A lesbian teen who successfully sued her Mississippi school for the right to bring her girlfriend to prom was left out and was instead directed to a "fake prom" on Friday, according to The Advocate.
Constance McMillen, her date and just a handful of others, including two classmates with learning disabilities, attended the dance in Fulton, Mississippi while most of her other classmates from Itawamba Agricultural High School reportedly partied at a separate prom that McMillen was not invited to.
McMillen made headlines just a few weeks ago when, with the help of the ACLU, she fought the school's decision to cancel prom. The school canceled the dance after McMillen sought to bring her girlfriend and to wear a tuxedo.
As part of a preliminary ruling, a judge decided that McMillen was allowed to bring a girl as a date. The judge did not order the school to reinstate the prom because it was understood that McMillen would be invited to a prom being held by parents of her Itawamba classmates. Instead, that prom was canceled and was replaced with the sparsely attended country club event.
Kristy Bennett, the ACLU's legal director for Mississippi, told NEMS360, that she was disappointed.
"Whatever we find will be brought to the court's attention," Bennett told NEMS. "Whether it is in the damages trial, or whatever. There will still be a trial on the merits. The case didn't end in the preliminary hearing."
McMillen, 18, said that her feelings were hurt, but that there was at least one good thing about the night. The Advocate:
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]."