Oh! Am I pissed. Ugly mad.
Ready for the headline? Here you go:
Mississippi Prom Canceled After Lesbian Date Request
Here’s the story, in (as) short (as I am capable): A high school in another Smallmindednowhereville, this time in Mississippi has prom coming up, like all schools do. A girl at this high school invites a person to go to the prom with her, like all kids that want a date for prom do. The girl invites a girl to be her date, because that is who she wants to go with her, just as we all hope to attend functions with someone we would like to be around. And then Smallmindednowhereville MS school freaks out at how ephing gay it would be if two girls went to prom together.
AND SO INSTEAD of sucking it up and keeping their personal(ly fucked up) beliefs to themselves, just like we all do when we personally don’t like something but that doesn’t matter because it is a free country, even if it is some guy picking his nose in front of everyone on the bus THAT IS HIS RIGHT. Personally, I think that is gross- BUT WHO AM I? (Please do not mistake this last example as a reasonable comparison to lesbians at prom, I was just trying to come up with something that might offend me in some way, and I’m not a homophobe so, I had to go the booger route.) SO INSTEAD of being reasonable and legally sound and humane and not a total bigoted prick about it, what does the school decide to do? Oh, you know, they decided to just CANCEL PROM. FOR EVERYONE.
At first the school warned Constance McMillen (that’s the lesbian-heroine’s name) that she was not allowed to go to the prom. They said that if the girls showed up at all, in any way shape or form, that they would ask her lesbo-ass and her lesbo-ass date to leave. But clearly someone on the school board woke up in the middle of the night, probably because he had to pee or something, when it dawned on him that they could be even more malicious and homophobic and hateful and instead of just violating the rights of this girl they could piss off the whole school by canceling what some kids think is the only good thing that ever happens in high school so that maybe every single person in that whole school will hate this girl for ruining what was going to be the best night of their life! Brilliant, you fuck! Just brilliant.
Here’s where the story starts to get better. Here’s where the ACLU steps in and says, in much more legally appropriate terms, “THE FUCK YOU WILL.”
ACLU Sues Mississippi School That Canceled Prom Rather Than Let Lesbian Couple Attend
So, yes, the ACLU is on it and they are a force to be reckoned with (and a non-profit so donate to them) but if you are even kind of sort of half as angry as me and have just had it with this I-hate-gays-and-somehow-attempt-to-get-away-with-acting-hateful-towards-them and just want to do something or say something, well, I’ve got something for you!
Here is a list of all of the bigoted assholes in charge of the decision not to have prom at all who also double as the school board, the superintendent and the principal. Please feel free to email and call them as much as you wish. You are a free agent, but I warn only this: the more rash and intelligent you sound, the farther your argument will carry. Basically, try not to sound as crazy as the bigots. That is all. Have at ‘em!
Teresa McNeece — superintendent
tmcneece@itawamba.k12.ms.us
phone (662)862-2159 Ext. 14
The school board:
Eddie Hood
a082315@allstate.com
Jackie Nichols
jnichols@itawamba.k12.ms.us
Harold Martin
hmartin@itawamba.k12.ms.us
Clara Brown
cbrown@network-one.com
Tony Wallace
twallace@nexband.com
And our dear bigoted principal, the lovely Principal Trae Wiygul
11900 Hwy 25 S
Fulton, MS 38843
(662)862-3104
Oh, and Happy Friday-eve, everyone. Let us not forget the things that matter, Happy Cherday!
30 comments
Comments feed for this article
March 11, 2010 at 2:14 pm
ABtflDisaster
this is sad. disgusting. infuriating. and irrational. BUT my hopes are that with it making national news that it will change the next generations future when it comes to situations like these!
March 11, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Andi
I LOVE this! I read about this earlier this morning and all I could was shake my head at the thought of what idiots do, and then I scrolled further down the page to read the comments that idiots leave. So all the way around I was just pissed off!
March 11, 2010 at 2:50 pm
a.
Excellent post.
Just as a clarification, the ACLU had been involved previously, in that they wrote nasty letter(s) pointing out that the school district’s stated plan of kicking this couple out of the dance while allowing other couples to continue partying (or sitting by the punch table feeling awkward, or whatever) would be un-fucking-constitutional.
I love the ACLU.
March 11, 2010 at 7:01 pm
jessejames
Cool. Thanks for clarifying. And I too am a HUGE fan of the ACLU.
March 11, 2010 at 3:06 pm
sophiaxiv
Please pardon me while I kill someone.
I have lived in a small minded bigoted shit nowhere of a town for more years than I care to count. And yeah, that’s how people act in shit nowhere bigoted towns. Because we aren’t keen to get more shit and awful crap than we already do, my girlfriend and I are skipping prom. Seriously, that girl has balls of steel, and more power to her! The fact that the school would be that small minded- to go so far as to officially institutionalize a de facto rule of homophobic small towns – we don’t talk about TEH GAYNESS- it… it just boggles my mind. i’m angry, but more than that I just want to cry.
