by the time Dan and the ACLU are done it will require Herculean character not to give in to resentment...
Your (or anyone else's) personal religious values are not an acceptable basis for forming public policy.
This school should not have to design their prom policies to satisfy your interpretation of the New Testament.
24
See, what I'm looking forward to is what's going to happen when the press tries asking the school what happened. They've got two options:
1. Hide. Because that works so well.
2. Accuse the rest of the town of the bigotry of hiding the actual prom from Constance.
Even if it wasn't the school's idea (bigoted kids generally means bigoted parents, after all), the media fallout is going to be fantastic.
1. Hide. Because that works so well.
2. Accuse the rest of the town of the bigotry of hiding the actual prom from Constance.
Even if it wasn't the school's idea (bigoted kids generally means bigoted parents, after all), the media fallout is going to be fantastic.
25
20
You're right.
The ACLU has been incredibly heavy handed and ignored what is best for Constance in their rush for publicity and settlement money.
You're right.
The ACLU has been incredibly heavy handed and ignored what is best for Constance in their rush for publicity and settlement money.
26
@12 - What should happen is that the students should put together a committee, get some funds from the school, vote on a theme, have a fundraiser, decorate the gym or furniture warehouse or whatever, and everybody should come and have a big party and dance and do the prom thing. If one group of kids wants to stand in one corner and whisper and snicker at another group of kids standing in another corner then that's fine, they can do that.
The role of the principal and the school board should be to keep the punch bowl from getting spiked and try to stop anyone from getting pregnant in the janitors closet. Paid government employees should not be getting involved in juvenile gossip about who is going with whom, why, and what everyone will think about it.
The role of the principal and the school board should be to keep the punch bowl from getting spiked and try to stop anyone from getting pregnant in the janitors closet. Paid government employees should not be getting involved in juvenile gossip about who is going with whom, why, and what everyone will think about it.
27
@8 it doesn't matter if it was the parents or the school; the school said there was an prom for all students and the judge considered this when deciding not to force the school to hold a prom. the school, however, lied. there was not replacement prom open to all students. the tool to be used to ensure fairness was as corrupt as the injustice it was supposed to prevent.
28
Oh, how painful. My heart goes out to Constance, her date, and the other seven kids.
That whole town is full of shit.
That whole town is full of shit.
29
@9, How about jail? Perjury is a crime. The board officials perjured themselves before the court. I don't see anything controversial in locking them up for a bit.
@25, Either your reading comprehension is low, or your desire to make a political point is blinding you.
@25, Either your reading comprehension is low, or your desire to make a political point is blinding you.
30
I'm guessing none of the townspeople have ever seen "Carrie"....
This is a horrible thing to do to a teenage girl. I hope karma is swift and brutal to the parents who perpetrated this hoax as well as the school district officials who committed perjury.
This is a horrible thing to do to a teenage girl. I hope karma is swift and brutal to the parents who perpetrated this hoax as well as the school district officials who committed perjury.
33
@25 The ACLU started by sending a simple letter to the school district pointing out that they were required by law (citing precedent to make it clear this was fact and not opinion) to let Constance attend with her girlfriend. Sending a letter is hardly heavy handed.
That's when the school heavy-handedly canceled the prom and brought this fiasco upon themselves.
That's when the school heavy-handedly canceled the prom and brought this fiasco upon themselves.
34
27
There WAS a prom open to all students.
Nine showed up.
Happy?
You don't want 'fairness'.
You want to FORCE everyone in the school to agree with you and act like they like it.
There WAS a prom open to all students.
Nine showed up.
Happy?
You don't want 'fairness'.
You want to FORCE everyone in the school to agree with you and act like they like it.
35
@31 Um, actually no, that's not how they did it. The principal and school board said "Constance, you can't come to the prom because all the kids will stand in one corner and whisper and snicker at you. It will be distracting."
36
35
Constance was welcome at the prom.
In fact, she was respectfully told she was welcome at the prom, according to her.
She just had to follow the same rules as everyone else.
Equality.
Fairness.
Imagine the nerve.....
Constance was welcome at the prom.
In fact, she was respectfully told she was welcome at the prom, according to her.
She just had to follow the same rules as everyone else.
Equality.
Fairness.
Imagine the nerve.....
37
@2: please reread your post, replacing "lesbian" and "gay" with the word that starts with N and rhymes with Tigger.
38
Filthy hateful bigots. This is the worst sort of childish meanness. I expect the other students weren't at a secret prom at all; instead they were filling in the town pool, if it still has one, so gay people can't swim in it with straight people. I am ashamed that people like this exist in my United States.
No. 21, it isn't unfair, intolerant or close-minded to call a bully a bully, and a hateful person a hateful person. Being tolerant means being intolerant of intolerance.
While personal religious values are not an acceptible basis for making public policy, the American Constitution, with its guarantees of equality under the law, is. If Itawamba school officials are not going to follow the American Constitution, they don't deserve to be called Americans. They had the right to contest the issue in Court. They lost. And they should be made to answer at law in damages for the misrepresentations they made to the Court and the harm the perpetrated on this young lady. If they have to raise taxes to pay a judgment, so be it. This is a cost which should rightfully be born by this entire bigoted community of unAmerican monsters.
No. 21, it isn't unfair, intolerant or close-minded to call a bully a bully, and a hateful person a hateful person. Being tolerant means being intolerant of intolerance.
While personal religious values are not an acceptible basis for making public policy, the American Constitution, with its guarantees of equality under the law, is. If Itawamba school officials are not going to follow the American Constitution, they don't deserve to be called Americans. They had the right to contest the issue in Court. They lost. And they should be made to answer at law in damages for the misrepresentations they made to the Court and the harm the perpetrated on this young lady. If they have to raise taxes to pay a judgment, so be it. This is a cost which should rightfully be born by this entire bigoted community of unAmerican monsters.
39
"The parents didn’t want Constance at the prom"
But the lobby groups and the ellen's of Hollywood want her in the prom, and that should be enough. Because we all know that Hollywood and the lobbies have the final word in Miss and in the rest of the states.
But the lobby groups and the ellen's of Hollywood want her in the prom, and that should be enough. Because we all know that Hollywood and the lobbies have the final word in Miss and in the rest of the states.
40
@39: http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/prom-ni…
Imagine the nerve of Hollywood, coming to Mississippi and telling them they can't have special proms.
Imagine the nerve of Hollywood, coming to Mississippi and telling them they can't have special proms.
41
@37: please reread the post, replacing "lesbian" and "gay" with "Southern".
Bigotry and Prejudice come in many flavors.
Bigotry and Prejudice come in many flavors.
42
@2, you would be a fool to give this story a rest. This is exactly the kind of story that America needs to see so they can witness for themselves the sheer repulsiveness of taking prejudice to a disturbingly low level. This is exactly the kind of story that will change countless hearts and minds all across America. This is not just about Fulton, Mississippi - this is about everywhere.
43
@36 Good, now we're talking about the right subject, the rules the principal and school board used to exclude Constance (although, maybe someone can remind me, were there actual rules or just BS they made up on the spot)?
Do you think the rules enforced by the principal and school board were fair and constitutional?
Do you think those rules were closer to: "Students may not attend prom while drunk?" or "Students may not attend prom while black?".
Do you think the rules enforced by the principal and school board were fair and constitutional?
Do you think those rules were closer to: "Students may not attend prom while drunk?" or "Students may not attend prom while black?".
44
42
This is a story about legal system bullying.
It will reinforce what thousands of American heartland communities already know about the ACLU and HomoLiberal Fascist Thought Police.
This is a story about legal system bullying.
It will reinforce what thousands of American heartland communities already know about the ACLU and HomoLiberal Fascist Thought Police.
45
I didn't really believe the story last night and I'm not so sure it's true. The site is down and the only source of confirmation on all of the other internet stories is that site.
Dan, can you contact Constance?
Dan, can you contact Constance?
46
Loveschild: Actually, the Consitution, as upheld by the judicial system, has the final say in Mississippi and the rest of the states. You have a problem with that?
41: You sound like you have a lot of experience with the many flavors of bigotry. You sup on them at every meal, I am guessing, and savor their bitter taste. We have a different diet here in my state. It's called equality and fairness and treating our neighbors with respect, regardless of what church they go to, what color their skin is, or who they have partnered up with.
44: You don't like the Constitution? You don't like equal treatment under the law? Then fucking go somewhere else. You're the bully. You're the mean person. You're the bad citizen. Hate all you want in your church and your home. But you don't get to in the schools.
41: You sound like you have a lot of experience with the many flavors of bigotry. You sup on them at every meal, I am guessing, and savor their bitter taste. We have a different diet here in my state. It's called equality and fairness and treating our neighbors with respect, regardless of what church they go to, what color their skin is, or who they have partnered up with.
44: You don't like the Constitution? You don't like equal treatment under the law? Then fucking go somewhere else. You're the bully. You're the mean person. You're the bad citizen. Hate all you want in your church and your home. But you don't get to in the schools.
47
@44: Bullying? Oh, poor them, always playing the victim. They wept when the Nineteenth Amendment was forced on them (guess which state was the last to ratify?). They cried about the Thirteenth Amendment (guess which state was last to ratify?). They attacked Lyndon Johnson and made good on their promise to tear the heartland out of the hands of federal-level democrats for forcing the Civil Rights Act on them. The Twenty-Fourth Amendment, which barred the poll tax? That was attacked as an assault on the heartland (and guess which state actually approved a statewide resolution to outright reject it?).
It seems that whatever Mississippi actively attacks becomes protected by law. Keep going, Mississippi!
It seems that whatever Mississippi actively attacks becomes protected by law. Keep going, Mississippi!
48
You can't force kids to like Constance or her lesbian activism...
Her lesbian activism. Her lesbian activism. Her lesbian activism. Pretty clear what gutter you're coming from eh? The kid just wanted to be able to take her date to the prom same as any other kid there. But that was the problem. Some animals are more equal then others. Especially so it still seems, in the land where swimming pools were once filled in so the darkies couldn't use them, even if the courts said they could.
No, you can't force kids to like other kids, but what kind of adult tries to make a kid hate themselves? The kind that values their own cheapshit barstool prejudices more then humanity's future I suppose. They'll be paying for their nice homosexual free prom down there for decades to come. Give it about a week, if that, before they begin bellyaching down there that people are still making a big deal over it. They'll be saying it for decades. Give it a rest...give it a rest...give it a rest... By which they mean: stop treating us for the lying child abusing creeps we are and pretend along with us that we're all really very decent wholesome responsible people.
Her lesbian activism. Her lesbian activism. Her lesbian activism. Pretty clear what gutter you're coming from eh? The kid just wanted to be able to take her date to the prom same as any other kid there. But that was the problem. Some animals are more equal then others. Especially so it still seems, in the land where swimming pools were once filled in so the darkies couldn't use them, even if the courts said they could.
No, you can't force kids to like other kids, but what kind of adult tries to make a kid hate themselves? The kind that values their own cheapshit barstool prejudices more then humanity's future I suppose. They'll be paying for their nice homosexual free prom down there for decades to come. Give it about a week, if that, before they begin bellyaching down there that people are still making a big deal over it. They'll be saying it for decades. Give it a rest...give it a rest...give it a rest... By which they mean: stop treating us for the lying child abusing creeps we are and pretend along with us that we're all really very decent wholesome responsible people.
49
Damn. This is just fucking cold.
She's a teenage girl. Are they proud of themselves for this? Congratulations, guys, you screwed over someone harmless. Well done. You sure showed that scary, scary gay.
What the fuck.
She's a teenage girl. Are they proud of themselves for this? Congratulations, guys, you screwed over someone harmless. Well done. You sure showed that scary, scary gay.
What the fuck.
50
Lovechild, does it ever bother you that you use almost word for word arguments that were used against racial integration? No sense of irony, or shame? Really?
53
I have no idea about the purely legal basis for pursuing the case further. I suppose if you can demonstrate that the school officials lied under oath because they knew beforehand that the prom was a hoax you could make them feel some pain, and I'm all for it. I don't think anything beyond that is possible though, private citizens have the right to be backwards, pig-ignorant slobbering bigots if they wish.
To those hotly defending the legality of this affair, you may be legally correct. However, I must question your motivations. Did you attack with equal vigor the schools illegal attempt to exclude Constance from the original prom? Are you equally proactive in defending the rights of many in the South to fill pools with cement rather than let black kids swim in them? I doubt the former, and I'd rather not contemplate the latter.
No, what this sad backwater little town needs now is a good-o-helping of attention. Lots and lots of media attention. Lots of cameras pointed towards uncomfortable people being asked how they felt about excluding a teenager. Not because I think they'll change their tiny little minds, I doubt it. But it could make plenty of school officials think more than twice about harrassing a student for wanting to attend prom.
Let's keep it "distracting".
To those hotly defending the legality of this affair, you may be legally correct. However, I must question your motivations. Did you attack with equal vigor the schools illegal attempt to exclude Constance from the original prom? Are you equally proactive in defending the rights of many in the South to fill pools with cement rather than let black kids swim in them? I doubt the former, and I'd rather not contemplate the latter.
No, what this sad backwater little town needs now is a good-o-helping of attention. Lots and lots of media attention. Lots of cameras pointed towards uncomfortable people being asked how they felt about excluding a teenager. Not because I think they'll change their tiny little minds, I doubt it. But it could make plenty of school officials think more than twice about harrassing a student for wanting to attend prom.
Let's keep it "distracting".
54
@40.. i watched 'prom night in mississippi' the other night and it truly seemed to offer credence to the exercise of replacing the notion of 'gay' with the notion s of racial integration. while no one tried to bring a legal case to that school district. morgan freeman lived in that area and was personally appalled to find out that in 2008 (!) blacks and white students could do everything else in the school except attend the same party together. and just like contance's school it was parents who had the biggest problem with the notion, not the kids..
what's also hurtful is that many people offered to finance throw an alternative prom, which probably would have been ten times more lavish than the one the parents were going to throw. constance rejected all those offers because she just wanted to be given the chance to continue to fit with student body she's lived with for the past four years. noble and completely understandable.and then this happens.
but then as i noticed in the news yesterday proms in the south are such weird configurations that 17 students were ' paddled' ( and reading between the lines of that story , they were most likely girls) for not wearing proper prom attire..and one girl was suspended for 3 days..this because she refused to be spanked for wearing the dress her mother bought her.
http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/al…
what's also hurtful is that many people offered to finance throw an alternative prom, which probably would have been ten times more lavish than the one the parents were going to throw. constance rejected all those offers because she just wanted to be given the chance to continue to fit with student body she's lived with for the past four years. noble and completely understandable.and then this happens.
but then as i noticed in the news yesterday proms in the south are such weird configurations that 17 students were ' paddled' ( and reading between the lines of that story , they were most likely girls) for not wearing proper prom attire..and one girl was suspended for 3 days..this because she refused to be spanked for wearing the dress her mother bought her.
http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/al…
55
What an incredible amount of time, energy, focus and human resources dedicate to thwarting a little girl. For shame.
56
51
Because ALL people from and in Small Towns are Ignorant Bigots, right?
Too bad they aren't open minded, like Seattle hipsters like to think they are....
Because ALL people from and in Small Towns are Ignorant Bigots, right?
Too bad they aren't open minded, like Seattle hipsters like to think they are....
57
@56 It's hard to complain about people who hold a stereotype when we're seeing a very clear example of that stereotype in action. Maybe if more small towns stopped acting the stereotype, there wouldn't BE a stereotype.
