Posts tagged "mcmillen" - The Gay Manifesto

Mar 25, 2010 0

Mississippi High School Of Hate Distributes Bibles To Students

The American Family Association, a christian ministry that actively supports and promotes the killing of Gays and Lesbians, is passing out bibles to the students of Itawamba High School. Itawamba High has been in the news recently for canceling their prom rather than allow a Lesbian student to bring her date.

The last thing this high school needs is another christian hate group passing out literature that promotes discrimination and violence towards Gays and Lesbians. The christian bible calls for Gays and Lesbians to be put to death…all the justification many of these emotionally stunted christian student need to fulfill gods will and kill there fellow Gay and Lesbian classmates.

The American Family Association is partnering with an evangelist to place Bibles in the hands of students at a Mississippi high school that has been thrust into the national spotlight after the ACLU threatened to sue the school.

Last month, Constance McMillen, a senior at Itawamba Agricultural High School in Fulton, Mississippi, was told by school officials she could not attend the prom with her girlfriend, who is also a student at the school. Administrators canceled the prom, claiming the issue had caused a major distraction, and the ACLU sued the district. A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that he would not force the school to hold the prom.

Tim ToddTim Todd, evangelist with Revival Fires International, is supplying nearly 700 Truth for Youth Bibles that can be purchased and given to students at the school who commit to give it to their peers.

“We're believing that the seed of 680 Bibles going into the hands of 680 teenagers in a school that has [been] confronted with the homosexual activity that's being highlighted across the nation, that the seed of the Word of God is not going to return void, but it is going to accomplish what God desires to do,” the evangelist shares. “And we're believing for a hundred-fold harvest of young people getting saved as a result of it, too.”

The outreach will continue for a couple of weeks. The American Family Association is based in Tupelo, Mississippi, approximately 30 miles west of Fulton.

via MS high school to receive ‘Truth for Youth’ (OneNewsNow.com).

The ACLU must file suit immediately to stop these hateful christian books from being distributed. The Itawamba High School is a public school which receives Gay and Lesbian tax dollars. Distributing christian hate material which advocates killing Gays and Lesbians to the high school students is illegal.

Call the Itawamba High School and let them know how you feel about christian hate groups distributing bibles to their students. They have removed all email address and phone number from their website but here is the number (662) 862-3104.

Mar 25, 2010 1

Parents Kick Gay Teen Derrick Martin Out Of House

Where do parents learn that it is OK to kick their Gay and Lesbian children out of the house? At what point did unconditional love of your child become qualified with “unless they are Gay or Lesbian”. The percent of Gay and Lesbian teens living on the streets is skyrocketing as is the number of teen suicides in our community.

These alarming facts can be traced to one point. Religious bigots who push discrimination and violence against Gays and Lesbians from the christian pulpit. They claim that homosexuality is a lifestyle choice brought on by bad parenting or sexual molestation. This lifestyle should be discouraged and can be changed through prayer and proper therapy.

When the prayer and therapy fail to change the homosexual into a good wholesome straight christian most parents kick the child out of the house.

Homosexuality is a normal, natural and unchangeable sexual orientation and if the christian church would recognize this and promote acceptance over expensive therapies that do not work the world would be a much safer place for Gays and Lesbians.

Gay-rights supporters from across the country are offering to buy everything from boutonnieres to dinner for a Bleckley County High School senior who was granted permission to take his boyfriend to the prom.

At least two supporters have offered to rent a stretch limo for Derrick Martin and his boyfriend.

Martin asked his principal this year if he could take another male to his senior prom, set for April 17.

At first school officials told the 18-year-old that the town of Cochran, with a population of 5,200, wasn’t ready for it.

The high school only had a policy that barred bringing a date older than the age of 21, so school officials subsequently told Martin they granted his request.

Many gay-rights activists are now posting the story on their Facebook pages. And an Atlanta filmmaker said he hopes to document the story.

“I sent flowers to his high school,” said Randi Reitan, a resident of Eden Prairie, Minn., who sent a bouquet of yellow flowers with a rainbow-colored balloon to Bleckley County High on Tuesday to show her support.

“We have a gay son. I wish he could’ve danced with a young man at his prom,” Reitan said.

