No ruling today in lesbian prom fight, written opinion in a few days
VIA Twitter from Miss. Safe Schools:
No decision issued in Constance McMillen hearing. Eagerly awaiting Judge’s decision via opinion in the next day or two.
AT Lunch The Clarion-Ledger wrote:
ABERDEEN — Itawamba County school officials this morning defended in federal court their decision to cancel a high school prom after a lesbian student challenged the district’s policy against same-sex dates.
School board chairman Eddie Hood said 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 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 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.”
Magnolia Tribune