58
Sometimes the world reveals so much ugliness that it makes me want to throw in the towel. I see the people who reject others because of their sexual orientation, ethnic background, appearance, and religious identification as being very small people. Small because they are riddled with fear, using their bigotry as a security blanket to help themselves to sleep at night. How I pity those who allow fear to control them. One day they will find themselves alone, because they will have rejected everyone who would have welcomed them and helped them to conquer those fears. I don't want that for anyone.
59
OK...outrage and indignation aside...
How is it that 7 kids attended? That doesn't add up. Shouldn't it be an even number? Are you allowed to attend the prom without a date or in a threesome?
How is it that 7 kids attended? That doesn't add up. Shouldn't it be an even number? Are you allowed to attend the prom without a date or in a threesome?
60
57
Yes.
More prejudice, ignorance and bigotry is a time tested cure for prejudice, ignorance and bigotry.
Yes.
More prejudice, ignorance and bigotry is a time tested cure for prejudice, ignorance and bigotry.
61
There is this comment posted on the Facebook page for "Let Constance Take Her Girlfriend to Prom":
On Friday night, Constance and her date went to the prom the school had said would be held for all IAHS juniors and seniors, only to find an event that was very sparsely attended, as detailed in this blogger's account. Constance tried to make the best of it and had a nice evening with the other students from her school who attended, but is of course disappointed that so few of her classmates were there.
WOW. If they thought this was all a big distraction before the prom... There are so many questions to be answered. Was the Country Club in on the ruse? Isn't half of the town setting themselves up for a lawsuit on this? I really hope someone makes a lot of NOISE over this.
On Friday night, Constance and her date went to the prom the school had said would be held for all IAHS juniors and seniors, only to find an event that was very sparsely attended, as detailed in this blogger's account. Constance tried to make the best of it and had a nice evening with the other students from her school who attended, but is of course disappointed that so few of her classmates were there.
WOW. If they thought this was all a big distraction before the prom... There are so many questions to be answered. Was the Country Club in on the ruse? Isn't half of the town setting themselves up for a lawsuit on this? I really hope someone makes a lot of NOISE over this.
64
61
gawd you liberals are so fucking stupid.
the school held a prom.
everyone was invited.
Constance attended!!!!!
happy?
no?!?
what "ruse"?
is it illegal to hold another event on the same night as a school prom?
a lawsuit on WHAT?
because their kids didn't want to go to the school-make that ACLU- prom?
is that illegal now?
sure.
make some more NOISE....
make those damn kids attend the fucking prom.
MAKE
EVERY
KID
ATTEND
THE
FUCKING
SCHOOL
PROM
Slog will settle for nothing less.....
gawd you liberals are so fucking stupid.
the school held a prom.
everyone was invited.
Constance attended!!!!!
happy?
no?!?
what "ruse"?
is it illegal to hold another event on the same night as a school prom?
a lawsuit on WHAT?
because their kids didn't want to go to the school-make that ACLU- prom?
is that illegal now?
sure.
make some more NOISE....
make those damn kids attend the fucking prom.
MAKE
EVERY
KID
ATTEND
THE
FUCKING
SCHOOL
PROM
Slog will settle for nothing less.....
65
Anyone else having trouble loading the article on the nmisscommentor site? Won't load for me. Just times out. Maybe the server is too "distracted". :)
66
7 kids?
for a bunch of small time ignorant hicks these yahoos seemed to have pulled off a pretty definitive FUCK YOU for the ACLU.
too bad Constance was collateral damage in this "don't bring your fucking big city dyke ACLU lawyers in here telling us and our kids how to live our lives" pissing match.
does the ACLU know what a Pyrrhic victory is?
for a bunch of small time ignorant hicks these yahoos seemed to have pulled off a pretty definitive FUCK YOU for the ACLU.
too bad Constance was collateral damage in this "don't bring your fucking big city dyke ACLU lawyers in here telling us and our kids how to live our lives" pissing match.
does the ACLU know what a Pyrrhic victory is?
67
..."don't bring your fucking big city dyke ACLU lawyers in here...
When I was a kid they called them Outside Agitators and New York Jews...
When I was a kid they called them Outside Agitators and New York Jews...
68
@67: Yeah, let's all welcome George Wallace circa 2010 to the room. Hello, George. Glad you could show up.
Hint: you're going to get your ass kicked by the arc of the moral universe this time too. Because, you know, it bends toward justice. Just a friendly warning.
Hint: you're going to get your ass kicked by the arc of the moral universe this time too. Because, you know, it bends toward justice. Just a friendly warning.
69
@64
Your argument is based on the premise that:
1. Not all students have to accept LGBT rights, therefore, the school should not allow Constance and her date to the prom.
- Lots of people don't like people for many reasons. I, myself, am not keen on people who can't be bothered to spell when making job applications, for instance. This does not give me any right to refuse them to attend a school party - a party run by the state, when it brought to the crux of it. Civil rights of the state's inhabitants are inherently protected by the law. In short: the school is not allowed to choose which of its students can or cannot come by any arbitrary category of its own.
2. "The rules say..."
- To argue it from a rule standpoint would be plausible, if not for what is stated above: civil rights trump individual laws. If say, I served alcohol to a minor in a bar because that was my bar's rules, I would still be arrested for it. Because the law overrides rules of individual institutions.
Furthermore, it is a strange rule to implement. After all, Constance and her date could have attended separately, and then promptly made out on the dance floor on arrival if they so desired. The rule is, in short, unenforceable, and raises some interesting moral questions. Is a transgendered student allowed to wear a tux and come with a date? What if they are still in the process of an operation? What is the boundary for gender binaries? If you boil it down to barebones it is irrelevant, when you see that:
Student (A) wishes to attend prom, in a tuxedo, with a date.
Constance, Student (B), wishes to attend prom, in a tuxedo, with a date.
The rules have been followed. Otherwise this could have been resolved by a blanket-ban on tuxedos. The men would wear formal dresses. This would also make for an entertaining prom!
3. "The prom..."
Correction: multiple proms were arranged. This, as I understand it, is not the norm for schools (at least where I went to school; feel free to correct me). One school, one prom. Multiple proms were arranged to allow discrimination. All students should have been able to attend, and all students are to attend one prom.
Denying students to attend the One Prom = discrimination. This is quite straightforward. By creating multiple proms, discrimination automatically occurs. This is not allowed.
This is the simple matter of it, and what has occurred has simply been to spite one teenage girl. This is not appropriate behavior of a government institution.
More...
Your argument is based on the premise that:
1. Not all students have to accept LGBT rights, therefore, the school should not allow Constance and her date to the prom.
- Lots of people don't like people for many reasons. I, myself, am not keen on people who can't be bothered to spell when making job applications, for instance. This does not give me any right to refuse them to attend a school party - a party run by the state, when it brought to the crux of it. Civil rights of the state's inhabitants are inherently protected by the law. In short: the school is not allowed to choose which of its students can or cannot come by any arbitrary category of its own.
2. "The rules say..."
- To argue it from a rule standpoint would be plausible, if not for what is stated above: civil rights trump individual laws. If say, I served alcohol to a minor in a bar because that was my bar's rules, I would still be arrested for it. Because the law overrides rules of individual institutions.
Furthermore, it is a strange rule to implement. After all, Constance and her date could have attended separately, and then promptly made out on the dance floor on arrival if they so desired. The rule is, in short, unenforceable, and raises some interesting moral questions. Is a transgendered student allowed to wear a tux and come with a date? What if they are still in the process of an operation? What is the boundary for gender binaries? If you boil it down to barebones it is irrelevant, when you see that:
Student (A) wishes to attend prom, in a tuxedo, with a date.
Constance, Student (B), wishes to attend prom, in a tuxedo, with a date.
The rules have been followed. Otherwise this could have been resolved by a blanket-ban on tuxedos. The men would wear formal dresses. This would also make for an entertaining prom!
3. "The prom..."
Correction: multiple proms were arranged. This, as I understand it, is not the norm for schools (at least where I went to school; feel free to correct me). One school, one prom. Multiple proms were arranged to allow discrimination. All students should have been able to attend, and all students are to attend one prom.
Denying students to attend the One Prom = discrimination. This is quite straightforward. By creating multiple proms, discrimination automatically occurs. This is not allowed.
This is the simple matter of it, and what has occurred has simply been to spite one teenage girl. This is not appropriate behavior of a government institution.
70
@66: If there is a Pyrrhic victory here, it is for the Old Dixie. For the sake of a maintaining a segregated prom they have dragged their image back to the plantation..
When bending toward justice, from a certain angle the arc of the moral universe looks an awful lot like a warm stream of piss. Make no mistake: history is once again peeing in Dixie's punchbowl.
When bending toward justice, from a certain angle the arc of the moral universe looks an awful lot like a warm stream of piss. Make no mistake: history is once again peeing in Dixie's punchbowl.
71
@66: Yes, Mississippi is an expert in pyrrhic victories.
Most infant deaths per capita, most firearm deaths per capita of all 50 states, lowest per capita income, lowest life expectancy of all 50 states, highest incidence of heart disease per capita throughout all 50 states, tied with AL for most diabetes...
...but at least they made that stupid liberal lesbian go to the prom with her only friends on campus!
Joke's on the ACLU!
Most infant deaths per capita, most firearm deaths per capita of all 50 states, lowest per capita income, lowest life expectancy of all 50 states, highest incidence of heart disease per capita throughout all 50 states, tied with AL for most diabetes...
...but at least they made that stupid liberal lesbian go to the prom with her only friends on campus!
Joke's on the ACLU!
72
It's a shame that America has never had a definitive legal ruling on how separate correlates with equal.
73
@70: "The arc of the moral universe is long; but it peees in Dixie's punchbowl." I can almost hear MLK saying it now.
@71: Oh, snap. They done got the ACLU good. I reckon they' proud.
Now here come the "dyke big city lawyers" to rip them several new assholes in Federal Circuit Court. And it would have been so easy to just allow Constance to go to prom.
@71: Oh, snap. They done got the ACLU good. I reckon they' proud.
Now here come the "dyke big city lawyers" to rip them several new assholes in Federal Circuit Court. And it would have been so easy to just allow Constance to go to prom.
75
@64: I remember you from the schoolhouse in Little Rock, I think. Right? Wait, maybe I have you confused with someone else.
I coulda sworn I remember your hateful bigotry and whining spite. But maybe that was someone else.
I coulda sworn I remember your hateful bigotry and whining spite. But maybe that was someone else.
76
@47: Yeah, Mississippi has a pretty sucky record on these kinds of issues. By the way, I just checked and saw that Illinois ratified 13 and 19 first. Yay my state!
@64: Helloooooo, Alleged. You seem to be full of your usual anencephalic spunk today, so I thought I'd fill you in on what's going down. See, if the other kids, the homophobic little asswipes that they may or may not be, want to go to a private venue rather than the school's prom, then that's their choice. I don't think anyone on SLOG wants to try and force them; your yammering about how we DO is like the nutjobs who insist that all Obama wants to do is to turn this country into Stalin's USSR.
What we are looking for is to punish the student officials who LIED UNDER OATH to the effect that Constance would be invited (to what turned out to be a functionally non-existent prom), while knowing that she would not be invited to the real prom. They should be brought up on charges and fined. The school district should lose a big chunk of its non-essential funding. When people knowingly violate laws designed to foster understanding and acceptance of minorities, they should be made examples of, or the law loses all its meaning.
Nuts to you, you ignorant douchenozzle.
@64: Helloooooo, Alleged. You seem to be full of your usual anencephalic spunk today, so I thought I'd fill you in on what's going down. See, if the other kids, the homophobic little asswipes that they may or may not be, want to go to a private venue rather than the school's prom, then that's their choice. I don't think anyone on SLOG wants to try and force them; your yammering about how we DO is like the nutjobs who insist that all Obama wants to do is to turn this country into Stalin's USSR.
What we are looking for is to punish the student officials who LIED UNDER OATH to the effect that Constance would be invited (to what turned out to be a functionally non-existent prom), while knowing that she would not be invited to the real prom. They should be brought up on charges and fined. The school district should lose a big chunk of its non-essential funding. When people knowingly violate laws designed to foster understanding and acceptance of minorities, they should be made examples of, or the law loses all its meaning.
Nuts to you, you ignorant douchenozzle.
77
At least there are seven other sensible students in the school - does anyone know what percentage of the graduating class this might be?
78
We're talking about a state that had an interracial marriage ban in written into their constitution until 1987.
80
No, Bruce Cockburn is more poetic than this:
Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight,
Got to kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight."
Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight,
Got to kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight."
81
Joe@6, 16, 22: You probably won't see me all the way down here, but THANK YOU for spelling "buses" properly.
82
http://cottonmouthblog.blogspot.com/2010…
New link to the full blog entry, since the original blog has been overwhelmed by traffic.
New link to the full blog entry, since the original blog has been overwhelmed by traffic.
83
@ #36-The anonymous troll keeps spouting "rules" everyone was to abide by, but those "rules" weren't in place, until Constance, being the respectable human being she is, asked about taking her same sex date.
Shut up all ready about the "rules" Constance chose not to follow, you dipshit. Those "rules" were made up along the way. So, blow it out your baler.
Shut up all ready about the "rules" Constance chose not to follow, you dipshit. Those "rules" were made up along the way. So, blow it out your baler.
84
@73: Hey! Don't make fun of "reckon", I actually come from a place where we say it! It's a good word, a classy word, a very very functional word.
85
I think it's time we throw Constance our own prom. We can all go and party til dawn and show her how much we support her. I will get on a plane and fly to MS for this. A valium or two should help.
86
@77 "At least there are seven other sensible students in the school - does anyone know what percentage of the graduating class this might be? "
100.
100.
87
Mississippi definitely miscalculated this one.
They obviously forgot that impressing Liberals on the coasts is what they crave more than anything else.
Wow when they realize that Liberals won't like them anymore after this prom thing they will really be kicking themselves...
You girls really are so precious.
They obviously forgot that impressing Liberals on the coasts is what they crave more than anything else.
Wow when they realize that Liberals won't like them anymore after this prom thing they will really be kicking themselves...
You girls really are so precious.
88
What @60 is really trying to say: "you do it too! you do it too! you can't point the finger at me because you do it too!"
http://birdofparadox.wordpress.com/derai…
http://birdofparadox.wordpress.com/derai…
89
Does anyone know who Constance went with?
According to the Clarion-Ledger (Sun is the ACLU lawyer):
"Sun said McMillen now will attend with a female date, but it may not be her girlfriend, a sophomore who has shied away from the media spotlight. McMillen also may attend with her father or a bodyguard, Sun said."
According to the Clarion-Ledger (Sun is the ACLU lawyer):
"Sun said McMillen now will attend with a female date, but it may not be her girlfriend, a sophomore who has shied away from the media spotlight. McMillen also may attend with her father or a bodyguard, Sun said."
91
@86: http://instantrimshot.com/
@87: I don't think we ever really liked you twits. All of the slave-owning and bible-thumping just leaves a bad taste in the mouth, you know? We don't think you're bad people because you come from that kind of oppression-focused culture, we think you're bad people because you don't bother to think: "Hmm, does what I'm doing make a lick of sense?"
@90: No, but people keep telling me that it's written on the ceiling.