She also has offered to buy Martin and his date, who is from Tift County, boutonnieres to wear on prom night.

Drew Dowdell from Pittsburgh is setting up a link on his Web site for people to leave donations for Martin to help buy the 18-year-old a limo ride to the prom.

“I want to help Derrick have the best prom he can because I worry that anti-gay people in his school will be doing their best to ruin it for him,” Dowdell said. “I’m proud that he was willing to go to the school to make an issue about it.”

Martin said he got 54 messages Tuesday on Facebook.

“I appreciate it,” he said. “I was speechless that they said they would buy me dinner or buy me a tux in case someone messed mine up.”

But because of the media attention, Martin’s parents have kicked him out and the teen is staying with a friend, he said.

Martin said he pushed to take his boyfriend to the dance after hearing about a girl in Mississippi who asked to take her girlfriend to the prom.

Her school eventually canceled the dance rather than allow them to attend together.

“Maybe (other gay students) will think if Bleckley County will let them, maybe my school will,” Martin said.

School Superintendent Charlotte Pipkin said the move is a first for Bleckley County.

“I’m not aware of it having happened in the past,” she said.

School officials have said they have no plans to cancel or change plans for the prom.

via Gay-rights backers reach out to Bleckley senior – Local & State – Macon.com.

Derrick Martin is a hero for standing up for himself and other Gay and Lesbian teens. Shame on his parents for kicking this child out on the streets.

Mar 24, 2010 1

Constance McMillen Wins Court Battle Against Bigoted Itawamba School District…Sort Of

U.S. District Judge Glen H. Davidson ruled that the Itawamba school district district violated Constance McMillen’s constitutional rights by not letting her bring her girlfriend to the prom. The judge would not force the school district to have the prom though because parents were putting together a private prom and he thought it would confuse the bigoted little children. Davidson did think it would be nice if the parents sponsoring the private prom invite Constance…these were the same parents that hung the banner on the school stating that “What happened to the Bible Belt?” and “Why would we condone this?”.

Judge Davidson did leave the door open for Constance to come back and sue the homophobic school district for damages.

Mississippi school district violated a lesbian student’s rights by banning her from bringing her girlfriend to the prom, a federal judge ruled Tuesday, but he stopped short of forcing the district to hold the event.

U.S. District Judge Glen H. Davidson denied an American Civil Liberties Union request for a preliminary injunction that would have forced the Itawamba County school district to sponsor the April 2 prom and allow Constance McMillen to escort her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo.

Davidson did say he will hold a trial on the issue later, but he did not set a date and any ruling would likely come too late to force the district to hold the prom when it was originally scheduled.

Davidson’s order says the district violated McMillen’s constitutional rights by denying her request to bring her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo, and ACLU Mississippi legal director Kristy Bennett called that a victory.

She said Davidson’s order allows McMillen to amend her petition within 30 days, meaning she could sue for damages because she couldn’t get the prom reinstated.

Davidson said he denied the injunction request because a private prom parents are planning will serve the same purpose as the school prom. He wrote in his ruling that “requiring defendants to step back into a sponsorship role at this late date would only confuse and confound the community on the issue.”

School officials said in court they decided to call off the prom at Itawamba Agricultural High School because McMillen’s challenge to the rules had caused disruptions.

Ben Griffith, the school district’s attorney, said his clients were pleased with Davidson’s ruling.

McMillen first approached school officials about bringing her girlfriend in December, and again in February. Same-sex prom dates had been banned in the past, but she had hoped school officials would grant her request.

“I thought maybe the policy had been in place for a different reason,” McMillen testified at a hearing on the ACLU lawsuit. “I wanted to let them know how it made me feel. I felt like I couldn’t go to the prom.”

She was told two girls couldn’t attend the prom together and she wouldn’t be allowed to wear a tuxedo, court documents show. The ACLU issued a demand letter earlier this month and the district responded by canceling the event.

District officials said they felt not hosting the prom was the best decision “after taking into consideration the education, safety and well being of our students.” Superintendent Teresa McNeece said it was “a no-win situation.”

The 715-student high school is located in Fulton, a town of about 4,000 in rural, north Mississippi. The entire county school district has 3,588 students.

