Take Note Mississippi

It's happening again, this time in Georgia. Derrick Martin, one of those awful homosexual high school students, is seeking to ruin the prom for the normal kids by asking his principal if he can bring his, ahem, boyfriend to the dance.

And the principal said 'Yes'.

And no one has died, and there isn't an uproar about alternate proms, or private proms.

This is a first for this small Georgia town, and they are handling it quite differently than in Mississippi, where proms get cancelled, or privatized, for fear of letting The Gays slow dance. But, apparently, Georgia, unlike Mississippi, has actually crossed the century mark and joined the rest of the planet in the 21st century, while Mississippi still struggles.

It was back in January that Martin asked Bleckley County school officials permission to take another boy to the prom, and he got word last week that his high school will allow it.

“I didn’t expect them to say yes,” Derrick Martin said. “It’s who I am. I have the same rights. It's my senior prom, and I wanted to be able to prove not everyone would cancel prom.”
But still, he knew his request would be controversial for the town of some 5000 residents. And since prom dates from outside counties must be approved in advance, so Martin went to his principal and asked. At first she said no, because she didn't think the town was ready for it, but then last week school officials said they have no policy in place against it.

Principal Michelle Masters: “You don’t have the right to say no. As a principal, I don’t judge him. I’m taught not to judge. I have to push my own beliefs to the background.”

What's this? Common sense? Why don't we have more teachers and principals like her?

Still, Principal Masters is hoping it won’t become an issue in the community and distract from juniors and seniors who have looked forward to the event all school year.

Charlotte Pipkin, the superintendent of schools, said the school board didn’t take any votes on Martin’s request, but the board did discuss the matter during a board meeting. “Students are allowed to bring their date to prom,” Pipkin said. “There’s nothing that says who the date is."

Derrick Martin has been out at school since his sophomore year, but knows that not everyone at his school is tolerant. He is a bit concerned about the reception he'll receive at the prom "lead out" when the school announces each senior’s name and the date’s name.

“I’ll take out insurance on my tux,” he joked.

Have fun Derrick; maybe you ought to give Constance McMillen and her girlfriend an invitation so they can have prom, too.