@87: I don't think we ever really liked you twits. All of the slave-owning and bible-thumping just leaves a bad taste in the mouth, you know? We don't think you're bad people because you come from that kind of oppression-focused culture, we think you're bad people because you don't bother to think: "Hmm, does what I'm doing make a lick of sense?"
@90: No, but people keep telling me that it's written on the ceiling.
92
She got what she wanted. She attended the prom with her girl friend. People have a right to hold a private dinner dance. Did she wear the tux or did her girl friend wear it?
94
>>Mississippi definitely miscalculated this one. They obviously forgot that impressing Liberals on the coasts is what they crave more than anything else.
OK, fair's fair. If us annoying Coasties stop interfering in order to protect the Constitutional rights of US citizens (for example, when Gretna police shot at refugees and blocked their escape from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina), will Mississippi agree to stop taking our tax dollars for disaster and poverty relief? This is a state's rights issue at the core, and guess what, in the 21st century, the state does NOT have a right to tell people how to live. Far from being strictly neutral, the school district has made a partisan fool of itself using public monies and every dollar they lose to justified litigation is a dollar they could have saved by doing the right thing to begin with.
OK, fair's fair. If us annoying Coasties stop interfering in order to protect the Constitutional rights of US citizens (for example, when Gretna police shot at refugees and blocked their escape from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina), will Mississippi agree to stop taking our tax dollars for disaster and poverty relief? This is a state's rights issue at the core, and guess what, in the 21st century, the state does NOT have a right to tell people how to live. Far from being strictly neutral, the school district has made a partisan fool of itself using public monies and every dollar they lose to justified litigation is a dollar they could have saved by doing the right thing to begin with.
95
Mississippi has the highest death rate in the country, it's pretty clear they don't care what folks on the coasts think.
96
95
Did you know that Mississippians account for 59% of all new AIDS cases in America?
Even though they are less than 2% of the population?!
Looks like the jokes on them....
Did you know that Mississippians account for 59% of all new AIDS cases in America?
Even though they are less than 2% of the population?!
Looks like the jokes on them....
97
This may already have been done, but has any 'outside agitator' reporter sat down with old yearbooks and a bunch of quarters for the copier? I'd be interested to know for context how long the black kids and white kids have been allowed to attend the same prom and/or go with interracial dates. Maybe that's another unwritten rule that everybody is just supposed to know they'd better follow.
Any chance of getting those other 7 kids "I'm not a bigot" t-shirts or college scholarships or something?
Any chance of getting those other 7 kids "I'm not a bigot" t-shirts or college scholarships or something?
98
Constance McMillen has just confirmed that a large secret prom took place across town while she and the special needs students attended what they were told was the "official" prom. http://advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010…
The article reads:
To avoid Constance McMillen bringing a female date to her prom, the teen was sent to a "fake prom" while the rest of her class partied at a secret location at an event organized by parents.
McMillen tells The Advocate that a parent-organized prom happened behind her back — she and her date were sent to a Friday night event at a country club in Fulton, Miss., that attracted only five other students. Her school principal and teachers served as chaperones, but clearly there wasn't much to keep an eye on.
"They had two proms and I was only invited to one of them," McMillen says. "The one that I went to had seven people there, and everyone went to the other one I wasn’t invited to."
Last week McMillen asked one of the students organizing the prom for details about the event, and was directed to the country club. "It hurts my feelings," McMillen says.
Two students with learning difficulties were among the seven people at the country club event, McMillen recalls. "They had the time of their lives," McMillen says. "That's the one good thing that come out of this, [these kids] didn't have to worry about people making fun of them [at their prom]."
In March, after the Itawamba County School District refused to allow McMillen to bring a female date to the prom, the district canceled the event altogether. McMillen and her lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union challenged that decision in court, and a judge ruled the district could not bar McMillen and her date.
The judge declined to force the school district to hold the prom because a parent-sponsored, private prom was being organized — and the understanding was that McMillen and her date were invited to that event. But Hampton says McMillen was never invited and organizers made it very difficult for her to find information on the time and location. That prom was later mysteriously canceled, with the Friday night event at the country club officially replacing it.
Really fucking nice.
More...
The article reads:
To avoid Constance McMillen bringing a female date to her prom, the teen was sent to a "fake prom" while the rest of her class partied at a secret location at an event organized by parents.
McMillen tells The Advocate that a parent-organized prom happened behind her back — she and her date were sent to a Friday night event at a country club in Fulton, Miss., that attracted only five other students. Her school principal and teachers served as chaperones, but clearly there wasn't much to keep an eye on.
"They had two proms and I was only invited to one of them," McMillen says. "The one that I went to had seven people there, and everyone went to the other one I wasn’t invited to."
Last week McMillen asked one of the students organizing the prom for details about the event, and was directed to the country club. "It hurts my feelings," McMillen says.
Two students with learning difficulties were among the seven people at the country club event, McMillen recalls. "They had the time of their lives," McMillen says. "That's the one good thing that come out of this, [these kids] didn't have to worry about people making fun of them [at their prom]."
In March, after the Itawamba County School District refused to allow McMillen to bring a female date to the prom, the district canceled the event altogether. McMillen and her lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union challenged that decision in court, and a judge ruled the district could not bar McMillen and her date.
The judge declined to force the school district to hold the prom because a parent-sponsored, private prom was being organized — and the understanding was that McMillen and her date were invited to that event. But Hampton says McMillen was never invited and organizers made it very difficult for her to find information on the time and location. That prom was later mysteriously canceled, with the Friday night event at the country club officially replacing it.
Really fucking nice.
99
@96: The per capita HIV-related death rate in Mississippi is also in the top 10 out of all the states and is 4x higher than in Washington State. The current per capita infected rate in the Jackson, MS area is about 3x higher than in Seattle and exactly the same as San Francisco, which means Mississippi and its cities have higher infection and death rates than 2 of the top 3 cities for HIV care and services.
Must be all those liberal gays and their dyke lawyers infecting them.
Must be all those liberal gays and their dyke lawyers infecting them.
101
No...Technically, for those of you that feel like you need to find a loophole to save your miserable souls, those other students were not wrong for choosing a privately sponsored event... They could not be "forced" to go to a school prom... BUT, the original event should not have been cancelled in the first place! Imagine a whole event being cancelled over what you chose to wear or what color your hair was. Ridiculous! I am a teacher in Georgia and am appalled. Use your time and energy to try to figure out how to save funding for education, how to best meet the needs of these children, and how to keep our kids from dropping out before they graduate. A school system having to spend all this money and time to keep a poor child from attending a prom is nonsense and it contributes to everything that is inherently wrong with this country--an attention deficit disorder that allows officials in the United States to lose track of what is really important and focus our attention elsewhere only to allow things that matter to fall to the wayside. Is it true idiocy or a planned distraction from the real problem? Either way, it's irritating as hell.
102
What a bunch of childish kill-joys. What people will do to spoil everyone's fun. Alas I agree with #2. It's time to move on. They were party poopers, they know it and no amount of litigation is going to change them. Sigh.
103
I find it hard to believe that people are shocked. You can make a school system or parent group have an all inclusive prom apparently but there is absolutely no way to make the other kids show up. The minute the original prom was cancelled most of the kids had made up their minds. Constance had her prom but it was neither fun nor well attended. Then again, fun and the attendance of others was not what was promised.
104
@102 The point of litigation at this point wouldn't be to change them, but to punish them. The punishment will HAVE to be financially harsh, as to discourage this from happening ever again. Otherwise they win and they'll do this to anyone else who dares be different than them.
105
Dang this situation sucks. Poor Constance and others to have been willfully and cruelly deceived, that was cold. Yet, I can't help but weep at Constance's description of her fellow party goes, They had the time of their lives". And, that she, with all her courage, grace and compassion, was there with them. So, I hope long after this has passed, and the sting of cruelty fades, that the beauty of her Prom Night will shine. As a night filled with joy, acceptance and celebration. Those are the memories you want to carry with you through life.
106
It's really telling that they excluded the special needs kids. These people -- the administrators, the teachers, the parents, the kids, all of them -- are scum.
107
99
Mississipians must be very very bad people to have so much AIDS.
Is that it?
Or very ignorant and backwards?
Or is God punishing them for being disrespecting the ACLU?
And yet homosexuals are TWELVE TIMES as likely to give each other AIDS as ignorant and backwards Mississippians...
Mississipians must be very very bad people to have so much AIDS.
Is that it?
Or very ignorant and backwards?
Or is God punishing them for being disrespecting the ACLU?
And yet homosexuals are TWELVE TIMES as likely to give each other AIDS as ignorant and backwards Mississippians...
108
In all fairness, I hear that Constance and her girlfriend were in fact invited to the private party in advance. It is not clear whether they were invited by students who felt bad, or one or more of the parents organizing the event. Note how I put that. I'm going to withhold further fire until all the facts are in.
109
So many posts on this site say that people from Miss are ignorant, infected with Aids, etc. Is Constance the only intelligent resident of that state?
110
@107: Show us your source for your assertion that homosexuals are twelve times as likely to catch HIV (you cannot give someone AIDS) than Mississippians. You like to bang on and on about shit without ever backing anything up.
@109: The ignorance charge is the result of this particular sample of Mississippians having their heads too far up their asses to accept people different from them, a condition sadly common in the South.
The whole HIV/AIDS (I wish Alleged would figure out the difference between the two) topic came up after the idiot(s) known as Alleged started talking about how Mississippians are far superior to us highfalutin' carpetbagging Yankees. I believe that all people are born equal, but it seems like a hell of a lot of us, especially in rural areas, have only gone downhill from there.
I've seen you around here before, Peregrine. Why not register?
@109: The ignorance charge is the result of this particular sample of Mississippians having their heads too far up their asses to accept people different from them, a condition sadly common in the South.
The whole HIV/AIDS (I wish Alleged would figure out the difference between the two) topic came up after the idiot(s) known as Alleged started talking about how Mississippians are far superior to us highfalutin' carpetbagging Yankees. I believe that all people are born equal, but it seems like a hell of a lot of us, especially in rural areas, have only gone downhill from there.
I've seen you around here before, Peregrine. Why not register?
112
@ 56 - No. Not the bigotry, the response. It's small towns that are closely knit enough to band together and organize to fuck someone else over. You don't get that kind of coordination and cohesion in a larger group. If you're on a small town's good side, fucking awesome. If you're not, you're in deep shit.
113
So, all you folks saying it's fine that two separate (publicly funded) proms were held are totally okay with separate, white and black proms being held too, right?
I'm from the South, born and raised there, please believe me, this still happens, ever year, in towns big and small, all across the South.
It's not okay when it's racial segregation, and it's not okay when it's any other kind of segregation. It's not about forcing kids to show up - it's about not permitting federal and state funds to be funneled towards segregation, racial or otherwise, in violation of federal law. Yeah, any despicable nitwit with cash can throw a private party. A public school district, however, can't.
I'm from the South, born and raised there, please believe me, this still happens, ever year, in towns big and small, all across the South.
It's not okay when it's racial segregation, and it's not okay when it's any other kind of segregation. It's not about forcing kids to show up - it's about not permitting federal and state funds to be funneled towards segregation, racial or otherwise, in violation of federal law. Yeah, any despicable nitwit with cash can throw a private party. A public school district, however, can't.
115
110
How much time have you spent in the South?
How did you become so knowledgeable about Southerners?
Let us guess, some of your best friends are Southerners, right?
Do you know as much about Southerners as you do about Serbs?
How much time have you spent in the South?
How did you become so knowledgeable about Southerners?
Let us guess, some of your best friends are Southerners, right?
Do you know as much about Southerners as you do about Serbs?
116
You know, I imagine the judge is going to take this in fairly good spirits...I mean, federal judges LOVE to be made fools of, don't they?
Some heads are gonna roll... (though they probably wouldn't listen to those "fairy Satanists" Judas Priest in good ol' Fundieland, would they?)
Some heads are gonna roll... (though they probably wouldn't listen to those "fairy Satanists" Judas Priest in good ol' Fundieland, would they?)
117
113
There weren't two publicly funded proms.
Only one.
The one Constance went to.
Are all Southerners as stupid as you?
There weren't two publicly funded proms.
Only one.
The one Constance went to.
Are all Southerners as stupid as you?
118
@117, I hate feeding trolls, but: Word is the school helped plan etc. the "real" prom.
And I'd much rather be Venom's friend than yours, your trolling sucks. Not worth the time if you're even an idiot at what you're good at.
And I'd much rather be Venom's friend than yours, your trolling sucks. Not worth the time if you're even an idiot at what you're good at.
119
Also for any of you with any snooping skills at all (most of you): nothing is better for finding out what went down with a bunch of high schoolers than the mybook and the facepage.
120
@115:
"How much time have you spent in the South?"
Enough to know I'm always going to be a Cascadian.
"How did you become so knowledgeable about Southerners?"
I'm not that knowledgeable about all Southerners. But speaking for Venom, I'm pretty sure he's just talking about the ones who post on this board. Actually, I'm totally sure of that. It's exactly what he said.
"Let us guess, some of your best friends are Southerners, right?"
"Let us guess"? Who really says that? Is this a multiple personality issue. And no, none of my best friends are Southerners.
"Do you know as much about Southerners as you do about Serbs?"
I know more about Southerners than I do about Serbs.
"You know, I imagine the judge is going to take this in fairly good spirits...I mean, federal judges LOVE to be made fools of, don't they?"
No, they don't. But more than that, your implication here is that the school's act of perjury was some clever trick that we should all admire. Oh, snap! Your bigotry totally pwn'd our rule of law! Damn, that was slick. We'll even let you gloat about that for like, 5 years in federal prison. Sound good? Yeah, sounds good.
"Though they probably wouldn't listen to those "fairy Satanists" Judas Priest in good ol' Fundieland, would they?"
I don't even know what this one means. But I do know it's stupid.
"Are all Southerners as stupid as you?"
Well no, there are smarter Southerners. He's just pretty stupid.
@118: You're right. They're goin down for this - ya know, because injustice doesn't just "fly." Anyway, I will disagree to say this: Venom's hardly a troll. Well, okay, maybe s/he is. But s/he's a fucking awesome troll.
That being said, if we've learned anything here today, we can at least conclude that Cascadia is way more badass that either West Virginia OR Mississippi. Actually we can't conclude that at all. But I'm gonna go ahead and conclude that anyway.
More...
"How much time have you spent in the South?"
Enough to know I'm always going to be a Cascadian.
"How did you become so knowledgeable about Southerners?"
I'm not that knowledgeable about all Southerners. But speaking for Venom, I'm pretty sure he's just talking about the ones who post on this board. Actually, I'm totally sure of that. It's exactly what he said.
"Let us guess, some of your best friends are Southerners, right?"
"Let us guess"? Who really says that? Is this a multiple personality issue. And no, none of my best friends are Southerners.
"Do you know as much about Southerners as you do about Serbs?"
I know more about Southerners than I do about Serbs.
"You know, I imagine the judge is going to take this in fairly good spirits...I mean, federal judges LOVE to be made fools of, don't they?"
No, they don't. But more than that, your implication here is that the school's act of perjury was some clever trick that we should all admire. Oh, snap! Your bigotry totally pwn'd our rule of law! Damn, that was slick. We'll even let you gloat about that for like, 5 years in federal prison. Sound good? Yeah, sounds good.
"Though they probably wouldn't listen to those "fairy Satanists" Judas Priest in good ol' Fundieland, would they?"
I don't even know what this one means. But I do know it's stupid.
"Are all Southerners as stupid as you?"
