If you haven't heard by now, a Fulton, Mississippi high school student who wanted to bring her same-sex date to the high school prom was tricked and 'invited' to a 'special event':
McMillen tells The Advocate that a parent-organized prom happened behind her back -- she and her date were sent to a Friday night event at a country club in Fulton, Miss., that attracted only five other students. Her school principal and teachers served as chaperones, but clearly there wasn't much to keep an eye on.
"They had two proms and I was only invited to one of them," McMillen says. "The one that I went to had seven people there, and everyone went to the other one I wasn't invited to."
Last week McMillen asked one of the students organizing the prom for details about the event, and was directed to the country club. "It hurts my feelings," McMillen says.
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]."
"[these kids] didn't have to worry about people making fun of them" is exactly what this is all about. Pam Spaulding is absolutely right in condemning this mindless hatred:
To think that Fulton not only displayed rank homophobia, it raised the bar of evil by sending learning-disabled students to the fake prom, clearly labeling them "others."
Let's say, for sake of argument, that your foul and barbarous sectarian dogma condones hatred of gays and lesbians. And let's further posit that for some insane reason we should shield this hatred under the aegis of religion. Is there a religion that condones ostracizing the learning-disabled? I'm pretty familiar with the Bible (including the Christian one) and I missed that part. Maybe they believe the learning-disabled are possessed by Satan? Actually, they seem stupid enough to believe that.
This just shows that these exalted 'cultural differences' are nothing more than senseless hatred of the other. There is no ethical foundation whatsoever for these beliefs. Yet, for some reason, these views are still given credence and respect in our political discourse, when it is literally sophomoric cruelty.
Disgusting.
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Oh, actually you can discriminate against anyone with the Bible - if your target group doesn't engage in any form of behaviour you can label sinful and wrong, you can still take any shared trait of the group and declare it to be a 'mark' or 'punishment' from God for something or other. It's really flexible: mental handicaps, red hair, left-handedness - throughout the centuries, practically every trait other than 'white' and 'male' was discriminated against at some point of time for 'religious' reasons.
The parents who raised those high school students should be ashamed. The teachers who educated them should be ashamed. Really, almost everybody in that slimy stink bomb of a district should be ashamed.
I have learning disabilities myself, by the way. It isn't so much a blissful ignorance of the world as it is "I feel different and don't know how the hell to fix it" sensation. I totally feel the pain those kids experienced. At least McMillen has a secure future ahead of her with a pretty sweet summer internship and thirty grand for college, while the rest of her class is probably slated towards fifty years of menial labor hell.
Justice has a wonderful, wonderful, fragrance.
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]."
This is what caught me when reading about this - Ms. McMillen managed to appreciate that in spite of the hateful stunt the town pulled, those other kids enjoyed themselves and she was happy for them. It shows a level of compassion and maturity sadly lacking in the rest of the town's residents.
At first I just felt bad about how Constance was being treated. Now I think Constance is the lucky one. She's getting out. She's got a chance to get an education and make a decent life out in the big wide world, or at worst fail on her own terms.
But the other kids - the ones who've been blinded by their blind bigoted parents and teachers - what chance have they got? They think they're the blessed ones, the in-crowd, but I fear they're in for a lot of disappointment.
Re: Comment #4 by csrster. You are absolutely right. She's lucky to be getting out. I wish that the other kids who were sent off to the fake prom could be given the same opportunity as she has been given. Is there anybody with lots of money out there who can help them escape too?
I think she should volunteer to coordinate the 5, 10, 15, 20 year etc reunions and show up at everyone hopefully happy successful and well adjusted that is âa dish best served coldâ or say screw them and just do the happy successful well adjusted part
Re: #6
I totally agree with one caveat: She should have her wife by her side at the registration table.
That's addition not caveat (need more coffee).