March 11, 2010 at 3:30 pm
Jesse
I love that you posted this. It is definitely a very low blow, what they ended up doing. I hope the girls, and the rest of the school win their prom back.
March 11, 2010 at 4:48 pm
Regarding the Dancing Lesbians « She Called Me Superman
[...] the Dancing Lesbians Hi there, quick post: If you aren’t all ready reading just like jesse james, I suggest you take a trip over there to assist with their campaign to clog the inboxes of the [...]
March 11, 2010 at 5:00 pm
yondergen
I hope you don’t mind but I reposted the contact info for these folks, as well as a link to your post, on my blog. Let’s fill up those inboxes!
March 11, 2010 at 5:06 pm
jessejames
Repost, retweet, whatever. Anything to make sure those phones don’t stop ringing and the emails don’t stop coming.
March 11, 2010 at 5:39 pm
jessejames
My email to the folks listed above:
Dear Principal Wiygul, board members Eddie Hood, Jackie Nichols, Harold Martin, Clara Brown, Tony Wallace and superintendent Teresa McNeece,
My name is Jesse and I hope you will take the time to read what I will attempt to make a short email (as I’m sure you have several to read.)
To start, but not to discourage you from the rest of what I have to say, I hope you all lose your jobs. All of you. I hope that none of you are ever allowed in a position of public decision making, let alone that you are ever allowed to work with children, ever again.
Please allow the public shame and humiliation you will face in the coming weeks, due to your illegal, bigoted, and outwardly homophobic actions set an honest precedence and marker as to where we are in time now. You are out of date, out of style and frankly, legally and socially, you are out of time. Your time to hate and to attempt to make my life hard and to try and attempt to make Constance feel like SHE did something wrong by being herself is UP.
Bigots like you, the one’s with personal beliefs that do not get checked in at the door when entering a public institution as a place of employment, but rather are used as a foundation and leverage and an abuse of power for policy and action, take note: This kind of being, this kind of action, this kind of intentional, premeditated hate and discrimination against LGBTQ folks IS NOT OK. It is unacceptable. And, like you will also begin to realize in the coming weeks, it is also illegal.
Oh, and I wrote a little something on a website that more than a few people tend to check in on with all of your emails and phone numbers. So, please, as the disgust towards you continues to filter through, allow me some of the credit.
Thank you for your time,
jesse (james)
just another link making you famous: http://justlikejessejames.com/2010/03/11/a-call-to-action-let-the-lesbians-dance/#comment-1428
March 11, 2010 at 6:32 pm
Ribs4AU
You left winged bigots. Read the article, All the Board and Sup. has done is ABIDE by the rules already written. But,following rules, like them or not I can tell JJ has never done that. Got rob a bank u Liberal arse.
March 11, 2010 at 6:43 pm
jessejames
I would LOOOOOVE for you to explain “the rules already written” that the school board “abided” by, that, in doing so, required canceling prom for an entire school so to prevent a girl taking another girl to prom.
And if any of these “rules already written” come from Leviticus I will win a few bets already in place.
Thanks for commenting, Ribs4AU.
March 11, 2010 at 6:45 pm
greg
From my brilliant gf: “Rules are made by people and people are imperfect.”
For example, the US Constitution already had ten amendments when it was ratified.
March 11, 2010 at 7:21 pm
a.
actually the fact that the school district had a previous written policy prohibiting same-sex pairs at the dance does not make that policy legal, moral, or appropriate. all it means is that other students in previous high school classes may have missed out on prom because they meekly complied with that policy, and we should be all the prouder of and adamant for the two brave young women who stepped up to fight it this year.
March 11, 2010 at 5:46 pm
greg
Right on!!! I read about this earlier today and was completely shocked at the ridiculousness of it. What’s wrong with people??!!
March 11, 2010 at 6:58 pm
jrs5fg
I need home phone numbers for school officials. I am organising a nationwide phone-calling campaign. We want to keep their home phones ringing off the hook, even at 3 am, and their offices’ fax machines printing our thoughts on the matter when they are connected.
March 11, 2010 at 7:18 pm
saintchick
All I thought was THANK GOD it wasn’t Louisiana.. MS sucks and I am sending an email tonight :S
March 11, 2010 at 7:31 pm
uberVU - social comments
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by justjessejames: I just got called a LEFT WINGED BIGOT! Such a proud moment for me. See comment here: http://bit.ly/arsUNk...
March 12, 2010 at 7:27 am
a.
BTW this is now up as the QuickVote poll on the home page of cnn.com. Everyone please go click “yes” to “Should gay and lesbian couples be allowed to attend HS proms” — unfortunately there is no button for “this shouldn’t even be in question.”
March 12, 2010 at 7:53 am
BamaPolyBiGuy1
3 things:
1) Some of the email addresses were set as http:// addresses in the post.