Well no, there are smarter Southerners. He's just pretty stupid.
@118: You're right. They're goin down for this - ya know, because injustice doesn't just "fly." Anyway, I will disagree to say this: Venom's hardly a troll. Well, okay, maybe s/he is. But s/he's a fucking awesome troll.
That being said, if we've learned anything here today, we can at least conclude that Cascadia is way more badass that either West Virginia OR Mississippi. Actually we can't conclude that at all. But I'm gonna go ahead and conclude that anyway.
121
@120: Aw, thanks, doesurmindglow. I don't really care how I'm classified as long as "fucking awesome" is in there somewhere.
But I think Alleged's comment about Serbs was in reference to my comment about a culturally insensitive Serbian dormmate of mine. Just for the record, Alleged, he's said that Serbia (at least the parts that his family's from) is composed mostly of backwoods Old Country-type people who don't very well understand other peoples. Actually, he considers himself fairly progressive and open-minded in comparison. I believe him on that.
Also, I think that #116 might not have actually been Alleged; I'm of the opinion that the post was intended to state that the judges will deal harshly with that kind of perjury.
But I think Alleged's comment about Serbs was in reference to my comment about a culturally insensitive Serbian dormmate of mine. Just for the record, Alleged, he's said that Serbia (at least the parts that his family's from) is composed mostly of backwoods Old Country-type people who don't very well understand other peoples. Actually, he considers himself fairly progressive and open-minded in comparison. I believe him on that.
Also, I think that #116 might not have actually been Alleged; I'm of the opinion that the post was intended to state that the judges will deal harshly with that kind of perjury.
122
@121:
Ahaha, no problem. I sort of get it now. That whole Serbs deal was kinda confusing me. Interesting side note: it's way easier to make fun of ignorant Southerners than ignorant Serbs. Somehow the social contract of the American nation-state makes their injustices - such as this one - more immediate, pressing, and safer to address, though, as you bring up, those which occur worldwide might be much more egregious. And, yeah, I was pretty sure #115, 116 and 117 were all different people. I didn't know for sure because of their equally snarky unregistered bylines.
Nonetheless, whoever this favorite troll of ours is, the whole "liberal intolerance" red herring should finally be put to bed by some ingenious rhetorician who obviously isn't me. I've been thinking about it for a while, feel free to move on if you feel this longer discussion is all kind of redundant at this point.
You know what the "liberal intolerance" red herring it kinda reminds me of? Those arguments that environmental land-use restrictions will "make housing unaffordable." Like wealthy developers looking to end environmental protection ever gave a shit about the "affordability of housing." But they do know that the environmentalists do.
It's an argument these conservatives make not because they give a fuck about intolerance and hatred - they clearly don't: Because it's just fine, as the argument goes, for someone to be intolerant or hateful against gays, while it's a total injustice to call someone out for being intolerant or hateful, even if that "calling them out" consists of little more than saying they're intolerant or hateful.
They make the argument instead because they know we care about it: they know that even though they only give a shit about themselves and their personal license to hurt whoever they please, they think we might be manipulated by the suggestion that we're doing harm undeservingly to another. The hope is that we'll back off and leave their corrupt intolerance alone because some part of us is indeed deeply concerned they might be rendered voiceless or oppressed by the best of intentions.
I also think it's come up more and more recently because their ideology is collapsing in the post-Bush era, and they know it. Gay marriage probably won't be debated by my children; and certainly not by my children's children. Being unable to any longer publicly justify their ideology of hate, injustice, and environmental degradation on their logical and/or emotional merits, they turn instead to demanding silence: hoping that if we just don't say anything, if we just don't talk about it, then their endangered and soon extinct ideas will hold out a little while longer in the cocoon of ignorance. The "liberal intolerance" herring, I've begun to think, is the manipulative, philosophical equivalent of "Na-na-na-na-na-na! I can't hear you!"
It doesn't ever defend intolerance. It's distraction, it just seeks to divert the progression of tolerance. It's like the "bargaining" stage of grief or something over their dead idea: "Let us just continue to be intolerant for a little while, come on, please, we know it's wrong, but like, aren't you just as wrong if you try to stop us now? Please? Just let us keep a lesbian from going to this one prom..." Soon it'll be: "Well this country's just fucked, it's all going to hell now. The gays are everywhere. There's nothing we can do, they brainwashed our children and propped up their secret Muslim leader. Might as well just go home and die. No one cares what we think anymore." And after that, we might finally get "You know, gay people aren't so bad..." and so on.
In short, they don't want to have to defend their ideas because, in the ideological ecosystem of the future, part of them knows won't be able to. So they're hoping we'll just let them be bigots in peace and not challenge their beliefs. At best, it's intellectually dishonest. At worst, it's cowardice.
More...
Ahaha, no problem. I sort of get it now. That whole Serbs deal was kinda confusing me. Interesting side note: it's way easier to make fun of ignorant Southerners than ignorant Serbs. Somehow the social contract of the American nation-state makes their injustices - such as this one - more immediate, pressing, and safer to address, though, as you bring up, those which occur worldwide might be much more egregious. And, yeah, I was pretty sure #115, 116 and 117 were all different people. I didn't know for sure because of their equally snarky unregistered bylines.
Nonetheless, whoever this favorite troll of ours is, the whole "liberal intolerance" red herring should finally be put to bed by some ingenious rhetorician who obviously isn't me. I've been thinking about it for a while, feel free to move on if you feel this longer discussion is all kind of redundant at this point.
You know what the "liberal intolerance" red herring it kinda reminds me of? Those arguments that environmental land-use restrictions will "make housing unaffordable." Like wealthy developers looking to end environmental protection ever gave a shit about the "affordability of housing." But they do know that the environmentalists do.
It's an argument these conservatives make not because they give a fuck about intolerance and hatred - they clearly don't: Because it's just fine, as the argument goes, for someone to be intolerant or hateful against gays, while it's a total injustice to call someone out for being intolerant or hateful, even if that "calling them out" consists of little more than saying they're intolerant or hateful.
They make the argument instead because they know we care about it: they know that even though they only give a shit about themselves and their personal license to hurt whoever they please, they think we might be manipulated by the suggestion that we're doing harm undeservingly to another. The hope is that we'll back off and leave their corrupt intolerance alone because some part of us is indeed deeply concerned they might be rendered voiceless or oppressed by the best of intentions.
I also think it's come up more and more recently because their ideology is collapsing in the post-Bush era, and they know it. Gay marriage probably won't be debated by my children; and certainly not by my children's children. Being unable to any longer publicly justify their ideology of hate, injustice, and environmental degradation on their logical and/or emotional merits, they turn instead to demanding silence: hoping that if we just don't say anything, if we just don't talk about it, then their endangered and soon extinct ideas will hold out a little while longer in the cocoon of ignorance. The "liberal intolerance" herring, I've begun to think, is the manipulative, philosophical equivalent of "Na-na-na-na-na-na! I can't hear you!"
It doesn't ever defend intolerance. It's distraction, it just seeks to divert the progression of tolerance. It's like the "bargaining" stage of grief or something over their dead idea: "Let us just continue to be intolerant for a little while, come on, please, we know it's wrong, but like, aren't you just as wrong if you try to stop us now? Please? Just let us keep a lesbian from going to this one prom..." Soon it'll be: "Well this country's just fucked, it's all going to hell now. The gays are everywhere. There's nothing we can do, they brainwashed our children and propped up their secret Muslim leader. Might as well just go home and die. No one cares what we think anymore." And after that, we might finally get "You know, gay people aren't so bad..." and so on.
In short, they don't want to have to defend their ideas because, in the ideological ecosystem of the future, part of them knows won't be able to. So they're hoping we'll just let them be bigots in peace and not challenge their beliefs. At best, it's intellectually dishonest. At worst, it's cowardice.
123
The parents and students that ran the secret 'real' prom (some of whom are now stating 'it wasn't a prom' and then having their own posts about 'the parents prom' thrown back in their faces) probably didn't do anything illegal. If the school was involved with helping plan the 'secret' prom then they certainly did go against the judges orders.
But see, the thing is, just because something is legal doesn't make it right. What this class, this small town, did was horrifyingly cruel and small-minded. That so many of the kids who attended the prom (and at least one parent who helped organize and posted pictures) list christian organizations on their facebook fan lists just goes to show that most people don't read their own scriptures.
What's sad is that, of course, this has all been done before. As a poster on one of the blogs talking about this pointed out, it happened in another southern state many a decade ago.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XSA…
The kids who pulled this prank last time have lived with the regret ever since and are now trying to make up for it. But apparently that lesson hasn't been fully learned everywhere.
While I detest threats, and am generally no friend of harassing, I do think it is important that a level of social pressure is kept on this city and those who helped organize and support this bull puckey. They need to know that what they did was not okay, and that they are not going to be seen as the good guys, and that society at large deems them to be petty, nasty little monsters.
But see, the thing is, just because something is legal doesn't make it right. What this class, this small town, did was horrifyingly cruel and small-minded. That so many of the kids who attended the prom (and at least one parent who helped organize and posted pictures) list christian organizations on their facebook fan lists just goes to show that most people don't read their own scriptures.
What's sad is that, of course, this has all been done before. As a poster on one of the blogs talking about this pointed out, it happened in another southern state many a decade ago.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XSA…
The kids who pulled this prank last time have lived with the regret ever since and are now trying to make up for it. But apparently that lesson hasn't been fully learned everywhere.
While I detest threats, and am generally no friend of harassing, I do think it is important that a level of social pressure is kept on this city and those who helped organize and support this bull puckey. They need to know that what they did was not okay, and that they are not going to be seen as the good guys, and that society at large deems them to be petty, nasty little monsters.
124
@ 123 - thanks for the link to that terrific story, though it saddened me deeply.
I'm saddened, and angered, by the cruelty shown by some people, and the anonymous troll and LC are perfect examples of such cruelty. I can only hope there is a special place in hell for people like them.
I'm saddened, and angered, by the cruelty shown by some people, and the anonymous troll and LC are perfect examples of such cruelty. I can only hope there is a special place in hell for people like them.
125
@108
I think you need to check again. Of course, we're getting more detail as time goes on, but all the quotes I've seen from Constance were that she was aware that the other party was being planned, but that she was not invited. She went to the event she was invited to - the fake one.
That seems more likely to be true than the idea that the entire town could have kept the information from her, and that absolutely nobody would have told her, even quietly and privately. Although, it does beg the question of who officially invited the kids to the better-attended event, and who paid for the fake one and whether they were in on it.
If the kids who did attend "had the time of their life" then there presumably was food and music. Or maybe it was just a night where they knew all the jerks and bullies were safely corralled somewhere else.
I think you need to check again. Of course, we're getting more detail as time goes on, but all the quotes I've seen from Constance were that she was aware that the other party was being planned, but that she was not invited. She went to the event she was invited to - the fake one.
That seems more likely to be true than the idea that the entire town could have kept the information from her, and that absolutely nobody would have told her, even quietly and privately. Although, it does beg the question of who officially invited the kids to the better-attended event, and who paid for the fake one and whether they were in on it.
If the kids who did attend "had the time of their life" then there presumably was food and music. Or maybe it was just a night where they knew all the jerks and bullies were safely corralled somewhere else.
126
i really want to see a media shitstorm happen. i agree with 123, they need pressure, they need attention, they need to know the rest of the world only sees them as narrowminded, ignorant bigots and that image is compounded by their actions and will be go away until they start acting like civilized adults.
i wish there was something i could. i really feel angry about all this.
i wish there was something i could. i really feel angry about all this.
127
When do tolerant people get to stop tolerating intolerant people?
'cause it's getting so god damned hard.
'cause it's getting so god damned hard.
128
Everyone who is saying "the school can't force kids to go to prom with a gay person" has a stupid, indefensible argument.
What these people did was despicable. They lied and they flouted the spirit of the judge orders when all they had to do was let Constance know where the alternative prom was. They didn't have to lie to her. She's a teenager for god's sake. These are adults. They should know better. And so should you.
What these people did was despicable. They lied and they flouted the spirit of the judge orders when all they had to do was let Constance know where the alternative prom was. They didn't have to lie to her. She's a teenager for god's sake. These are adults. They should know better. And so should you.
129
128
That's what I'm saying.
The ACLU should have hired about 60 private security firm goons to personally (and by force, if needed) escort each and every junior and senior to the 'official' prom'. And send the bill to the school district. That is the only way to teach these inbred cretins to accept Gays.
That's what I'm saying.
The ACLU should have hired about 60 private security firm goons to personally (and by force, if needed) escort each and every junior and senior to the 'official' prom'. And send the bill to the school district. That is the only way to teach these inbred cretins to accept Gays.
130
I mean, what it boils down to is that someone (most likely a parent, possibly a school faculty member, maybe a combination) decided, "We need to teach that uppity lesbian a lesson." Does that language sound at all familiar to anyone?
As a Christian AND an Alabama native (and resident), I am appalled that this type of behavior seems to be widely perceived as indicative of how "southern Christians" act. And every time something like this happens, these dipshits make it that much worse for the rest of us.
What happened to Constance McMillen was Wrong, and I hope she is able to get away from those idiots in Small Town, Mississippi. As for the idiots -- well, we can hope for some sort of legal repercussions, but their small-mindedness and the fact that they miss out on so many of the good things and people in the world are a form of punishment, too, from an outsider's perspective. You can keep your bigotry, Itawamba County. The rest of us will gladly accept Constance and the other kids from her prom and be all the better for it.
As a Christian AND an Alabama native (and resident), I am appalled that this type of behavior seems to be widely perceived as indicative of how "southern Christians" act. And every time something like this happens, these dipshits make it that much worse for the rest of us.
What happened to Constance McMillen was Wrong, and I hope she is able to get away from those idiots in Small Town, Mississippi. As for the idiots -- well, we can hope for some sort of legal repercussions, but their small-mindedness and the fact that they miss out on so many of the good things and people in the world are a form of punishment, too, from an outsider's perspective. You can keep your bigotry, Itawamba County. The rest of us will gladly accept Constance and the other kids from her prom and be all the better for it.
131
120
Hey!
Are you going to start answering venom's posts now?
Take the kid under your wing,
show him how it's done?
Normally we would have been thrilled to see it-
cause that's somewhere a little adult supervision
would really be nice.
But we've got to say,
though we wouldn't have thought it possible,
that you really fucked it up way worse
than the kid usually does.
Hate to see you branding that bright new avatar
as 'mumblings of an incoherent schizo'-
maybe you could swap it for a rebel battle flag
(cause it's the same thought process at work...)
and start fresh?
Hey!
Are you going to start answering venom's posts now?
Take the kid under your wing,
show him how it's done?
Normally we would have been thrilled to see it-
cause that's somewhere a little adult supervision
would really be nice.
But we've got to say,
though we wouldn't have thought it possible,
that you really fucked it up way worse
than the kid usually does.
Hate to see you branding that bright new avatar
as 'mumblings of an incoherent schizo'-
maybe you could swap it for a rebel battle flag
(cause it's the same thought process at work...)
and start fresh?
132
130
Actually "this type of behavior" is only "widely perceived as indicative of how "southern Christians" act" by bigoted prejudiced Liberal hipsters who learned all they "know" about the South (and human sexuality...) from Deliverance.
Actually "this type of behavior" is only "widely perceived as indicative of how "southern Christians" act" by bigoted prejudiced Liberal hipsters who learned all they "know" about the South (and human sexuality...) from Deliverance.
