Gives Thanks

Constance McMillen Goes to Prom

Senior year was anything but easy for Constance McMillen. When the 18-year-old invited another young woman to her prom at Itawamba Agricultural High School in Fulton, Miss., she had no idea the nation would be riveted by her actions—or conceive of the blowback she’d receive. Last spring school district officials told McMillen she couldn’t bring a same-sex date to the prom, then canceled the event altogether when McMillen resisted their decision. The American Civil Liberties Union sued the district on McMillen’s behalf, a group of parents set up an outside prom, and then the story gets really crazy. “They had two proms and I was only invited to one of them,” McMillen told The Advocate. “The one that I went to had seven people [including her and her date], and everyone went to the other one I wasn’t invited to.” McMillen soon transferred schools, and she graduated in the summer. There’s a happy ending: The school district settled with McMillen for $35,000 and agreed to a nondiscrimination policy that includes sexual orientation. Sounds like a perfect way to close out the TV movie currently being made of McMillen’s inspiring story.