Lance Bass to Sponsor Gay-Friendly Prom

Former 'N Sync member Lance Bass will join celebrity chef Cat Cora and members of Green Day in sponsoring a gay-friendly prom in Mississippi after a lesbian teen was duped into attending a "fake prom" earlier this month.

The Tupelo, Miss., event, scheduled for May 8, is being organized by the Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition and is open to all students, regardless of sexual orientation. The group's spokesman, Matthew Sheffield, told the Associated Press that Bass will be in attendance.

In an interview on Monday with The Advocate, Constance McMillen, an 18-year-old senior at Itawamba Agricultural High School, said that she and her date showed up at a prom on April 2 in Fulton, Miss., attended by a small number of her peers, including two students with learning difficulties. "They had two proms, and I was only invited to one of them," McMillen said. "The one that I went to had seven people there, and everyone went to the other one I wasn’t invited to."

Last month, the Itawamba County School district canceled its prom after a U.S. district judge ruled that the school could not bar McMillen from attending the event with her date. As a result, a parent-sponsored, private prom was organized.

The American Humanist Association will also donate $20,000 for the inclusive prom.

‹‹Previous Article in Category | Next Article in Category››

Reader Comments

Back to top Post a Comment Report Abuse
Name: ismail serwada
Date posted: 5/4/2010 5:57:52 AM
Hometown: uganda kampala

Comment:
hello people am ismail serwadda , form uganda , aged 17yrs, i come from a poor family and i need any caring and loving person across the world to help me cause i need to acquire eduction abroad, so that i can archive my set goals. i dont have a dad and my mum cant raise enough money for me and my sister and also cant raise money for rent, so i need any caring person to help me cause am in out of cry.my email is ismail.rossi@gmail.com and my mum's number is +256784226569. thanks alot i will be happy if any one reply's me. may God bless you all. yours ismail serwadda from uagnda.
Back to top Post a Comment Report Abuse
Name: Martha Christy
Date posted: 4/13/2010 5:06:57 PM
Hometown: Jamestown, RI

Comment:
Thank you, a light shines! It's heart warming to see these celebrity's stepping up, kudos to them! I have been following this story and have been very saddened by it. I want to note here that I am so impressed with Constance, who has handled the whole thing with grace and maturity that is well beyond her years. Thanks again for the good works!
Back to top Post a Comment Report Abuse
Name: suzanne
Date posted: 4/11/2010 8:44:44 PM
Hometown: Victoria, BC, Canada

Comment:
I am so glad this prom is happening! and people from Mississippi rock! I am lesbian I live in Canada,,my fiancee lives in MIssissippi ...she and are going to get married in Canada,,,she is going to move up here and live with me forever and adopt a child...So this certainly is unusual timing for myself.I am also a huge BIG Green Day fan! and we are naming our baby boy Billie ( William) in the future! we are so excited for this prom and all those who get to go it! I hope everyone has a great time! I will be certainly paying lots of attention:) Suzanne :)
Back to top Post a Comment Report Abuse
Name: rod
Date posted: 4/11/2010 6:05:41 PM
Hometown: NYC

Comment:
Totally cool. These busy celebs are doing more about it than I and others posting here did and I'm glad.
Back to top Post a Comment Report Abuse
Name: Raphael
Date posted: 4/11/2010 1:24:16 PM
Hometown: World

Comment:
I guess I am happy that Lance Bass and other gay celebs are going to hold this alternative prom, but what is saddening is that the students at this school didn't stand up for a fellow student and allowed their parents to railroad not just the gay couple but also others that were disadvantaged. This same scenario happened here in Ontario some 10 years ago, a religious school denied a boy the right to bring his lover to the prom, it went to court but before the court could rule the students of the school moved their prom off school property and thumbed their noses at their elders. When the court ruled in favor of the student allowing him to bring his date, the prom was re-relocated back to the school. This whole affair was made into a movie called "Prom Queen" but regardless of the court the young people were not going to stand for inequality. In fact many of them testified in court against their parents and the school, they wanted their prom to be inclusive.
Back to top Post a Comment Report Abuse
Name: Me
Date posted: 4/11/2010 12:14:37 PM
Hometown: USA

Comment:
A day late and a lesson short. What these rich gay celebs needed to do was to organize the freedom-prom on the exact same date of the Mississippi hate-prom to help teach these young adults to make good decisions in life. Now that they have already had fun at their hate-prom, this half-ass prom will just be another opportunity for them to bring their hate message over and crash it.
Back to top Post a Comment Report Abuse
Name: Matt
Date posted: 4/11/2010 10:21:19 AM
Hometown: Austin

Comment:
The Enquirer did a story about New Kids on the Block's Jonathan Knight in February 2009: "Jonathan Knight's Gay Lover Tells All," subtitled "Intimate Details of NKOTB Singer's Romance with Brazilian Model." Google "is jonathan knight gay" and you'll see that the story has reverberated on the Internet. Here is the cover: www.popcrunch.com/new-kids-on-the-block-jonathan-knight-gay. I don't think Jonathan's younger brother Jordan is gay, although it is certainly possible to be gay and heterosexually married with children.
Back to top Post a Comment Report Abuse
Name: Lizzy
Date posted: 4/10/2010 11:19:01 PM
Hometown: Bath NY

Comment:
@ Scott - Jordan Knight not gay. Knight's first child, Dante Jordan, was born in August 1999. In 2004, he wed Evelyn Melendez. Knight's second son, Eric Jacob was born in February 2007.
Back to top Post a Comment Report Abuse
Name: Scott
Date posted: 4/10/2010 9:43:47 PM
Hometown: Sydney

Comment:
If he has recovered from stage collapse maybe Elton John can join. Maybe Ricky Martin. This would show the homophobes. There would be no doubt as to which prom is to remember. The inclusive one.
Back to top Post a Comment Report Abuse
Name: Scott
Date posted: 4/10/2010 8:57:18 PM
Hometown: Portland

Comment:
You mean Jordan Knight?

