Constance McMillen, Lesbian Teen Barred From Prom, Seeks Damages

ABERDEEN, Miss. — The lesbian teenager from Mississippi who challenged her school district's ban on same-sex prom dates is seeking unspecified monetary damages, claiming she was publicly humiliated.

A lawsuit was filed Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union in U.S. District Court in Aberdeen.

Constance McMillen, 18, is a senior at Itawamba Agricultural High School in Fulton. The lawsuit names the Itawamba County school district and school officials as defendants.

McMillen and the ACLU challenged her school district's rule banning same-sex prom dates and a stipulation that only male students be allowed to wear tuxedos to the event.

In response, the school district canceled its April 2 prom and later announced parents would sponsor another dance in its place.

Comments

[johnb123]

06:47 PM on 04/21/2010

It was ALWAYS about the money. She should have just stood up in court and screamed SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!!. She filed the law suit, she called in the ACLU, she went on tv every chance she got. She called the media.

[complice]

06:54 PM on 04/21/2010

Yes, and now she's going to hit the Itawamba Agriculutural High School where it hurts.

Good for her.

[yemaya]

09:46 PM on 04/21/2010

yeah ok Geraldo Rivera. You were there and witnessed everything first hand.

[gypsysailor]

06:33 PM on 04/21/2010

Rock on young lady, rock on. Good luck with your suit in Mississippi. I hope you win big. The school should not have cancelled the prom. That was not your decision but theirs. Let them suffer for the consequences of their actions.

[jessicadevyn]

06:33 PM on 04/21/2010

This 18-year-old young woman has more courage than all her haters combined. I commend her for her bravery. I hope 50 years from now we will see this in much of the same way we do the Lovings.

[sheaintsayin]

07:06 PM on 04/21/2010

So very Fanned for so appropriately bringing the Lovings into the conversation...wonderful observation!

[kaib57]

06:21 PM on 04/21/2010

Constance is standing up for herself and all gay/lesbian youth the way Rosa Parks and other blacks had to take a stand to get their civil rights. Given that she's just a teenager living in a very backward, homophobic community, that took a lot of guts. I think she is a very courageous young lady. And regardless how this lawsuit turns out, she will have the last laugh. She has already been given an internhip this summer in New York and a $30,000 college scholarship to get her out of Mississippi. She will have a much better life than all those ignorant, petty, hate-filled people who discriminated against her.

[sheaintsayin]

06:51 PM on 04/21/2010

She gets all that, and Green Day, too...? I might be jealous if I wasn't just so happy for her!

[JeromeHoward]

06:09 PM on 04/21/2010

This story is so old it has cobwebs.

[yemaya]

09:47 PM on 04/21/2010

and your post is so lame it needs crutches

[sheaintsayin]

06:00 PM on 04/21/2010

This young lady is to be commended for enduring the hate and scorn from small minded people with big, wide mouths, and staying firm while they fight to deny her and others simple civil rights. I hope her family is proud and supportive of her, and that every civil rights organization, including the NAACP, JDL, SCLC, etc. are, too.

[jessicadevyn]

06:09 PM on 04/21/2010

Agreed! FANNED.

[leyvadaniel]

05:50 PM on 04/21/2010

This brave girl has already earned her place in historym and curent and future generations of LGBT should be proud of her, for not enduring H8 quietly.

She is a true American Hero.

[fastfreddy57]

06:05 PM on 04/21/2010

She is not a hero, she was trying to ruin a school tradition, she caused the prom to be canceled and ruined it for the other students just to make a point. If she wants to promote her alternate lifestyle she she not do it at someone else's expence.

[jessicadevyn]

06:10 PM on 04/21/2010

What? Are you high? She just wanted to go to prom like any other teen. And it's not an alternative lifestyle, it's how she was born. Is being black or male an alternative life style or is it genetic?

[thehoopoe]

06:10 PM on 04/21/2010

you mean the "tradition" which she was purposefully excluded from because she doesn't like penis?