McMillen, who lives with her grandmother and has a 3.8 grade point average, has kept her 16-year-old girlfriend out of the spotlight at the request of the girl’s parents.

Her case has become a cause celebre since the school district canceled the prom March 10.

She has appeared on the “The Early Show,”"The Wanda Sykes Show” and “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” to talk about how she is fighting for tolerance. DeGeneres presented her with a $30,000 college scholarship from Tonic, a digital media company. A Facebook page set up by the ACLU for McMillen has over 400,000 fans.

The teen has said repeatedly that gay students should have the same rights as the their straight counterparts, and while she has been praised on the national scene, her words mean little to some in Fulton.

McMillen said she encountered “hostility” from students who blamed her for the prom’s cancellation.

Days after the district announced it would not host the prom, local townsfolk posted signs on the high school reading “What happened to the Bible Belt?” and “Why would we condone this?”

via Judge won’t force Miss. district to hold prom.

Contact your members of Congress and demand that they pass H.R. 4530: Student Nondiscrimination Act of 2010.

Do not tolerate discrimination in your school. Gay and Lesbian students get yourself a lawyer and sue your school district.

Mar 23, 2010 0

WIN – Bleckley School Officials In Cochran, Georgia Allowing Gay Prom Date

Bigotry and homophobia cannot survive when exposed and confronted. When Derrick Martin approached his principal to ask if he could bring his boyfriend to the prom he expected the worse but instead found acceptance in his small Georgia town. Although the Bleckley County High School could have easily denied the request they chose to treat all their students equally. Their decision was directly influenced by the firestorm surrounding the brutal discrimination against Gay and Lesbian students in Mississippi.

Derrick Martin worried that he could be responsible for getting this year’s prom at Bleckley County High School canceled.

That’s because the 18-year-old senior is gay, and he plans to take his boyfriend to the year’s most anticipated dance.

That’s something that’s never happened in this small Middle Georgia town. A similar plan by two female students in Mississippi this month prompted school officials there to cancel the prom, making national news.

After asking Bleckley County school officials permission in January to take another boy to the prom, Martin got word last week that his high school will allow it. Bleckley’s prom is April 17 in the high school cafeteria.

“I didn’t expect them to say yes,” he said. “It’s who I am. I have the same rights.

“It’s my senior prom, and I wanted to be able to prove not everyone would cancel prom.”

Martin, an honor student who tutors at-risk elementary and middle school students after school, knew the move would be controversial for the town of about 5,200 residents.

At his high school, prom dates from outside counties must be approved in advance, so Martin went to his principal and asked.

“At first she said no, Cochran wasn’t ready for it,” he said.

Then last week, school officials said they have no policy in place against it.

“You don’t have the right to say no,” principal Michelle Masters said. I don’t judge him. I’m taught not to judge. I have to push my own beliefs to the background.”

She’s just hoping it won’t become an issue in the community and distract from juniors and seniors who have looked forward to the event all school year.

As fellow senior Errin Lucas put it, “Have you seen Cochran? There is nothing else to live for.”

Charlotte Pipkin, the superintendent of schools, said the school board didn’t take any votes on Martin’s request, but the board did discuss the matter during a board meeting.

“Students are allowed to bring their date to prom,” Pipkin said. “There’s nothing that says who the date is.

“I want this to be an enjoyable event, and I don’t want anything to take away from that,” she added.

Martin came out as gay during his sophomore year in high school, but even now he said not all his classmates are tolerant.

He expects he may get attention during the prom “lead out,” in which the school announces each senior’s name and the date’s name.

“I’ll take out insurance on my tux,” he said.

It’s a big step for the high school — and the community, many townsfolk said.

“With our town being so small and country, it’s a very big thing,” Lucas said. “It’s unexpected, but I’m glad. We have to move forward.”

A sampling of residents Monday drew plenty of objections to Martin’s plan, but few people were willing to give their name.

Miranda Taylor, who was working behind the counter at a Wendy’s restaurant, said “a lot of people will stare,” but she thinks the move shows Bleckley County is more open.

The high school prom will have security.

Even if there is a backlash, both educators said they won’t cancel or change their plans for the prom. It would not be fair to the students, Pipkin said.

