School board chairman Eddie Hood said in federal court the debate over 18-year-old Itawamba County Agricultural High School senior Constance McMillen’s request to bring her girlfriend as her date and to wear a tuxedo to the April 2 dance was causing too much of a distraction.
“We want to have school. We are in the business of school and education our children,” Hood said. “We want to move on.”
McMillen, 18, and the American Civil LIberties Union have asked U.S. District Court Judge Glen Davidson to reverse the school board’s decision and reinstate the April 2 dance at the school. The ACLU alleges the district violated McMillen’s right to freedom of expression.
In testimony, McMillen said she quietly worked her request up the district chain of command, but her requests were denied.
“I went to them hoping that I could talk to them,” she said. “I was hoping they would understand how it made me feel.”
Both sides return to court this afternoon for closing arguments. Davidson has not indicated when he would rule on the request, but acknowledged “time is of the essence in this matter.”
McMillen’s attorney repeatedly made the point that any distractions caused by McMillen’s request were greatly amplified by the board’s decision, which has focused national and international attention on Fulton, Miss., McMillen’s hometown of about 4,000 people.
In a bit of legal wordplay, attorneys for the school the school board argued the district did not cancel the prom. Instead, the district merely “withdrew sponsorship” of the dance and hoped parents would hold the dance privately.
At least two alternate proms are being planned.
Some parents of students at the school have scheduled a private dance at a furniture market in Tupelo, about 25 miles west of Fulton. Itawamba County School Superintendent Teresa McNeese said she believed that dance would be open to any high school junior or senior, but she did not testify about whether same-sex dates would be allowed.
The Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition is organizing a “second chance” prom for both gay and straight students using donations sent from supporters around the nation. Those details have not yet been released.
In addition, a New Orleans hotelier also has offered to bring all of the students at McMillen’s school to New Orleans on buses for a free prom.
Last week, the website Tonic.com offered McMillen a $30,000 scholarship and summer internship in New York. Nationally syndicated daytime talk show host Ellen DeGeneres presented the scholarship to McMillen during an appearance on her show.
