There should be a new word--"retardacruel". When someone's being not just turdballs retarded in their wacked-out beliefs, but also willing to exert a level of cruelty on others in the furtherance of their wacked-out beliefs.
I bring you Exhibit A, from Mississippi, a state that brought us great things like Jerry Rice, David Ruffin and William Faulkner (full disclosure--I never read any Faulkner), and on the other hand also was the setting for a lot of hangings of people whose mistake was being born black. (Or, being born black and making the mistake of thinking they could vote or be served in diners). Apparently, there was going to be a prom, two lesbians wanted to attend together with one wearing a tux, and the school system said there was a rule that all prom dates had to be of the opposite sex. The lesbian girls got the ACLU involved, and the school cancelled the prom rather than bend their rule.
The thing about this is that yes, I get that some people don't like homosexuality. They don't want gays to marry, teach in schools (if they're openly gay, which of course means that secret gays will teach your kids! OOoohh), or adopt. I can disagree with that, as I disagree with unions and IRS rules. But it really crosses the line when they can't let two girls just attend a freaking dance together. Worse, by cancelling the event, they're now making those girls outcasts as other kids in the school are going to blame them for ruining the prom.
Why not just say to objecting parents "hey, it's a dance--no one's supposed to be getting their screw on at the dance, gays and straights included. They're just going to dance to crappy music, get their photos taken, and eat some overpriced food. Then they're going to be out of our jurisdiction and probably hit some motel and lose their virginity if they still have it. You might want to keep an eye on your own kids, since those little monsters are probably going to be laced with STDs for a while after that. If they want to attend the dance with someone of the same gender, who cares???"
Appaently it's easier to wreck some kid's social life to take a stand on principle. Especially if that principle is "we hate the gays so much we're willing to ruin a prom over it."
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7 years ago
My high school, after I left, had an issue similar to this in the early 90s. What happened was that for a couple of years guys, who were straight by all accounts and who couldn't find a date for the prom, would go to the prom together. Nothing coupley about it, they just wanted to go to prom with their friends.
ReplyDeleteThe shan hit the fit when the district decided it'd had enough of this and sent out a letter saying "this year's prom will be a strictly hetrosexual affair." They meant it in a strictly boy-girl couple way, but that's not the way it was preceived.
Apparently this school in Mississippi thought this young lady would blink. I'm glad she stared them down.
Foggy--yeah some people just get way uptight about it. The thing is I'll bet the other kids couldn't have cared less, but now that their prom was cancelled they're going to be pissed.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that the kids are going to be pissed at those two girls. They didn't ruin prom, the school district did. But teenagers aren't going to see it that way, and these girls are basically being handed over to be harassed and ostracized.
ReplyDeleteShannon--exactly my point. And had these girls gotten an event cancelled over something petty or obnoxious (like, "we want you to cancel the Winter Dance because it doesn't mention xmas" or "we want you to cancel the Christmas Dance because it's not sensitive to my atheism") I'd feel little sympathy. But here they just wanted to enjoy the event like the other kids could, and the school really could have let it slide.
ReplyDeleteMississippi is a stellar place - I lived there for five years, and it's not an experiment I ever intend to repeat.
ReplyDelete