133
I agree that what they did was wrong... but can you prove in a court of law that the event with Constance was the fake one? Supposedly the principal and the teachers attended the one with Constance. I think you could make a case that Constance attended the real prom, and a bunch of other kids boycotted by holding a private party. This is morally reprehensible, but is it illegal? I'm not sure.
That said, check out these pictures of the "Private Party" which the student helpfully titled "Prom": http://www.flickr.com/photos/49072607@N0…
A few more pictures with a brief article:
http://lafiga.firedoglake.com/2010/04/05…
A student from the private event defends herself here:
http://lafiga.firedoglake.com/2010/04/05…
That said, check out these pictures of the "Private Party" which the student helpfully titled "Prom": http://www.flickr.com/photos/49072607@N0…
A few more pictures with a brief article:
http://lafiga.firedoglake.com/2010/04/05…
A student from the private event defends herself here:
http://lafiga.firedoglake.com/2010/04/05…
134
oops! The correct links should be:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49072607@N0…
http://lafiga.firedoglake.com/2010/04/05…
http://lafiga.firedoglake.com/2010/04/05…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49072607@N0…
http://lafiga.firedoglake.com/2010/04/05…
http://lafiga.firedoglake.com/2010/04/05…
135
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49072607@N0…
And the high school's photo page.... http://www.itawambaahs.com/Photos%20Page…
And the high school's photo page.... http://www.itawambaahs.com/Photos%20Page…
136
@107: No, I'm pointing out that you always scream "stupid gays, stupid liberals" when clearly the non-liberal and decidedly un-gay states also have a problem with HIV and AIDS. If so many people are HIV positive in a place like Mississippi, either you concede that HIV/AIDS is not as limited to gay men as you constantly propose, that there are more gay people than you care to reckon with and/or you have a great deal of difficulty with statistics.
@115: I know a helluva lot more about southerners than you do, I can guarantee that. If you'd like to discuss the general climate of the south, I'm game. Otherwise, your nonstop whining about liberals attacking the heartland is really just the same ol' passive-aggressive whining-disguised-as-trolling that seems to be the oeuvre of Alleged. It's so very left coast.
@115: I know a helluva lot more about southerners than you do, I can guarantee that. If you'd like to discuss the general climate of the south, I'm game. Otherwise, your nonstop whining about liberals attacking the heartland is really just the same ol' passive-aggressive whining-disguised-as-trolling that seems to be the oeuvre of Alleged. It's so very left coast.
137
The Jackson (Miss) Clarion-Ledger has some pretty good stories with a lot more detail than the hysterical rumor and rantings Dan posts on Slog.
One of their articles quoted folks in the town saying opinion was about 50-50 and that Constance is well liked but the driving force at this point was a determination not to have the ACLU pushing them around.
And I think that is pretty well reflected in what happened-
"yeah, you lawyers can dictate
how the school prom is conducted
but you can't make us send our kids to it..."
And the victim is Constance,
mostly a victim of her legion of "friends" and "supporters"
who see this as a winnable battle in the culture wars,
an opportunity to crank up the Hate Machine
and point it at these Southern Redneck Bigots
and grind them into the dirt.
"Friends" and "supporters"
who don't see this from the perspective of
a sweet small town Southern Christian girl
who wants and plans to stay in her hometown
(and, odds are, WILL settle down
with a boy and have kids in a few years-
like previous Southern teenage lesbian schoolgirls
Queer Inc. adopted as its Cause of the Month
and then dropped when the news cycle turned...)
There are a hundred other ways this could have been handled and any of them would have been better for Constance.
The troll made an offhand remark about a couple of weeks ago how much the ACLU is despised and was surprised at the apparent genuine total cluelessness to that fact among the loyal liberals of slog.
Trust us when we say that there is no organization more despised by red state small town conservative America- including the Taliban.
Once the ACLU rolled into town there was no way the half of the town that supported Constance was going to be able (or inclined) to stand up for her and come to a solution that would have been humane to that sweet girl.
Sure, the ACLU and the HomoLiberal Hate Machine
won this one, hands down.
Congratulations.
Constance,
with her sweet big heart none of you can begin to understand,
at her prom with a half a dozen other kids,
classier and more mature to the end
than her 400,000 close "friends" and "supporters" could ever be,
Constance,
whose heart had to be breaking inside
though I doubt she let on for a second;
Constance is just collateral damage in this Great Liberal Victory.
No, fraulein @124, you misplace the cruelty.
The cruelty is with those who used Constance to their own ends.
The people in this town are not evil.
But they have fears and bigotries and ignorance like everyone else.
Like the enlightened liberals of slog.
Those things can be overcome and defeated.
But not by ACLU lawsuits and the Hate Machine.
The adults in Fulton behaved shamefully.
The Hate Machine has that effect on people.
The town doesn't understand Constance.
Slog doesn't understand the small town Southerners.
And now,
thanks to this Great Liberal Victory,
everybody understands everybody else a little worse than before.
Slog will move on to new targets and causes.
Constance will be left in Fulton,
part of the confetti in the gutter left over from the victory parade.
More...
One of their articles quoted folks in the town saying opinion was about 50-50 and that Constance is well liked but the driving force at this point was a determination not to have the ACLU pushing them around.
And I think that is pretty well reflected in what happened-
"yeah, you lawyers can dictate
how the school prom is conducted
but you can't make us send our kids to it..."
And the victim is Constance,
mostly a victim of her legion of "friends" and "supporters"
who see this as a winnable battle in the culture wars,
an opportunity to crank up the Hate Machine
and point it at these Southern Redneck Bigots
and grind them into the dirt.
"Friends" and "supporters"
who don't see this from the perspective of
a sweet small town Southern Christian girl
who wants and plans to stay in her hometown
(and, odds are, WILL settle down
with a boy and have kids in a few years-
like previous Southern teenage lesbian schoolgirls
Queer Inc. adopted as its Cause of the Month
and then dropped when the news cycle turned...)
There are a hundred other ways this could have been handled and any of them would have been better for Constance.
The troll made an offhand remark about a couple of weeks ago how much the ACLU is despised and was surprised at the apparent genuine total cluelessness to that fact among the loyal liberals of slog.
Trust us when we say that there is no organization more despised by red state small town conservative America- including the Taliban.
Once the ACLU rolled into town there was no way the half of the town that supported Constance was going to be able (or inclined) to stand up for her and come to a solution that would have been humane to that sweet girl.
Sure, the ACLU and the HomoLiberal Hate Machine
won this one, hands down.
Congratulations.
Constance,
with her sweet big heart none of you can begin to understand,
at her prom with a half a dozen other kids,
classier and more mature to the end
than her 400,000 close "friends" and "supporters" could ever be,
Constance,
whose heart had to be breaking inside
though I doubt she let on for a second;
Constance is just collateral damage in this Great Liberal Victory.
No, fraulein @124, you misplace the cruelty.
The cruelty is with those who used Constance to their own ends.
The people in this town are not evil.
But they have fears and bigotries and ignorance like everyone else.
Like the enlightened liberals of slog.
Those things can be overcome and defeated.
But not by ACLU lawsuits and the Hate Machine.
The adults in Fulton behaved shamefully.
The Hate Machine has that effect on people.
The town doesn't understand Constance.
Slog doesn't understand the small town Southerners.
And now,
thanks to this Great Liberal Victory,
everybody understands everybody else a little worse than before.
Slog will move on to new targets and causes.
Constance will be left in Fulton,
part of the confetti in the gutter left over from the victory parade.
138
Even if you could prove that the school board was genuinely behind the two proms (and I'd say it's about a 70-80% chance that parents of the other kids set the whole thing up and deliberately left the school out of it for plausible deniability purposes), I think at this point time and energy would be better spent finding ways to help Constance get to college far from there and let the rest of the town sit proudly in its own feculence.
Get some talk show host to make up an award to give to the town congratulating them on their commitment to bigotry (perhaps with a statue depicting a golden plastic burning cross) as one last "fuck you" and let the matter drop. We've taken it as much as they can and the town has been able to take it further. At this point, best to let John Stewart wrap it up on the Daily Show and move on.
Get some talk show host to make up an award to give to the town congratulating them on their commitment to bigotry (perhaps with a statue depicting a golden plastic burning cross) as one last "fuck you" and let the matter drop. We've taken it as much as they can and the town has been able to take it further. At this point, best to let John Stewart wrap it up on the Daily Show and move on.
139
136
According to the CDC 53% of new AIDS cases in America are the result of men having sex with men.
Perhaps you could help us with the statistics;
and help us put it in context-
are 53% of Americans homosexual men?
According to the CDC 53% of new AIDS cases in America are the result of men having sex with men.
Perhaps you could help us with the statistics;
and help us put it in context-
are 53% of Americans homosexual men?
141
140
Gosh,
I guess you'd have to ask them....
If you look at male AIDS cases
MSM causes 70% of all new cases.
Gosh,
I guess you'd have to ask them....
If you look at male AIDS cases
MSM causes 70% of all new cases.
142
This one is my favorite hypocrite picture from prom night:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49072607@N0…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49072607@N0…
143
Why the hell are you lot talking about AIDS? It's not relevant to this debate. If there's one group of people who are the least likely to transmit sexual diseases it's lesbians.
Personally, I think the biggest threat is the Catholic Church telling people there are holes in condoms but that's another discussion.
Anyway, I think George Dawes said it best: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xinLivR8S…
Personally, I think the biggest threat is the Catholic Church telling people there are holes in condoms but that's another discussion.
Anyway, I think George Dawes said it best: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xinLivR8S…
144
@123: That was a really interesting article. The most interesting aspect is when you take the people doing the hate out of their time and context, what they did looks totally ridiculous. I'm almost certain what these people did to Constance will look the exact same way in say, 35 years. We'll be explaining it to our kids who'll just be like, totally unable to understand that this kinda thing once went on. And was normal. And to some people, they thought it was even justified.
In the mean time, I'm also pretty sure that, when that time comes, the students, parents and school officials will be burdened with regret - if nothing more, that their political intentions and petty selfishness as characterized at #137 allowed them to do something horrible to a 17 year-old girl that really did nothing wrong. Anyway, I hope at that point they'll also be able to do as one of the formerly-racist students in that story did and apologize to Constance.
Anyway, thanks for the fascinating article!
In the mean time, I'm also pretty sure that, when that time comes, the students, parents and school officials will be burdened with regret - if nothing more, that their political intentions and petty selfishness as characterized at #137 allowed them to do something horrible to a 17 year-old girl that really did nothing wrong. Anyway, I hope at that point they'll also be able to do as one of the formerly-racist students in that story did and apologize to Constance.
Anyway, thanks for the fascinating article!
145
@137: This argument amounts to "We hurt Constance to punish you. So there!" Yeah, um, grow up. It's not that hard. You're going to look back on this and be like "God, how could I have been that stupid??" We've all been there. We all understand. So it's time to grow up and quit whining about "us liberals" and our "big city lawyers" and whatever the hell else you don't understand.
At best, your argument here is not that they're bigoted, just that they're petty and stupid enough to defy what's right just to annoy us. Hint: we don't care that much.
What they did to Constance will hurt them far more than it will ever hurt us, even if we never said a word about it for the rest of our lives. Doing something cruel and evil to another person stays with you forever. It's a pain that runs deep, a guilt that's hard to resolve. You try to justify it, to explain away what you did, you try to blame other people, as we see here. But in the end, all you feel is pain. All you can do is learn from it.
So, yeah, we hope they - and you - learn from this. It was a mistake, and hopefully you one day - like in the case at 123 - will grow up enough to be able to admit it. It's just sad you didn't when you were high school. Most of America's next generation simply did.
At best, your argument here is not that they're bigoted, just that they're petty and stupid enough to defy what's right just to annoy us. Hint: we don't care that much.
What they did to Constance will hurt them far more than it will ever hurt us, even if we never said a word about it for the rest of our lives. Doing something cruel and evil to another person stays with you forever. It's a pain that runs deep, a guilt that's hard to resolve. You try to justify it, to explain away what you did, you try to blame other people, as we see here. But in the end, all you feel is pain. All you can do is learn from it.
So, yeah, we hope they - and you - learn from this. It was a mistake, and hopefully you one day - like in the case at 123 - will grow up enough to be able to admit it. It's just sad you didn't when you were high school. Most of America's next generation simply did.
147
@139, 141, 143: Thanks Coveredinbees, this argument was clearly stupid. Even if gay men were "to blame" for 100% of AIDS cases, and gay sex caused 100% of new AIDS cases, it still would not be right to discriminate against them for being gay. All that says to me is that we need to improve the consciousness around using appropriate protection. So yeah, try again...
149
142
Do you have other hypocrite pictures from prom night you'd like to share?
Perhaps it will give your bitter empty life some meaning to assert your moral superiority over 16 year old Mississippi kids?
Do you have other hypocrite pictures from prom night you'd like to share?
Perhaps it will give your bitter empty life some meaning to assert your moral superiority over 16 year old Mississippi kids?
150
144: these people will never regret what they did unless there are financial consequences, and even then they'll simply blame Constance and those who support her. All those parents and kids are probably pretty proud of themselves: they stuck it to the court, they stood up for what they believed in. Nobody who would participate in something so petty and cruel is going to suddenly think, gosh, maybe it wasn't very nice to exclude the special needs kids and to let a small handful of the least popular students think they were invited to the prom when they were being deliberately left out.
151
@142: Haha Arboreality, that's hilarious. See, if Constance and her girlfriend both had brought male dates but then danced together all night and then gone home together, yeah, that would have been fine. But if she wants to just bring her girlfriend to prom, well, we know how that goes.
There's nothing wrong with being a lesbian if it turns guys on. There's just something wrong with it if it's actually love. Oh dear, ridiculous...
There's nothing wrong with being a lesbian if it turns guys on. There's just something wrong with it if it's actually love. Oh dear, ridiculous...
152
@150: Oh no, I don't think it'll happen suddenly. But think about this some 35 years down the road, ya know? Like won't it just look really bizarre? I feel like at that point it'll just be regrettable, long after the debate over whether gays have rights is largely "settled," as the debate over whether blacks have rights is largely settled now.
Sure, for the next few years, they'll just blame us and feel proud of themselves for sticking up for their values against the whole liberal onslaught and whatnot. They might even gloat about it in private: "Jeez, we really showed them! If they hadn't come down here and made such a fuss... well, we sent 'em packin'! Hot damn!"
But as our society moves on, and America changes, the guilt will start to creep in. The feelings of looking back with self-disdain will grow. Hell, a couple of the people who went to the "real prom" will come out of the closet... It's just going to get worse. I'm one to argue hate is almost as hurtful to the people who hate as it is to the people who are hated.
It's as the Buddha once said: "You will not be destroyed for your anger, you will be destroyed by your anger." I think that lesson could really resonate here if we wanted it to.
In other words, I was letting 137 know to worry not: we're playing the long game, and we know we'll probably win.
Sure, for the next few years, they'll just blame us and feel proud of themselves for sticking up for their values against the whole liberal onslaught and whatnot. They might even gloat about it in private: "Jeez, we really showed them! If they hadn't come down here and made such a fuss... well, we sent 'em packin'! Hot damn!"
But as our society moves on, and America changes, the guilt will start to creep in. The feelings of looking back with self-disdain will grow. Hell, a couple of the people who went to the "real prom" will come out of the closet... It's just going to get worse. I'm one to argue hate is almost as hurtful to the people who hate as it is to the people who are hated.