Martin said he could have settled for what he did last year and simply attend the prom with a female friend, but he didn’t want to do that this year. “It’s standing up for the rights thing, especially after the Mississippi canceled prom,” he said. “It’s senior prom. It’s pretty big.”

via Bleckley school officials allowing gay prom date – Living – Macon.com.

Constance McMillen and her lawsuit against the Itawamba County School District in Mississippi has shown what happens when Gay and Lesbian Americans mobilize behind a cause and demand equal protections. Without the national exposure and outrage surrounding McMillen’s lawsuit I doubt that Derrick Martin would be attending prom with his boyfriend.

Mar 22, 2010 0

McMillen Gets Day In Court – Bigoted School Officials Upset Over Name Calling

Constance McMillen and her ACLU lawyers appeared before the U.S. District Judge Glen H. Davidson claiming that the school district violated her 1st Amendment Rights when they canceled the prom rather than allow a lesbian to attend. The school district in-turn claims the prom was canceled because McMillen’s “challenge to the rules had caused disruptions” not because they wanted to punish the young lady for being born a lesbian.

The homophobic bigots running the Itawamba County school district deserve no less than prison for endangering this wonderful young woman. By blatantly promoting discrimination against Constance the principal and school administrators exposed her to unnecessary violence and death threats.

ACLU attorney Kristy Bennett said in court Monday that the district violated McMillen’s First Amendment rights and that it was the decision to cancel the prom — not McMillen’s request to bring her girlfriend — that caused the disruptions school officials described.

“Any disruption came after the actual cancellation of the prom,” Bennett said.

In closing arguments, Bennett said the district “shouldn’t be able to censor Ms. McMillen’s speech simply by canceling the prom.”

Ben Griffith, an attorney representing the school district, said holding or attending a prom is not a constitutional right.

District officials “took a step they considered to be necessary,” he said.

McMillen testified the district’s decision led to hostility toward her on campus. She said she left school early the day after the district’s decision and didn’t go at all the next day.

“There were so many dirty looks,” McMillen said. “A lot of people didn’t like me very much.”

The 715-student high school is located in Fulton, a town of about 4,000 in rural north Mississippi. The entire county school district has 3,588 students.

Principal Trae Wiygul said he had been “bombarded” with e-mails, most from people criticizing the district’s decision.

“I’ve been called every name known to man,” Wiygul said. “I’ve been called a bigot and homophobic.”

U.S. District Judge Glen H. Davidson, who is hearing the case, did not say when he would rule, but said he wants to do it quickly because “time is of the essence.”

Parents are now organizing a prom. School officials said it is open to the public, but McMillen said she had not been told about it.

The ACLU and gay rights groups have raised private funds for a May 8 prom in Tupelo that’s open to everyone but geared toward gay students. Bennett said planning for the “second-chance” prom was underway before McMillen’s case began, but “the outpouring for Constance enables this to be a much bigger event.”

via Judge hears lesbian teen’s suit to force prom.

Principal Trae Wiygul forbids Constance and her girlfriend from attending the prom then cancels the prom all together rather than allow any Gays or Lesbians to attend the event. He then has the nerve to whine about being called homophobic and a bigot. Principal Wiygul could be the poster child for homophobia.

Mar 12, 2010 0

Stop Christian Hate And Violence From Targeting Children

Every day millions of children are sent to public school where they learn in the perceived safety of trusted teachers and administrators. Unfortunately christian hatred is worming its way into these learned halls and roughly 10% of those children are being terrorized and tortured daily for simply being born Gay or Lesbian.

Children should be safe from christian discrimination and violence everywhere but especially at school. It is unfortunate that many school districts in the rural christian conservative south think it is fine to blatantly discriminate against Gay and Lesbian student. Institutionalized discrimination always leads to violence against the minority.

By now many have heard about the drama surrounding Prom at the Itawamba Agricultural High School in Mississippi. After a lesbian student named Constance McMillen was told she wouldn’t be able to bring her girlfriend as her date to Prom, the ACLU intervened on her behalf and the school eventually canceled the Prom altogether. School officials are currently encouraging a private prom be organized that can continue to deny Constance and her girlfriend entrance.