PREVIOUS 1 2 3 NEXT

Don't Miss

News Features WATCH: Son Defends Two Moms in Prop. 8 Case
Seventeen-year-old Spencer Perry is the latest of a number of young people who are standing up for their gay and lesbian parents and showing that the kids are all right, no matter what politicians might say.

Commentary Op-ed: Our Groups Need More Color in Their Rainbow

LGBT organizations need more racially diverse leaders, and there are a number of resolvable reasons why they are now lacking, argues Jimmy Nguyen.

News WATCH: Dustin Lance Black on Prop. 8, Election 2012
Dustin Lance Black, the screenwriter and founding board member for the American Foundation for Equal Rights, spoke to The Advocate after an appeals court called Prop. 8 unconstitutional.

Commentary Op-ed: Disliking Us Is No Longer a Legal Rationale

What the appeals court judges said in their ruling on Proposition 8’s constitutionality will have far-reaching consequences, and that has our opponents freaking out.

Television World’s First Openly Gay Royal Is on Fairy Tale Search for Love
India's gay Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil was burned in effigy when he surprised his countrymen and came out. Now he's going undercover to find love on a new reality show on TLC.

News Features Filmmakers Work for Marriage Equality
Instead of the typical campaign commercials advocating against antigay ballot initiatives like North Carolina's Amendment 1, Working Films is going deeper to show how these laws harm families.

Commentary Op-ed: Why We Are Fighting Meth

The executive producers for the Hollywood Rush witnessed a friend’s struggle with the drug and are trying to do something about it.

Music The Advocate Editors' Personal Madonna Moments
In honor of our March cover subject, we're sharing our own Madonna recollections, including getting nearly trampled by her fans and receiving correspondence from the lady herself.

Commentary Advice: Two Weddings, Two Sets of Gifts?
One groom-to-be asks what to do if you've already been married once before, but not "gay-married." Is it taboo to ask friends for wedding gifts again?

Television Housewives' Kyle Loves You, But Hands Off Her Mauricio
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' Kyle Richards tells us about fending off gay advances toward her husband and receiving come-ons from lesbians.

News Quinn to Christie: Stop “Playing Games” With Marriage
New York City Council speaker Christine Quinn said that Gov. Chris Christie appears to be playing a “political game” with his call for a marriage equality referendum in New Jersey.

News Prop. 8 Recordings Could Still Be Made Public ... in 2020
Court rules mandate that documents filed under seal become public 10 years after a decision in the case — unless a legal party shows “good cause” as to why they should remain out of the public’s hands.

Best of Broadway Smash: Why You Will Love It
Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, two of the producers of NBC’s new critically acclaimed musical series, explain why the backstage drama of creating a musical about Marilyn Monroe has mass appeal and why big stars like Anjelica Huston, Uma Thurman, Bernadette Peters, and Nick Jonas were eager to appear in it.

Best of Broadway The Advocate Staff Remembers: Best of Broadway
The staff of The Advocate turns back the pages of time and shares their favorite Broadway memories. We asked for yours earlier so it only seemed fair that we share, too.

Best of Broadway Sometimes a Hat Makes a Big Difference
Who has the best Easter bonnet? It's just another of the unexpected ways that Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS raises money for the cause.

News Psychedelic Queen of Pop (Art)
The March 2012 issue of The Advocate kicks off our 45th anniversary by paying homage to its birth year, 1967.

Best of Broadway Dressing Felicia: Priscilla's Costume Designer Talks Shop
Costume designer Tim Chappel shares private sketches with The Advocate of his work on The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and gives the behind-the-scenes scoop on that flip-flop dress.

Best of Broadway How Broadway Does a Flea Market
Find out why actress Kathleen Chalfant calls the annual Flea Market and Grand Auction in Times Square "the most glamorous flea market you've ever seen." It raised half a million dollars to fight HIV/AIDS.

Best of Broadway Especially for You, It All Goes Backwards on Broadway
Here's your chance to hear the best of Broadway sung with you in mind at the annual Broadway Backwards event.

Best of Broadway You Picked: Broadway's Best Moments
We asked for your most loved and loathed moments from the Broadway stage. Here are eight of our reader's favorite musical moments, plus two that were not so well received.

Travel Gayest Cities in America, 2012
It's no secret that megalopolises New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles have robust LGBT life — and we've even heard tell of little queer hoods like the Castro and P-Town. This isn't that list.

Business Best Companies List: Who Is on Your Side?
The Human Rights Campaign released its newly updated Corporate Equality Index today. Here's the complete list of companies that scored 100% for being LGBT-friendly.