It's as the Buddha once said: "You will not be destroyed for your anger, you will be destroyed by your anger." I think that lesson could really resonate here if we wanted it to.
In other words, I was letting 137 know to worry not: we're playing the long game, and we know we'll probably win.
153
Troll @ 137 - Fail
No, my wanting Constance to enjoy her Prom with her fellow students, as she wanted, by taking the date of her choice IS NOT THE CRUELTY, you mindless fuck.
YOU, and YOUR ILK, that believe it was JUST TOO FUCKING MUCH OF CONSTANCE TO ASK, to go to her Prom, being the person she is, that is/was the cruelty.
SO FUCK YOU ALL TO HELL, and kindly shut the fuck up.
No, my wanting Constance to enjoy her Prom with her fellow students, as she wanted, by taking the date of her choice IS NOT THE CRUELTY, you mindless fuck.
YOU, and YOUR ILK, that believe it was JUST TOO FUCKING MUCH OF CONSTANCE TO ASK, to go to her Prom, being the person she is, that is/was the cruelty.
SO FUCK YOU ALL TO HELL, and kindly shut the fuck up.
154
153
Thank you for your kind reasoned response.
We believe Constance and the half of the town that supports her should have been allowed to work with the rest of their fellow citizens to reach a humane solution that would have put Constance's interest first; rather than having the ACLU barge in looking for settlement money and the HomoLiberal Hate Machine looking for Redneck hides to hang on the wall.
Thank you for your kind reasoned response.
We believe Constance and the half of the town that supports her should have been allowed to work with the rest of their fellow citizens to reach a humane solution that would have put Constance's interest first; rather than having the ACLU barge in looking for settlement money and the HomoLiberal Hate Machine looking for Redneck hides to hang on the wall.
155
@154: Haha, yeah riiiight... You know, if it just weren't for these damned liberals, all Southerners would be tolerant, reasonable people who accept other human beings for who they are and work out solutions that put those human beings' interests first. But when liberals come in and tell them to do that, that's when they get all bigoted and hatey - you know, out of spite for the "liberal aggression."
That's the lesson here: if we had just left the school alone, they never would have discriminated against Constance. Yep. I'm sure. That's totally reality, right there.
Didn't people use to make this EXACT argument against desegregation? Against emancipation? "The War of Northern Aggression"? It's the exact same argument! It's almost comical. This "argument" played so well the first 174 times, why not try it again? You know, hey, 175's the charm.
That's the lesson here: if we had just left the school alone, they never would have discriminated against Constance. Yep. I'm sure. That's totally reality, right there.
Didn't people use to make this EXACT argument against desegregation? Against emancipation? "The War of Northern Aggression"? It's the exact same argument! It's almost comical. This "argument" played so well the first 174 times, why not try it again? You know, hey, 175's the charm.
156
@87: Deny the truth all you want: these kids will look back in shame on this moment, just as the New South looks back with shame on the shadows of George Wallace, but with pride at the Southern legacy of MLK. History has shown us that the American sense of justice evolves with enough force - if slowly - for it to be otherwise.
This is true even in the South. In 2010, this sort of travesty would not have happened in Atlanta, or Durham, or Austin. or even Dallas. Southerners may not all understand gays, but they know bad manners when they see them. This episode is really all about the particular backwards-ness of Mississippi - the last bastion of the Old South.
"One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters, they were in reality standing up for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judaeo Christian heritage, thereby bringing our nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence."
MLK - Letter from the Birmingham City Jail, April 16 1963
%s/sat down at lunch counters/stood up for themselves/g
This is true even in the South. In 2010, this sort of travesty would not have happened in Atlanta, or Durham, or Austin. or even Dallas. Southerners may not all understand gays, but they know bad manners when they see them. This episode is really all about the particular backwards-ness of Mississippi - the last bastion of the Old South.
"One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters, they were in reality standing up for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judaeo Christian heritage, thereby bringing our nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence."
MLK - Letter from the Birmingham City Jail, April 16 1963
%s/sat down at lunch counters/stood up for themselves/g
157
@154: You can run from the truth but you can't hide. it's the ACLU - and America - that have Constance's back, not the Janus-faced residents of her own "hometown".
158
None of the tangents and side-arguments posted here really matter.
When it comes to a city that would rather ban prom than let a girl bring a girl to it, who who rather openly plan a private prom that she would not be invited to, who in the face of a court ordering them to invite her to that private prom would rather cancel it, who would then go out of their way to pretend to plan an inclusive prom and then create yet another secret, non-inclusive prom...there is one simple heartbreaking truth.
It was just...MEAN. Unconscionably, willfully and needlessly mean.
Well, duh... It's High School.
As much as my heart aches for someone to deliver righteous comeuppance upon the mean, in truth, the best revenge is success.
Constance...you're now free to move on without ever looking back. Your future is in front of you. Leave all of these people for whom their lives will never improve after High School behind to man their Wal-Mart check out lanes.
They've had the time of their lives. Your life, elsewhere, is just about to begin.
When it comes to a city that would rather ban prom than let a girl bring a girl to it, who who rather openly plan a private prom that she would not be invited to, who in the face of a court ordering them to invite her to that private prom would rather cancel it, who would then go out of their way to pretend to plan an inclusive prom and then create yet another secret, non-inclusive prom...there is one simple heartbreaking truth.
It was just...MEAN. Unconscionably, willfully and needlessly mean.
Well, duh... It's High School.
As much as my heart aches for someone to deliver righteous comeuppance upon the mean, in truth, the best revenge is success.
Constance...you're now free to move on without ever looking back. Your future is in front of you. Leave all of these people for whom their lives will never improve after High School behind to man their Wal-Mart check out lanes.
They've had the time of their lives. Your life, elsewhere, is just about to begin.
159
Oh shit, I was in the middle of leaving a snarky comment on one of those Flickr photos (on brucekatz23's photostream) and the Flickr account got deleted sometime in between looking at the photo and pressing the "submit comment" button. The photos are all gone now, but of course they'll never truly disappear.
160
@154 - Why is it that the way you say "humane solution" sounds so ominous?
What kind of solution would have been humane that was anything different than what Constance was asking for in court?
Also, Contance didn't approach the ACLU until she was denied access to the original prom. Would the school administrators really try to negotiate for a "humane solution" if an 18 year old student continued to talk to them all by herself? Or would they have simply ignored her and stood by their "no" position.
What kind of solution would have been humane that was anything different than what Constance was asking for in court?
Also, Contance didn't approach the ACLU until she was denied access to the original prom. Would the school administrators really try to negotiate for a "humane solution" if an 18 year old student continued to talk to them all by herself? Or would they have simply ignored her and stood by their "no" position.
161
Need to send this letter to as many relevant addresses as we can find.
"Dear (insert name here),
If you are a believing Christian, surely you must know Jesus knows what you did to Constance McMillen. As your Lord and Savior, Jesus knows your inmost heart, your smallest, most secret thought, and the motivation behind your every deed. He speaks to you in that small still voice, the one that you hear when you quiet your mind and pray for guidance from Him, the source of all Truth and Love.
And right now, Jesus is telling you that you are an asshole."
"Dear (insert name here),
If you are a believing Christian, surely you must know Jesus knows what you did to Constance McMillen. As your Lord and Savior, Jesus knows your inmost heart, your smallest, most secret thought, and the motivation behind your every deed. He speaks to you in that small still voice, the one that you hear when you quiet your mind and pray for guidance from Him, the source of all Truth and Love.
And right now, Jesus is telling you that you are an asshole."
162
@159: "Annnnd... it's GONE!" --South Park
@160: Yeah, clearly. It's an argument that makes no sense at all. If it could have been worked out "humanely" without the ACLU, we never would have even heard about it to begin with. The argument is really childish. The implication is that the only reason this injustice happened is because the ACLU had the audacity - what nerve! - to fight for justice.
It's so dumb I can't believe we're even talking about it, much less that someone could actually like, in their head, actually believe that. I figure @154 is just using meaningless sophistry to try and "convince" us that this is "all our fault." I don't think he/she/it really gives a shit about Constance.
@160: Yeah, clearly. It's an argument that makes no sense at all. If it could have been worked out "humanely" without the ACLU, we never would have even heard about it to begin with. The argument is really childish. The implication is that the only reason this injustice happened is because the ACLU had the audacity - what nerve! - to fight for justice.
It's so dumb I can't believe we're even talking about it, much less that someone could actually like, in their head, actually believe that. I figure @154 is just using meaningless sophistry to try and "convince" us that this is "all our fault." I don't think he/she/it really gives a shit about Constance.
163
The "humane solution" is one that is tried and tested in the south. Put burning crosses in front of her house until she shuts up and/or leaves. Damn ACLU-ers sued them so much they don't have money to buy the crosses or the gas for the fire. What a darn shame. We should feel sorry for the spotlight we put on this town you guys.
164
@ 154 - you insufferable ignorant troll, I call bullshit.
If you recall, a judge found that Constance's rights had been violated. So, thankfully the ACLU was there to represent Constance, because if she would have needed to rely on the likes of you, she'd still be waiting, with violated rights.
Cram your boo-hoo bullshit about how this is the fault of the ACLU and those of us that showed Constance support. Her rights were violated, and the ACLU did what they do best, stood up for the rights of a citizen of this nation that needed to be represented. Or maybe you think you're just so fucking smart and the judge was an idiot too.
If you recall, a judge found that Constance's rights had been violated. So, thankfully the ACLU was there to represent Constance, because if she would have needed to rely on the likes of you, she'd still be waiting, with violated rights.
Cram your boo-hoo bullshit about how this is the fault of the ACLU and those of us that showed Constance support. Her rights were violated, and the ACLU did what they do best, stood up for the rights of a citizen of this nation that needed to be represented. Or maybe you think you're just so fucking smart and the judge was an idiot too.
165
Hey, unregistered troll--
This story is pretty straight-forward. You try desperately in your posts to hijack the narrative, throw in some quotes, add an undercurrent of conspiracy and basically try to spin the story into something unrecognizable. "Oh!" you say, "If only you silly people would consider x y & z, you'd realize that the story is all wrong!"
Except for one thing-- the story is pretty simple, there's not much you can spin to change it. It's a story that everyone, including yourself, can understand. Everyone has witnessed a group excluding an individual. What we're seeing is a playground story, something that's happened over & over for millenia. You can spin a rock as many times as you like, insist that if you look at it this way it isn't really a rock, but you'll fail. It's a rock, everyone knows what that is.
So if you like it that an individual was targeted & excluded based on her sexuality, be honest about it & accept the judgment of your peers (e.g. you bigoted fuckwad.) But don't try to tell us we're not seeing what we're seeing.
This story is pretty straight-forward. You try desperately in your posts to hijack the narrative, throw in some quotes, add an undercurrent of conspiracy and basically try to spin the story into something unrecognizable. "Oh!" you say, "If only you silly people would consider x y & z, you'd realize that the story is all wrong!"
Except for one thing-- the story is pretty simple, there's not much you can spin to change it. It's a story that everyone, including yourself, can understand. Everyone has witnessed a group excluding an individual. What we're seeing is a playground story, something that's happened over & over for millenia. You can spin a rock as many times as you like, insist that if you look at it this way it isn't really a rock, but you'll fail. It's a rock, everyone knows what that is.
So if you like it that an individual was targeted & excluded based on her sexuality, be honest about it & accept the judgment of your peers (e.g. you bigoted fuckwad.) But don't try to tell us we're not seeing what we're seeing.
166
Suing poor inbreds won't accomplish anything. Finding out where the "real" prom was held, and burning it to the ground might send a meaningful message. Hate only returns violence.
167
To anyone still reading, the little shits in her school have added a facebook page to mock Constance on the matter. Search your facebook for "Constance quit yer cryin" (seriously, that's what they called it).
You could, I don't know, fan the page, give them your thoughts and then promptly de-fan....
Just a thought...
You could, I don't know, fan the page, give them your thoughts and then promptly de-fan....
Just a thought...
168
@ 166 stated, "Suing poor inbreds won't accomplish anything." To which I say, the hell it won't.
Giving them a good financial bitch slap just might wake them up to reality.
Giving them a good financial bitch slap just might wake them up to reality.
169
What the school and parents of the other kids did to Constance was just plain wrong. Worse, they didn't have the guts to stand up for their bigoted beliefs and just tell Constance "Well, we don't feel comfortable letting our young' uns go to the prom with you because you're a f*ggot." No, they had to be snarky and childish and pull the rug out from under Constance. And people on here (like poster #2) seemed to actually think that if the "big ol' nasty liberal ACLU" hadn't stepped in, that Constance would have been able to attend the prom and everything would be hunky-dory. No, what would have happened was the same exact f*cking thing only no one would have known about it and Itawamba County would have gotten to save its crooked face. Oh well, the joke's on them, Constance-years later, when you have a successful job and happen to see one of your homophobic classmates ringing you up at the local Wal-Mart, have an extra laugh for me, ok?
170
Constance still has a chance to be infinitely more interesting (fuck the "successful job" crap--that's for Normals), than any of her idiot classmates (except for the ones who supported her).
It's really important that we remember that it's not some big organization that gives us natural (or as they say, God-given) rights. It's just that the People With Guns and Money promised to protect us from themselves when they act like assholes and take Away The Rights Humans Already Are Entitled To.
And Mr. Precious Prophet From Palestine is NOT the person to look to when discussing tolerance. The guy who calls non-Israelites "Dogs" and says, in the oh so perfect Sermon on the Mount that the only reason to Love Your Enemies is so they feel really guilty when they are rotting and burning in hell. Sorry. He's Not Your Friend.
The world is not for the Meek. The world is for people like Constance who aren't too pretentious and complicated to understand that when Those Who Know Best fuck with you, they need to answer for it.
It's really important that we remember that it's not some big organization that gives us natural (or as they say, God-given) rights. It's just that the People With Guns and Money promised to protect us from themselves when they act like assholes and take Away The Rights Humans Already Are Entitled To.
And Mr. Precious Prophet From Palestine is NOT the person to look to when discussing tolerance. The guy who calls non-Israelites "Dogs" and says, in the oh so perfect Sermon on the Mount that the only reason to Love Your Enemies is so they feel really guilty when they are rotting and burning in hell. Sorry. He's Not Your Friend.
The world is not for the Meek. The world is for people like Constance who aren't too pretentious and complicated to understand that when Those Who Know Best fuck with you, they need to answer for it.
171
Brer Rabbit -
Let it go? Ok. And tell you what...
We will let it go when [you/your mom/your son/your wife/your brother/your daughter] gets [mugged/raped/burglarized] because, well, what's the point? The [mugger/rapist/burgler] is not going to feel sympathetic. What's the point of monetary penalties anyway? This is a personal judgment call on the part of the rapist. To call in the cops, lawyers and judges is to call on some outside, meddling authority. Your daughter should just keep it to herself. If you feel offended by the rapist's actions, that's your right. It's the rapist's belief that violating your daughter was justified. After all, she was walking around in a skirt throwing her sexuality in everybody's face, right? Let's not impinge upon the belief systems of others, ok. All the other folks in town think it was ok to rape your daughter too, which only proves you are out of touch on this whole rape issue. To make more than a momentary stink about it would just be impolite. So just shut up about it. Too bad the rapist was part of the local government. Thems the brakes.
Let it go? Ok. And tell you what...
