18 year old Constance McMillen was the subject of an AP article today because she requested that she and her gay girlfriend, another student in the same school, be allowed to attend the prom as a couple. The school, in Jackson, MS has a rule that prom couples must be a boy and a girl. When McMillen's request was denied, she sued, with the backing of the ACLU. The school's response was to cancel the prom for everyone rather than allow two girls to dance together. Of course everyone knows why the prom was canceled so this girl is likely to be the target of anger from her fellow students.
People in Mississippi have demonstrated their bigotry and willingness to deny people their civil rights many times before, so this event isn't surprising, but the bigots always end up losing in court. So, when will experience teach them that people they dislike have just as many rights as those they like?
The prejudice against homosexuals is completely irrational, any way. No one just decides one day that they would like to be shunned, avoided, and have the crap beaten out of them by fellow students, co-workers and neighbors just because it might be fun to share a bed with someone of the same sex. The only reason the anti-gay people can present to rationalize their hatred is their religious beliefs supported by cherry-picked lines from their favorite book.
Religious beliefs, however, are not civil law. If these people want to deny homosexuals access to their religious ceremonies, that's OK. If persons choose not to act on their own homosexual urges, because their religion doesn't allow it, that's fine too. But, when one leaves the religious environment and enters the secular, as, for instance, a public school, civil law applies and insisting that persons outside of the religious community must abide by rules that apply only within the religious community, is not only ridiculous, it's illegal.
No comments:
Post a Comment