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Constance McMillen gets sent to a fake prom

Just when you thought lesbian teen Constance McMillen‘s prom nightmare might actually have a happy ending, the not-so-good people of her hometown of Fulton, Miss. go and do something even more horrible. Over the weekend, they invited her to a fake prom.

You are all hopefully well aware of Constance ‘s plight by now. The Itawamba Agricultural High School student had asked her school if she could attend prom wearing a tux and with her girlfriend. To avoid letting two girls who liked each other from slow dancing in the gymnasium, the school canceled the whole thing for everyone. The administration was essentially telling the student body: “Don’t blame the fact that you can’t have prom on our ignorant and bigoted worldview, blame it on the gay kid.”

Lawsuits were filed, the national media caught wind, the school still refused to reinstate prom. Then a private parent-sponsored prom was organized, and finally Constance and her date were extended an invitation – or so it seemed. Then, over the weekend, she went only to find five other students in attendance. Her other classmates were safely away at the “real” prom, far away from the lesbians and their big gay cooties. Have I mentioned people are horrible?

Contance confirmed the incident to The Advocate Monday, saying, “They had two proms and I was only invited to one of them. The one that I went to had seven people there, and everyone went to the other one I wasn’t invited to…. It hurts my feelings.” Proving how deep the deception ran, her high school’s principal and teachers served as chaperones to her fake prom.

Adding to the outrage, two of the other attendees at the fake prom were students with “learning difficulties.” Guess the class figured they’d keep all the students they considered “undesirable” away from the so-called “normal” ones. Remember when I said people were horrible? Double-down on that.

Someone in town has even started a “Constance quit yer cryin” Facebook page complete with an icon of a bawling baby. Sample post: “She doesn’t deserve a public apology, better yet she should be the one giving the public apology to her classmates.” Silver lining? The Let Constance Take Her Girlfriend to Prom! Facebook page has more than 400,000 fans. The whiny Quit Yer Whinin (great grammar, by the way) one has just about 400. Small victory, but I’ll take it.

What makes this deceitful, hateful mess even more awful is that the parents and school administrators, who should be setting an example of at the very least honesty, endorsed the actions instead. Setting a good example, you’re doing it wrong.

I wonder what everyone who attended the special “No Gay (or Learning Disabled) Allowed Prom” danced to during the big, bigoted event? Not Lady Gaga, I hope – she’s a big gaymo. Not Ke$ha – she’s into people, not labels. Not Kanye West – he has spoken out against homophobia in hip hop. Not Jason Mraz (supports The Gays) or Rob Thomas (also supports The Gays) or even little Miley Cyrus (supports The Gays and got run off of Twitter because of it). Like Fall Out Boy? Peter Wentz supports gay marriage. Like 30 Seconds to Mars? Jared Leto supports gay marriage. Madonna, Christina, Pink – yep, yep, yep.

Hell, even Dolly Parton is on our side. What did you have left to dance to? Lawrence Welk? Sounds like your prom was awesome.

But – as the saying goes – don’t get mad, get even. I would like to extend an open invitation to all the celebrities who have supported Constance to rally around her and create their own, real, so-much-more-awesome Big Gay Prom for the high school senior. Ellen DeGeneres, whose show Constance went on last month, could MC the evening. Wanda Sykes, who invited Constance to the GLAAD Media Awards, could open the night with a comedy set. Cat Cora, who already offered to make a personal appearance at her prom, could cater the event. And Zac Posen, whose new Target collection includes prom tuxes for girls, could dress Constance and her girlfriend.

And those are just the gays who have already voiced support. What is we could get, say, Gaga or Adam Lambert to perform. How about both? And there are so many more: Indigo Girls, Brandi Carlile, Melissa Etheridge, Tegan and Sara, Uh Huh Her, the Gossip, Goldfrapp, Sia – the list goes on and on.

And you know what? I would invite everyone from Constance ‘s town. Yes, everyone. The very people who snuck around and had their own super straight prom behind Constance ‘s back could come, too. If they dared. Why? Because to be tolerant is to accept everyone and show tolerance in return. Just because they are small-minded, provincial hatemongers does not mean we have to stoop to their level. So come to the Big Gay Prom. See how awesome it is. And realize your own ignorance and pettiness. Or, you know, not. You straight people can’t dance for crap, anyway.

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