We will let it go when [you/your mom/your son/your wife/your brother/your daughter] gets [mugged/raped/burglarized] because, well, what's the point? The [mugger/rapist/burgler] is not going to feel sympathetic. What's the point of monetary penalties anyway? This is a personal judgment call on the part of the rapist. To call in the cops, lawyers and judges is to call on some outside, meddling authority. Your daughter should just keep it to herself. If you feel offended by the rapist's actions, that's your right. It's the rapist's belief that violating your daughter was justified. After all, she was walking around in a skirt throwing her sexuality in everybody's face, right? Let's not impinge upon the belief systems of others, ok. All the other folks in town think it was ok to rape your daughter too, which only proves you are out of touch on this whole rape issue. To make more than a momentary stink about it would just be impolite. So just shut up about it. Too bad the rapist was part of the local government. Thems the brakes.
172
I am horrified by what has happened in this situation. Secret prom or no, the fact of the matter is that these people are breeding hatred and ignorance. So what if she's gay. She's not forcing anyone else to be gay. So what if the students snicker. They'd do that about anything...outfits, hairstyles, who is dancing with who. Eventually, they'd get over it. They are teenagers who are learning how to behave and deal with the world from people who do not know how to behave and deal with the world. I am a teacher, and I am horrified by what these children are being taught. I try everyday to show my students that tolerance and acceptance are important and that everyone deserves respect. Tolerance and acceptance are cornerstones for a healthy existence in this ever-shrinking world. The teachers and administrators in that district should have set the tone and encouraged acceptance rather than allow bigotry and ignorance to run amuck. It saddens me. I hope Constance and her partner don't suffer from all this drama. I hope that the other students learn that this was wrong. I hope the parents realize they need to be better role models. I hope a lot of things.
I am horrified by what has happened in this situation. Secret prom or no, the fact of the matter is that these people are breeding hatred and ignorance. So what if she's gay. She's not forcing anyone else to be gay. So what if the students snicker. They'd do that about anything...outfits, hairstyles, who is dancing with who. Eventually, they'd get over it. They are teenagers who are learning how to behave and deal with the world from people who do not know how to behave and deal with the world. I am a teacher, and I am horrified by what these children are being taught. I try everyday to show my students that tolerance and acceptance are important and that everyone deserves respect. Tolerance and acceptance are cornerstones for a healthy existence in this ever-shrinking world. The teachers and administrators in that district should have set the tone and encouraged acceptance rather than allow bigotry and ignorance to run amuck. It saddens me. I hope Constance and her partner don't suffer from all this drama. I hope that the other students learn that this was wrong. I hope the parents realize they need to be better role models. I hope a lot of things.
173
Small town parents whose lives peaked on their own prom nights, and never aspired to accomplish anything beyond their high school glory days exist in a lot of places - not just Mississippi. It unfortunately gets toxic when you throw in the bigotry and pettiness and hypocracy. Why should parents get so involved in their kids' proms, anyhow? Maybe they have nothing else.
174
@ 172: In the US, tolerance is required. Acceptance is not -- it is a personal choice. That applies to social re-engineering inclined teachers and administrators as well.
176
If this has been addressed by someone and I missed it, apologies... Focusing not on Constance, but the OTHER students also at "Prom", it's reported at least two of the students are special needs students. If this is, indeed, true it seems to me that along with the wrong that's been done to Constance, the school/students/parents went for the vaunted Tifecta of Douchebaggery. Deny a student her rights, BLAME HER when told by the court that the school cannot deny her said rights, then as a bonus, a lagniappe, send not just the troublemaking gay girl to the fake prom, but the DISABLED kids,too!
It seems to me that this is highly organized cooperation to deny someone/somepeople of their legally protected rights. Maybe homophobia might keep the story from getting the attention it absolutely, unequivocally deserves but add to it this same organization's seeming approval of keeping disabled kids out of the "real" prom and I think the argument could be made that the school officials, parents and perhaps students criminally conspired to violate Constance's and the other students' Constitutionally protected civil rights.
The more information that comes out about this, the more and more it sounds exactly like criminal conspiricy to keep a very specific few people from exercising their civil rights. Any civil rights lawyers on here can set me right if I'm incorrect in my interpretation, but as a card carrying member of the ACLU, it seems like this is the type of situation they take on.
So if any of these "Prommers" for lack of a better (non-inflammatory) name claim later that they just wanted to get way from Constance and all her drama; or we didn't want to do what the ACLU tells us to do: I would ask, why then did the diabled, special need students ALSO wind up at the "Fake" Prom instead of the "Real" Prom? Even though I personally doubt that will be answered, I think I have a pretty good idea what the answer is.
More...
It seems to me that this is highly organized cooperation to deny someone/somepeople of their legally protected rights. Maybe homophobia might keep the story from getting the attention it absolutely, unequivocally deserves but add to it this same organization's seeming approval of keeping disabled kids out of the "real" prom and I think the argument could be made that the school officials, parents and perhaps students criminally conspired to violate Constance's and the other students' Constitutionally protected civil rights.
The more information that comes out about this, the more and more it sounds exactly like criminal conspiricy to keep a very specific few people from exercising their civil rights. Any civil rights lawyers on here can set me right if I'm incorrect in my interpretation, but as a card carrying member of the ACLU, it seems like this is the type of situation they take on.
So if any of these "Prommers" for lack of a better (non-inflammatory) name claim later that they just wanted to get way from Constance and all her drama; or we didn't want to do what the ACLU tells us to do: I would ask, why then did the diabled, special need students ALSO wind up at the "Fake" Prom instead of the "Real" Prom? Even though I personally doubt that will be answered, I think I have a pretty good idea what the answer is.
179
Someone has uploaded pictures from the private prom with the attendee's nasty facebook statuses.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49081507@N0…
Now they'll be out there on the internet for all future potential employers and friends to see FOREVER. Karma is a bitch!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49081507@N0…
Now they'll be out there on the internet for all future potential employers and friends to see FOREVER. Karma is a bitch!
181
@172: In the US, tolerance is not really required either, clearly. I think what's been overlooked, though, in this whole debate is this idea that it would "hurt people" to either have to be tolerant or accepting. It doesn't. Learning acceptance is actually good for everyone, the hateful almost as much the hated.
That being said, no, we ultimately cannot force anyone to accept someone they won't. Nor was that ever our intent, I don't think. It at least wasn't my intent. The intent was to force them to examine and defend their bigoted actions, to either articulate how what they were doing was fair, or maybe realize that it wasn't, to expose the real-life truth of what bigotry looks like, and to then have the conversation.
I think the goal was to support Constance, and let her know loud and clear that, outside of her little town, there are hundreds of thousands who believe in her just as thousands believed in Rosa Parks and the Little Rock 9. In the longer term, it was a teachable moment.
Thousands of these moments later, more and more people will realize that this - what happened this weekend in Mississippi - was wrong morally, if not legally. And that's how we actually change these things, because as people learn about hate and feel the guilt that comes with it, they'll choose to be accepting. We're in the process of building a complex social ecosystem in which this hate is poorly adapted to survive, just as our forefathers built one in which racism has become endangered.
In other words, as they learn for themselves, they won't need to be forced by anyone. It's probable that most of the people in Fulton, MS learned jack shit about acceptance or tolerance from this incident. Others are unwilling to admit they learned something now, frustrated by the spotlight, but will later come to appreciate Constance's message and struggle as they look back on it. And yet thousands more around the country did learn something about human rights, just as thousands of other people also learned a little something about Fulton, Mississippi and some of those cruel people who live there.
@179: Haha, I knew someone was going to do that. I dunno if anyone's really thought about the whole Silicon Valley warfare aspect of this whole debacle, but it's really quite fascinating how the internet has been used as a tool to broadcast this story well beyond the boundaries of a tiny town. There's a degree to which it's fostered - for better or worse - an "openness," a "human network." Actually maybe there's something a little poetic in the fact that "90% of the internet's data travels across the networks of 'Cisco Systems"... weird... are you ready? Anyway, dippy far-fetched parallels disposed of, now moving on...
More...
That being said, no, we ultimately cannot force anyone to accept someone they won't. Nor was that ever our intent, I don't think. It at least wasn't my intent. The intent was to force them to examine and defend their bigoted actions, to either articulate how what they were doing was fair, or maybe realize that it wasn't, to expose the real-life truth of what bigotry looks like, and to then have the conversation.
I think the goal was to support Constance, and let her know loud and clear that, outside of her little town, there are hundreds of thousands who believe in her just as thousands believed in Rosa Parks and the Little Rock 9. In the longer term, it was a teachable moment.
Thousands of these moments later, more and more people will realize that this - what happened this weekend in Mississippi - was wrong morally, if not legally. And that's how we actually change these things, because as people learn about hate and feel the guilt that comes with it, they'll choose to be accepting. We're in the process of building a complex social ecosystem in which this hate is poorly adapted to survive, just as our forefathers built one in which racism has become endangered.
In other words, as they learn for themselves, they won't need to be forced by anyone. It's probable that most of the people in Fulton, MS learned jack shit about acceptance or tolerance from this incident. Others are unwilling to admit they learned something now, frustrated by the spotlight, but will later come to appreciate Constance's message and struggle as they look back on it. And yet thousands more around the country did learn something about human rights, just as thousands of other people also learned a little something about Fulton, Mississippi and some of those cruel people who live there.
@179: Haha, I knew someone was going to do that. I dunno if anyone's really thought about the whole Silicon Valley warfare aspect of this whole debacle, but it's really quite fascinating how the internet has been used as a tool to broadcast this story well beyond the boundaries of a tiny town. There's a degree to which it's fostered - for better or worse - an "openness," a "human network." Actually maybe there's something a little poetic in the fact that "90% of the internet's data travels across the networks of 'Cisco Systems"... weird... are you ready? Anyway, dippy far-fetched parallels disposed of, now moving on...
183
All the Liberal Self Righteous chest thumping and smug Moral Superiority misses an important point.
Constance wanted to go to her prom.
Not a 'technically and legally defensible enough to get the ACLU off our back' sham prom with 7 kids but 'her prom'.
That didn't happen.
A HUMANE solution would not have put Constance at a prom with more chaperones than kids.
@181 "I think the goal was to support Constance"
BULLSHIT.
@3 is right.
It was all about Dan and the HomoLiberal Internet Hate Machine flexing its muscle.
The "goal", @181, was CAUSING A DISTRACTION.
The "goal" was Grinding the Bigots into the dirt.
Congratulations.
Dan created a DISTRACTION.
And 95% of the kids opted out of being part of the DISTRACTION.
@181 "the goal was to ... let her know loud and clear that, outside of her little town, there are hundreds of thousands who believe in her"
HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS!!
Hundreds of thousands of smug self righteous haters who look down on Constance's town and her Christian values and her friends and will never set foot in Fulton.
Guess what?
She had half of the town behind her when it started.
2,000 small town hicks don't register on the radar screen of the HomoLiberal Hate Machine but those are Constance's friends and the people she plans to spend her life with.
They are worth a lot more to her than 400,000 FB "friends".
They are worth a lot more to her than a lesbian ACLU lawyer straight from central casting.
Constance didn't need to be a prop in the latest HomoLiberal Hate Machine drama.
She deserved better.
What would have happened if the ACLU had come to town with a mediator instead of a lawsuit?
What would have happened if someone had set the various interested folks down and talked it out?
Constance is an incredibly articulate and sweet person.
Her interactions with school officials had been mutually respectful and civil.
Half the town was behind her.
It's hard to imagine that given a little time without DISTRACTIONS a very satisfactory solution could have been reached.
It's hard to imagine that Constance would have been a much better spokesperson for herself than some ACLU lawyer.
We'll never know.
Of course not.
There would be nothing for the HomoLiberal Hate Machine in THAT-
no chance to assert smug self-righteous moral superiority-
no settlement money to pay ACLU lawyers-
No chance for
petty small spiteful people
to pour over teenage children's facebook accounts
and gloat over what
petty small spiteful people
those teenagers are.
God, people.
Seriously.
Get a life....
Being "right" is only the beginning.
Lots of people have been RIGHT but never made the world one iota better.
Smug self-righteous contempt has a way of melting the 'right' away.
More...
Constance wanted to go to her prom.
Not a 'technically and legally defensible enough to get the ACLU off our back' sham prom with 7 kids but 'her prom'.
That didn't happen.
A HUMANE solution would not have put Constance at a prom with more chaperones than kids.
@181 "I think the goal was to support Constance"
BULLSHIT.
@3 is right.
It was all about Dan and the HomoLiberal Internet Hate Machine flexing its muscle.
The "goal", @181, was CAUSING A DISTRACTION.
The "goal" was Grinding the Bigots into the dirt.
Congratulations.
Dan created a DISTRACTION.
And 95% of the kids opted out of being part of the DISTRACTION.
@181 "the goal was to ... let her know loud and clear that, outside of her little town, there are hundreds of thousands who believe in her"
HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS!!
Hundreds of thousands of smug self righteous haters who look down on Constance's town and her Christian values and her friends and will never set foot in Fulton.
Guess what?
She had half of the town behind her when it started.
2,000 small town hicks don't register on the radar screen of the HomoLiberal Hate Machine but those are Constance's friends and the people she plans to spend her life with.
They are worth a lot more to her than 400,000 FB "friends".
They are worth a lot more to her than a lesbian ACLU lawyer straight from central casting.
Constance didn't need to be a prop in the latest HomoLiberal Hate Machine drama.
She deserved better.
What would have happened if the ACLU had come to town with a mediator instead of a lawsuit?
What would have happened if someone had set the various interested folks down and talked it out?
Constance is an incredibly articulate and sweet person.
Her interactions with school officials had been mutually respectful and civil.
Half the town was behind her.
It's hard to imagine that given a little time without DISTRACTIONS a very satisfactory solution could have been reached.
It's hard to imagine that Constance would have been a much better spokesperson for herself than some ACLU lawyer.
We'll never know.
Of course not.
There would be nothing for the HomoLiberal Hate Machine in THAT-
no chance to assert smug self-righteous moral superiority-
no settlement money to pay ACLU lawyers-
No chance for
petty small spiteful people
to pour over teenage children's facebook accounts
and gloat over what
petty small spiteful people
those teenagers are.
God, people.
Seriously.
Get a life....
Being "right" is only the beginning.
Lots of people have been RIGHT but never made the world one iota better.
Smug self-righteous contempt has a way of melting the 'right' away.
184
The court didn't force the school to reinstate the prom because it was told that the parent-organized prom would welcome all the students and that Constance was definitely invited. Judging from the number of kids who put "prom" in quotation marks on their Facebook pages, and the fact that when Constance asked about prom she was directed to the country club, and the fact that the special needs kids were sent there too, it seems pretty obvious that that was a lie and that there was a deliberate effort to exclude some of the students.
185
@182, and notice the back-combing on the hairdo. Damn, that is my Gulf Coast home for sure! (what's up with the shoes? They look like white flippers--is she going snorkeling later?)
186
Omfg... idd anyone else notice that in the pictures there are two GIRLS dirty dancing. 'Cause it's okay when "straight" girls do it? And jesus, what sluttty dresses!
187
whatsallthisthen has posted a bunch of screenshots of the Facebook page entitled "Constance quit yer cryin'".
Hope these future "you-want-fries-with-that" assholes with their full names listed see these pages come back and haunt them at college admission and job application time.
Hope these future "you-want-fries-with-that" assholes with their full names listed see these pages come back and haunt them at college admission and job application time.
