Prom canceled over same-sex date flap

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FULTON, Miss., March 10 (UPI) -- A Mississippi school board has canceled a high school prom after a lesbian student challenged its policy banning same-sex dates.

The school board in Itawamba County in northeast Mississippi announced the decision Wednesday.

Itawamba County Agricultural High School officials had told 18-year-old senior Constance McMillen last month she could not attend the prom with her girlfriend, a fellow student, and could not wear a tuxedo, The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger reported. The school then sent out a memo saying same-sex dates would not be allowed at the prom.

McMillen criticized the board's decision to cancel the prom, which had been scheduled for April 2.

"That's really messed up because the message they are sending is that if they have to let gay people go to prom that they are not going to have one," she said.

She took her case to the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi, which called on school officials on March 2 to reverse their decision and asked for a response by Wednesday to "determine whether we will have to pursue our legal options."

Christine Sun, the ACLU's senior attorney on gay rights, told The Clarion-Ledger the ban on same-sex dates violates McMillen's constitutional rights.

"The school just can't arbitrarily say you have to be an opposite-sex date to go to the prom," Sun said.

In a statement, the school board said: "Due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events, the Itawamba County School District has decided to not host a prom at Itawamba Agricultural High School this year. It is our hope that private citizens will organize an event for the juniors and seniors."