Pride In Ourselves

I don't know if any of you have been following the story of Constance McMillen, but I've been paying attention to it.  Here's a brief synopsis for those of you who may not have heard about this.

Constance is an 18 year old girl who lives in Mississippi.  She wanted to take her girlfriend to her senior prom and wear a tuxedo.  Rather than allow that to happen, the school district canceled the prom completely.  While they are claiming it is due to "educational distractions," they canceled the event after the ACLU sent a letter to the school.

This is a very unfortunate situation and it's definitely a reminder of the difficulties the LGBT community continues to face. 

What really impresses me about this story though is Constance.  She is incredibly positive and in my opinion is acting well beyond her years.  She asked for permission to attend prom with her girlfriend in December.  I watched a clip from one of those morning shows and the interviewer asked her, "do you ever wish you hadn't asked [to go to the prom]?"  Her answer was a firm "No."

In the paper today, I really liked the quote they used from her.

My daddy told me that I needed to show them that I'm still proud of who I am.  The fact that this will help people later on, that's what's helping me go on.

She's more mature than I was at 18, and she's absolutely right.  We need to have pride in ourselves.  We need to have the courage to cultivate that pride.  We need to do what we can for those who have yet to come out, to show them that it's okay to still be who you are in the face of adversity. 

I hope that there will be a prom on April 2 for this school, and if there's not, I hope they will take a hard look at their policies so that some good can come from this.