188
@183: Ha. As if you're not ALL about moral superiority. That's your bread-and-butter, bro - I'm sorry. On top of that - you're just not defending the bigotry - or their actions - with this argument. You're only attacking our reaction to the bigotry, which you claim is no different than the bigotry itself. If this is so, then your reaction to our reaction is also no different than our reaction: hateful, smug, dripping with moral superiority, yeah, it's all there. And they are making your exact argument in defense of their bigotry, evidenced by their facebook posts, which is why it's worth addressing at more length:
Even if you prevail in tagging us as self-righteous liberal haters, you still haven't addressed why what they did in Fulton wasn't stupid, immoral, petty and wrong. All you've done is established that we're bad people. Your argument is, at the most sympathetic reading, that everyone in this equation are at least equally bad people.
That isn't at all convincing because it rests on this notion that our intolerance is wrong and can't be tolerated. If that is so, which, sure, it could be, then why is their intolerance perfectly fine? For all your vitriol, you have never explained this. You've never even tried to. You're here to express your intolerance of our intolerance for being there to attack their intolerance. It makes no sense. It's a sad attempt to turn the conversation - which is about treating gay people like straight people - into this ridiculous circular ad hominem.
I mean, I could just as easily say to you now: "It's funny: you're about protecting the rights of the people of this town, but when we try to express ours by saying what they're doing is dumb, suddenly that's not okay. You think you're all 'tolerant' but once we disagree with your point of view in the slightest, we're suddenly a 'hate machine.' And you call that 'tolerance.'" See? The formula's no different. This sophistry could go on and on forever.
The main difference that does exist between our arguments is time - that your comments are going to look ridiculous in, like, 20 years. Or at least, as ridiculous as the "war of northern aggression" argument now looks in favor of slavery, or the "they don't understand how things work down here" argument now looks in favor of segregation. People had these EXACT arguments before: the "Kennedy boys" that came down to desegregate were considered - by people just like you - to be every bit as smug, elitist, stuck-up and self-righteous as you claim we are now. They were accused of "inciting the negroes with whom a perfectly reasonable solution would have been worked out by us local folk till these northerners came down here and stirred the pot." NONE of this is new.
So while I'm sure this does sound as self-righteous as fuck to you right now, let's just wait on it a few years. Times are changing. If we end up being wrong, feel free to come back and rub our noses in it. But we won't end up being wrong.
Also, what the fuck is with your horrible misuse of the return key? Knock it off. It's dumb.
More...
Even if you prevail in tagging us as self-righteous liberal haters, you still haven't addressed why what they did in Fulton wasn't stupid, immoral, petty and wrong. All you've done is established that we're bad people. Your argument is, at the most sympathetic reading, that everyone in this equation are at least equally bad people.
That isn't at all convincing because it rests on this notion that our intolerance is wrong and can't be tolerated. If that is so, which, sure, it could be, then why is their intolerance perfectly fine? For all your vitriol, you have never explained this. You've never even tried to. You're here to express your intolerance of our intolerance for being there to attack their intolerance. It makes no sense. It's a sad attempt to turn the conversation - which is about treating gay people like straight people - into this ridiculous circular ad hominem.
I mean, I could just as easily say to you now: "It's funny: you're about protecting the rights of the people of this town, but when we try to express ours by saying what they're doing is dumb, suddenly that's not okay. You think you're all 'tolerant' but once we disagree with your point of view in the slightest, we're suddenly a 'hate machine.' And you call that 'tolerance.'" See? The formula's no different. This sophistry could go on and on forever.
The main difference that does exist between our arguments is time - that your comments are going to look ridiculous in, like, 20 years. Or at least, as ridiculous as the "war of northern aggression" argument now looks in favor of slavery, or the "they don't understand how things work down here" argument now looks in favor of segregation. People had these EXACT arguments before: the "Kennedy boys" that came down to desegregate were considered - by people just like you - to be every bit as smug, elitist, stuck-up and self-righteous as you claim we are now. They were accused of "inciting the negroes with whom a perfectly reasonable solution would have been worked out by us local folk till these northerners came down here and stirred the pot." NONE of this is new.
So while I'm sure this does sound as self-righteous as fuck to you right now, let's just wait on it a few years. Times are changing. If we end up being wrong, feel free to come back and rub our noses in it. But we won't end up being wrong.
Also, what the fuck is with your horrible misuse of the return key? Knock it off. It's dumb.
189
@187: I was sort of waiting for that to happen. I actually don't think they should be barred from going to college by this, but I do think their college friends should be able to find out about it.
Social pressure is sometimes what makes people realize they're wrong: when they're attempting to explain their actions to new people who don't understand them, they'll go: "wait, that actually doesn't makes sense." You have to re-examine yourself. So yeah, send 'em to college, where their beliefs can be challenged and they can challenge the beliefs of others. I'm confident the gay rights side will prevail in that debate.
Social pressure is sometimes what makes people realize they're wrong: when they're attempting to explain their actions to new people who don't understand them, they'll go: "wait, that actually doesn't makes sense." You have to re-examine yourself. So yeah, send 'em to college, where their beliefs can be challenged and they can challenge the beliefs of others. I'm confident the gay rights side will prevail in that debate.
190
@188:
Alleged must be
some sort of failed poet.
He likes to Write things in short broken-up lines
like this.
But his word choice is Pedestrian and dull
his tone is impossible To take seriously
every other line contains the phrase
"HomoLiberal Hate Media"
and he Uses capitalization Oddly.
In short
I've read better poetry
from my semi-literate Classmates
back in 6th grade.
Alleged must be
some sort of failed poet.
He likes to Write things in short broken-up lines
like this.
But his word choice is Pedestrian and dull
his tone is impossible To take seriously
every other line contains the phrase
"HomoLiberal Hate Media"
and he Uses capitalization Oddly.
In short
I've read better poetry
from my semi-literate Classmates
back in 6th grade.
191
@190:
If not a failed poet, at least a failed interlocutor with his
smug and self-referential postings.
Haha, but I indeed also Noticed
his strange use
of Capitalization.
I wonder
what about the
"HomoLiberal Hate Media" has caused him to
take Such offense to the normal Construction of English prose?
Also I wonder, if we keep baiting Alleged, can we get this board
to over 200 comments? :)
If not a failed poet, at least a failed interlocutor with his
smug and self-referential postings.
Haha, but I indeed also Noticed
his strange use
of Capitalization.
I wonder
what about the
"HomoLiberal Hate Media" has caused him to
take Such offense to the normal Construction of English prose?
Also I wonder, if we keep baiting Alleged, can we get this board
to over 200 comments? :)
192
Q: Why did Jay-Z do a drive-by of Disney World?
A: Because his kid said he wanted to see Disney on Ice. Buh-dump-dump-bang!
A: Because his kid said he wanted to see Disney on Ice. Buh-dump-dump-bang!
193
@191: Don't underestimate the schmuck. I think that if he thought he could get people to pay attention to him, he'd keep commenting until it was >9000.
@192:
Q: Why does Snoop Dogg carry an umbrella?
A: Fo' drizzle.
@192:
Q: Why does Snoop Dogg carry an umbrella?
A: Fo' drizzle.
194
@193: Haha, fair points, all. I actually wouldn't even spend the time responding to him except that his argument is actually somewhat pervasive - it is often the chief argument trotted out by those supporting the continuing bigotry in this case.
Rarely do they spend any time on actual arguments, for example: "By allowing Constance to take her girlfriend to prom, school officials would be teaching our children an immoral lesson: that it's okay to participate in sin and behaviors that destroy the traditional family." They don't make these arguments because they're scared. They're cowards. Terrified that if they, like Constance, stood up for what they actually believed in - I guess, the belief that being gay is injustice and sin and destructive to families - they know they wouldn't have a leg to stand on in today's America.
So in recent years, they've been reduced to constantly, and predictably, pulling out this "hypocrisy" red herring. To me, this is actually a good sign: Alleged and the Mississippi officials are falling back to a weaker position because their front line argument has been broken. They've given up on turning back the clock of human rights, but they can still try to annoy and discredit those who moved it forward. Because it's now cited so often as justification for the cruelty they're perpetuating, I think it's worth examining.
Also, you raise a significant point when you point out that Snoop carries his umbrella fo' drizzle. I think this conclusion really speaks some of the critical questions at issue here. ;)
Rarely do they spend any time on actual arguments, for example: "By allowing Constance to take her girlfriend to prom, school officials would be teaching our children an immoral lesson: that it's okay to participate in sin and behaviors that destroy the traditional family." They don't make these arguments because they're scared. They're cowards. Terrified that if they, like Constance, stood up for what they actually believed in - I guess, the belief that being gay is injustice and sin and destructive to families - they know they wouldn't have a leg to stand on in today's America.
So in recent years, they've been reduced to constantly, and predictably, pulling out this "hypocrisy" red herring. To me, this is actually a good sign: Alleged and the Mississippi officials are falling back to a weaker position because their front line argument has been broken. They've given up on turning back the clock of human rights, but they can still try to annoy and discredit those who moved it forward. Because it's now cited so often as justification for the cruelty they're perpetuating, I think it's worth examining.
Also, you raise a significant point when you point out that Snoop carries his umbrella fo' drizzle. I think this conclusion really speaks some of the critical questions at issue here. ;)
195
@87, 94, 95: You too won't be eligible for prom until you learn that Mississippi is on a coast. Only @185 knew about that, referencing "my Gulf Coast" in the middle of a geographically accurate but otherwise homophobic comment.
Go Constance! Even in the South, coastal or otherwise, it only gets better after high school. I should know, I'm from Kentucky.
Go Constance! Even in the South, coastal or otherwise, it only gets better after high school. I should know, I'm from Kentucky.
196
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! I LOVE IT ! YOU QUEERS GOT OUT SMARTED AGAIN! SEE YA IN HELL FAGGOTS, AND DYKES. I KNEW THEY WOULD PULL IT OFF , AND YEAH THE OTHER KIDS WERE PROBOBLY THE TOKEN JEWS AND NIGGERS. GOOD FOR YOU MISSISSIPPI SCHOOLS! TOO BAD THEY CANT KEEP KIDS FROM BRINGIN THEIR COUSINS AND SISTERS TO THE PROM. NOW THAT WOULD BE PROGRESS.
197
BY THE WAY #1 THAT WILL REALLY HELP THE SUBSTANDARD EDUCATION SYSTEM IN THE AREA IMPROVE . SUE YOUR SELF FUCK HEAD.
198
"More here. Via JoeMyGod. Here's hoping the ACLU goes after the school for a lot more than $1 in damages now—and the school officials who went into court and lied under oath." MORE THAN 1$ IN DAMAGES LOL WHAT A MORON. HERES A FACT 'LIL CONSTANCE WENT TO THE REAL OFFICIAL PROM WITH 7 OTHER PEOPLE. THE REST OF THE TOWN WENT TO A PRIVATE PARTY. THERE IS NO LAW SUIT HERE . THEY SUPPLIED HER WITH AN OFFICIAL PROM, JUST NO ONE WANTED TO GO AND SEE THE LEZZIE COUPLES VICTORY LAP. THEY CAN'T BE FORCED TO ATTEND ANYTHING, UNLIKE THE WAY WE ARE GOING TO BE FORCED TO BUY GOV APPROVED HEALTH INSURANCE, AT LEAST NOT YET. NO MERIT=NO LAWSUIT I LOVE IT
201
You know, I remember my own prom (in the school gym) being really toxic and parent-directed and popularity oriented. And we all got to go, even the girl in the tux and her girlfriend. But it still sucked. I got to be there, but the best thing that ever happened was what happened after, when I got to get the fuck out of that town.
202
Did anyone mention the fact that two of the seven kids who got invitations the faux-prom were learning-disabled kids? It seems that whoever engineered this thing wanted to segregate all of the social outcasts and second-class untermensch in one place. The reason why only seven people were invited was probably because there weren't any Gypsies living in that podunk Mississippi burg, and the Jews had all been driven out or lynched during the 1960's and the time of the Freedom Riders.
203
This just in-- the learning-disabled kids who were invited to Constance's faux-prom were known to have difficulty concentrating, and the School District lacked the funds necessary to send them to a proper concentration camp.
204
@196-199 Mississippi is actually quite progressive for a Red State. A married couple in Mississippi who obtain a divorce actually do remain cousins, or brother and sister.
"Intelligence has its limits -- but stupidity knows no bounds."
"Intelligence has its limits -- but stupidity knows no bounds."
205
@196-200: Your caps lock is on. Turn it off.
The courts will decide whose case has merit on this one. But hint: It won't be the bigots. You can't force people to attend a prom if they don't want to, but you can't commit perjury to dodge an injunction either.
@202: Yeah, that actually makes this a much bigger legal issue. While gays and lesbians still have relatively few - though expanding - legal protections, those with disabilities have extensive legal backing under current discrimination laws.
So while I'm sure they thought it was just hilarious to make Constance's prom into "the retard prom!!1!," they really did themselves in with that part of this cruelty. Good point though.
The courts will decide whose case has merit on this one. But hint: It won't be the bigots. You can't force people to attend a prom if they don't want to, but you can't commit perjury to dodge an injunction either.
@202: Yeah, that actually makes this a much bigger legal issue. While gays and lesbians still have relatively few - though expanding - legal protections, those with disabilities have extensive legal backing under current discrimination laws.
So while I'm sure they thought it was just hilarious to make Constance's prom into "the retard prom!!1!," they really did themselves in with that part of this cruelty. Good point though.
206
@198: Caps lock does not make you smart, gillettebret.
The lying under oath that JoeMyGod was talking about would apply if the school officials who agreed to allow Constance to go to prom had a hand in planning the secret prom. They agreed to let her attend; if they knew that the official prom was just a decoy, then they can be charged with perjury. Pull your head out of your ass.
The lying under oath that JoeMyGod was talking about would apply if the school officials who agreed to allow Constance to go to prom had a hand in planning the secret prom. They agreed to let her attend; if they knew that the official prom was just a decoy, then they can be charged with perjury. Pull your head out of your ass.
207
I love it !!!! The only thing better would have been if someone had blown up that prom with the fags and retards. I LOVE MISSISSIPPI!!!!
208
It seems that prejudice is alive and well in the United States. Have we not learned anything from the Holocaust? Read histories about the rise of Nazism and you'll see that the roots of the Holocaust started with seemingly small issues such as this.
By the way, I am not gay or a lesbian. I am a senior citizen who has been married to the same man for 51 years..
By the way, I am not gay or a lesbian. I am a senior citizen who has been married to the same man for 51 years..
209
Uhh, jeez noirony @ 195, maybe it wasn't very nice to me to make fun of the hairdo on the young lady with her gent in the photo @ 180, but what was homophobic about it?
I DID grow up on the Gulf Coast, and I sure do know that Mississippi has a shoreline, although a small one.
You might want to look at some of my activity on Strangerface before you go lumping me in with the bigots I grew up around. If you grew beyond it, surely others can....
I DID grow up on the Gulf Coast, and I sure do know that Mississippi has a shoreline, although a small one.
You might want to look at some of my activity on Strangerface before you go lumping me in with the bigots I grew up around. If you grew beyond it, surely others can....
212
Good for the normal students, I'm glad they got to enjoy a dyke-free prom. As for the dyke... LOL!!! When will she kill herself? PLEASE KILL YOURSELF!!! By the way, GOD BLESS MISSISSIPPI!
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