Indiana School Double Dares You to Bring Gay Date to the Prom
SOURCE:
Supporters of LGBT rights welcomed prom-goers to walk the red carpet at Gay Prom 2008.
An early effort has been made by students, parents, and school faculty at Sullivan High School in Indiana to ban gay students from attending the prom. As the local media picked up the story, many edits were made to the original story to make it sound less demeaning. One teacher at the school, Diana Medley, was quoted saying extremely offensive things about people that are gay in an attempt to support the movement for a “traditional prom.”
“I don’t believe that they were born that way. I think that life circumstances made them choose that. I think God made everybody equal,” she said.
When asked if she believed if gay people have a purpose in life, Medley said that she does not believe so.
“I don’t. I personally don’t, I’m sorry. I don’t understand it. A gay student, or adult, or person is going to come up and make some change unless they realize it was a choice and I’m choosing God.”
It appears that if Medley so wanted to see a “traditional prom,” it would have been better if her strong opinions were excluded from media coverage. This story has since been seen by more than just the local media as a Change.org petition has been created saying that Medley be reprimanded for her comments about LGBT members not having a purpose in life.
It is unclear what the fate of the proposed "traditional prom" will be. One senior at Sullivan High School told blogger Alvin McEwen that if the event occurred, it would not be supported by the school or all of the students. The school's principal, David Springer, echoed the student's statement, saying that the school administration was not associated with the "traditional prom" proposal.
Read the full ThinkProgress article here.
Julie Thompson is a communications intern for Campus Progress. Follow her on Twitter @thomp_julie.
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