[sheaintsayin]

06:56 PM on 04/21/2010

Yikes; my comment to "jessicadevyn" Re the Lovings sure landed in the wrong place!

[dscape]

05:44 PM on 04/21/2010

I don't understand why some people can't just "be gay". Why is it so theatrical? She wasn't hounded for being gay, she was hounded for being disruptive. No one forced her to alter her entire lifestyle around being a lesbian. She made that choice and chose to stick with her choice at a *formal* gathering. It is no different than walking into a fine restaurant wearing a t-shirt. You would get treated there just like she is being treated now--gay or not, it doesn't matter.

Lesbian or not, she is arrogant and she isn't going to get 1 dime. Nor should she, quite honestly. You're a woman, deal with it.

[mmsuki]

05:49 PM on 04/21/2010

Wanting to go to the promo is not being "theatrical". If there was any disruption, it was brought on by the bigoted school administration.

[leyvadaniel]

05:51 PM on 04/21/2010

You are full of H8. She is enduring discrimination. She was born a lesbian, God made her a Lesbian. She should be able to take anyone she want to prom. She is a true American hero.

[fencesitting13]

06:02 PM on 04/21/2010

If you have to use "god" in an argument you have already lost. I doubt there is a god but if there is I am positive you have no idea what he is up to.

[IAA]

05:41 PM on 04/21/2010

Drama queen. lol

[Stop Dissent Now]

05:31 PM on 04/21/2010

Ugh, can this girl just go away, please? She already got what she wanted: the prom was canceled and she got lots of attention. Now she needs $$$?

[mmsuki]

05:34 PM on 04/21/2010

I'm in support of her actions so this can never happen again. I don't think it's the money, I think it's the lesson. You go, girl!

[Elise Ava]

05:35 PM on 04/21/2010

The ACLU filed this lawsuit because it is a serious civil rights issue that needs to be addressed. This is not about the money. This is about ensuring students are never treated with such discrimination again.

The school district dug their own grave in how they dealt with this and they deserve the pending litigation. NO ONE should EVER be treated in such a manner by school administrators!!!

[Mccall101]

05:25 PM on 04/21/2010

It's becoming more and more obvious that while it seems she's advocating gay rights, she's milking this story to the last penny. She knew what she was doing when this whole story began. She was a lesbian and asked for her gf to come knowing that it'd get rejected, so she'd get all this fame and attention now she's going for the wallets.

Being gay is fine but don't exploit it for materialism

[Soule23]

05:30 PM on 04/21/2010

Are you suggesting that she is smarter than the administrators in her school district? They are the ones who opened themselves up to legal liability by pandering to the homophobes in their district. Blame them.

[HekmagaJuximakLives]

05:32 PM on 04/21/2010

I disagree. A a high school student, the most important lesson she learned was that "authority figures" will stabYou in the back, cheat you and deny your right to exist. Lesson well learned, and now she is putting her new found skills into practice.

[Igor13]

05:18 PM on 04/21/2010

It will be quite a shock to that school district when the little homophobes that were her classmates have to go without because of their complicity in this.
I hope she takes them for enough to make 'em choke every time they think her name.

[yemaya]

06:52 PM on 04/21/2010

I hope so.

Unfortunately, the reality is probably something worse.
they'll make her life a living hell. Persecute her and her family and
run her out of town.
you watch.

[Igor13]

08:54 PM on 04/21/2010

I hope your wrong but deep down inside I feel that way too. Hopefully she will be offered a six figure settlement and can get out of that backwater cesspool in a timely fashion.
She sounds like a smart cookie and with that kind of seed money she could become a real success. I wish her well.

[vta]

05:08 PM on 04/21/2010

I'm proud of her. Keep your head up, baby girl!

[daschundusa]

05:06 PM on 04/21/2010

My daughter Senior class are the winners of this years Dell Super Prom and it is going to be amazing and it was other students who voted for them to get it.

Congratulations Class of 2010 Cupertino, California !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[thinkingwomanmillstone]

05:06 PM on 04/21/2010

Bring 'em to their knees...not for praying either.