2) After I sent the email, I got bounces from a082315@allstate.com, hmartin@itawamba.k12.ms.us, and jnichols@itawamba.k12.ms.us (meaning they probably have blocked their email or something).
and 3) Here’s the email I sent:
(Subject: I know you (are/will be) getting plenty of emails, but I also wanted to show my support.)
Mind you, I am not supporting you. I am in support of Constance McMillen and her right to go to prom with whomever she desires in whatever (legally allowable) outfit she desires.
It saddens me that in today’s world where LGBT students are at least 2-3 times more likely to commit suicide than their straight peers (see http://ow.ly/1i8Sh for more info), the people who the students should be able to trust to look out for them are letting their own prejudices get in the way of their duties. The whole situation seems analogous to a spoiled brat taking his toys home when the neighborhood kids don’t want to play the game with some rules he set up that would only benefit him.
I do wish you, your school system, and everybody in it the best. However, in this case, the best would be for you to reverse your decision to not hold the prom, put on a happy smile, and realize that the world is a vastly different place than when you and I were growing up. Some of the changes are negative (such as Nixon destroying the trust of the American people for their government), but some (like the acceptance of nonviolent yet different people for who they are) are definitely changes for the better.
Sincerely,
(Me)
(P.S. In addition to allowing the prom to go on (and since the ACLU is involved, the prom will go on), you might want to consider getting some information from The Trevor Project, an organization that tries to prevent LGBT suicides. See http://ow.ly/1i93r for their website.)
March 12, 2010 at 8:36 am
jessejames
Good for you! Very well said. Also, I will do my best to hunt down more current addresses. When I sent my email yesterday only one bounced back. Thanks for the update.
March 12, 2010 at 9:25 am
Pocketfemme
I heard this story yesterday morning and got really angry! Thanks for addressing it. I love your email, and BigPolyBiGuy1′s, too. As soon as working email addresses are available, I’ll write one as well. Do you know if there is any way to send supportive thoughts to Constance herself? Writing letters/making art to support her sounds like an excellent project for my community’s queer youth group…
March 12, 2010 at 11:05 am
Update on the Prom Madness « Feelers Out
[...] Jesse James of “just like jesse james” has posted the e-mail addresses of the principal, superintendent, and school board members. Let’s give [...]
March 12, 2010 at 12:30 pm
new ways to contact the school authorities that canceled a whole damn prom, and an interview with our girl, constance. « just like jesse james
[...] 12, 2010 in how I roll | by jessejames Here is an updated contact list of the powers at be that CANCELED AN ENTIRE PROM TO AVOID THE ATTENDANCE OF TWO GIRLS AND A TUX. Feel free to let them know what you think. And feel free to post what you had to say [...]
March 12, 2010 at 3:38 pm
zoe
Wow, this makes me even more grateful that I didn’t go to a high school ran by narrowminded adults. I took a girl to prom with no problem at all. We got weird looks here and there, but those were mostly from the people at the restaurants before and after prom. Our teachers greeted us with huge smiles…. We’re from Atlanta. Thanks, Mississippi, for continuing to feed the stereotype that the southern portion of the US is populated by bigots. Yea, there are some places like that around here, but those places are everywhere. High-five to these kids for standing tall. Even though they are having to put up with a lot of nonsense from the other students who are mad at them (when they should be mad at the ignorant staff), look at what they are doing. Progress is being made, though at their expense. They should be proud.
March 14, 2010 at 4:52 pm
whoops. please do not mistake me for fair, balanced or impartial. « just like jesse james
[...] have received quite a bit of feedback since posting about the Mississippi school authorities that decided to cancel an entire prom so to avoid Constance McMil… Some of you have written in support while quite a lot of you have expressed serious disagreement, [...]
March 15, 2010 at 1:14 am
Richard of Norway
Just wanted to chime in and let you know how much I appreciate your passion for cases like this. I am straight, married with 5 kids, American living in Europe but am none the less surprised, saddened and even ashamed by the acts of so many people in authority positions all over the world (especially Smallmindednowhereville, USA).
Lets hope this ends well. It deserves the worldwide attention which I hope it obtains.
And JJ, I really love the way you write! You have a great talent and sense of humor. Keep it up!
March 15, 2010 at 3:02 am
please do not mistake this dyke for fair, balanced or impartial. « just like jesse james
[...] have received quite a bit of feedback since posting about the Mississippi school authorities that decided to cancel an entire prom so to avoid Constance McMil… Some of you have written in support while some of you have expressed serious disagreement, from [...]
March 21, 2010 at 3:01 pm
i’d give you the shirt off my back « just like jesse james
[...] interested in the shirt I made for myself the other day and I am still totally disgusted with the Mississippi morons who are trying to get away with blatant discrimination I went ahead and made a little online shop where you too can mock the homophobic bigots while [...]
March 22, 2010 at 7:31 pm
In Case You Forgot that Prom is Gay « Feelers Out
[...] Jesse James of justlikejessejames designed some fucking amazing tee-shirts with the simple slogan, “Prom is so gay.” [...]