What’s happening in Mississippi unfortunately happens all too often around the country, and not just during Prom season. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students — and those students who are perceived to be LGBT or who associate with LGBT students — are subjected to discrimination, including harassment, bullying, violence; and are deprived of equal access to educational opportunities.

Congressman Jared Polis took a stand earlier this year to fight for LGBT students when he introduced the Student Non-Discrimination Act. “Like Title VI for minorities in the 60s and Title IX for women in the 70s,” Congressman Polis said at the time of the bill’s introduction, “my legislation puts LGBT students on an equal footing with their peers, so they can attend school and get a quality education, free from fear.”

Tell your Representative in Congress to co-sponsor the Student Non-Discrimination Act (H.R. 4530), so Constance McMillen — and every student — can have equal access to public education.

via Demand ALL Proms Are Fair: Support the Student Non-Discrimination Act | Change.org.

Sign the petition and put an end to christian discrimination and violence against children in public schools. Children deserve a safe school environment that includes protection from christian terror and bigotry.

The Itawamba Agricultural High School Board through their negligence and blatant discrimination have not only put Constance McMillen’s life in danger but every Gay and Lesbian student in that school. Every Gay and Lesbian student in the Itawamba Agricultural High School should be able to defend themselves against christian violence with appropriate force. Remember Armed Gays Don’t Get Bashed!

Mar 5, 2010 1

Homophobic Mississippi School District Discriminates Against Lesbian Student

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition today demanded that Itawamba County School District officials reverse their decision to forbid a lesbian student from attending prom with her girlfriend and from wearing a tuxedo to the prom. Constance McMillen, a student at Itawamba Agricultural High School, said that school officials told her that she could not arrive at the prom with her girlfriend, also a student at IAHS, and that they might be thrown out if any other students complained about their presence.

“Prom is one of those high school moments everyone should get to experience and enjoy. I didn’t go to prom last year, so this is my only chance to go,” said McMillen, an 18-year-old senior at the school in Fulton, a small town of about 3,900 in the northeastern corner of Mississippi. “We just want to be able to be ourselves at our own prom.”

McMillen said she approached school officials shortly before a memo about prom was circulated at school on February 5 that said same-sex dates would not be allowed, because she knew same-sex dates had been banned from prom in the past. McMillen met with the assistant principal and later the superintendent, who told her that they would not be allowed to arrive together, that she would not be allowed to wear a tuxedo to prom, and that she and her girlfriend might be thrown out if their presence made any other students “uncomfortable” at the April 2 event.

“Prom is supposed to be about all students being able to express themselves, have fun, and make memories that will last the rest of their lives,” said Kristy Bennett, Legal Director of the ACLU of Mississippi. “Constance has a constitutional right to take the person she’s dating to the prom, just like any other student at any other public school.”

In today’s letter to Itawamba County School District officials, the ACLU cited federal court cases guaranteeing students’ First Amendment right to bring same-sex dates to school dances, and also pointed out that treating McMillen and other lesbian, gay, and bisexual students differently from other students violates the Constitution’s equal protection guarantees. In addition to illegally barring McMillen and her girlfriend from attending the prom together, the ACLU said that the school further violated McMillen’s free expression rights by telling her that she can’t wear a tuxedo to the prom.

“We hope that informing the school about its legal obligations towards its students will make it think twice about treating Constance and her girlfriend any differently than it does any other student couple who wants to go to the prom,” said Christine P. Sun, Senior Counsel with the ACLU national Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project, who represents McMillen along with the ACLU of Mississippi. “Schools that discriminate against lesbian, gay, and bisexual students who want to bring same-sex dates to school dances need to know that by doing so they’re violating established federal law, and we will call them on it.”

The ACLU and the Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition have given the school district until March 10, 2010 to respond to their letter.

via ACLU Demands Mississippi School Allow Lesbian Student To Attend Prom With Girlfriend | American Civil Liberties Union.

Gays and Lesbians in Mississippi should call the school district today and demand that the school allow McMillen and her date to attend the prom as a couple. Tell the school district that your Gay and Lesbian tax dollars are not going to fund their discrimination and hate directed towards our community.

Call Teresa McNeece, Superintendent of the Itawamba School District 662-862-2159 Ext. 14 or Tom Burnham, Superintendent of Education for the Mississippi Department of Education at 601-359-3513.