Prom's ban on same-sex guests being challenged

Associated Press via Houston Chronicle | May 5, 2004, 8:35PM | no byline

[weegee]

LAGO VISTA -- A civil liberties group is asking the principal of a Central Texas high school to reconsider a policy prohibiting students attending the prom from buying tickets for same-sex guests.

"It's supposed to be a special night that you're supposed to share with people you like to be around," said Sherrell Ingram, 16. "If they're setting limits on who you can and can't bring just because of their sex, it's not going to be great anymore. It's not going to be special."

Ingram, a junior who helped organize the prom, noticed a sign detailing the rule against same-sex prom ticket purchases last month, just as her mother was about to buy tickets for her and a best friend. Ingram and the girl have been best friends since the sixth grade. Ingram said she is not a lesbian but thinks the policy discriminates against her gay friends.

"I was like, `Whoa, Mom, read this,' " Ingram said in Wednesday editions of the Austin American-Statesman.

"Isn't that illegal?" she recalled asking her mother, who works in the school cafeteria.

Now, People for the American Way, a civil liberties group, has asked Lago Vista High School Principal Donna Larkin to reconsider the policy and has threatened to sue if Larkin doesn't repeal it by Friday. The prom is May 15.

Barbara Qualls, Lago Vista's school superintendent, declined to comment.

Lago Vista, a town of about 5,000 people, is northwest of Austin.

[weegee]

Anyone believe that she will challenge bars and car washes over "Lady's Night" discounts too?

[kingu]

Anyone believe that she will challenge bars and car washes over "Lady's Night" discounts too?

Right after she takes up the cause against senior discounts.

[lowbridge]

Now, People for the American Way, a civil liberties group

Civil liberties group? More like a liberal advocacy group.

[PurVirgo]

Hey now, in a way I agree with her... if a couple of gals or guys don't have dates, what's wrong with buying a pair of tickets for yourselves?

This is so dumb it's a non-issue.

[usadave]

I was like, `Whoa, Mom, read this,' " Ingram said in Wednesday editions of the Austin American-Statesman.

In other words, Ingram said to her mother, "Whoa, Mom, read this".

[taxesareforever]

"It's supposed to be a special night that you're supposed to share with people you like to be around," said Sherrell Ingram, 16. "If they're setting limits on who you can and can't bring just because of their sex, it's not going to be great anymore. It's not going to be special."

NO!!! How could people set rules and limits!! That has to be against the law!
It is truly scary that soon these people will be able to vote and maybe even write columns like Molly Irvins.

[weegee]

Why not just buy a single/stag ticket?

No one is being denied entry. It is the manner in which the tickets are being purchased (as a couple).

I can't put a "good friend" of either sex under my health care policy. Doesn't matter how many years I've known 'em and doesn't matter how much (s)he may need health insurance.

[sockmonkey]

Hey now, in a way I agree with her... if a couple of gals or guys don't have dates, what's wrong with buying a pair of tickets for yourselves?

Nothing. My daughter, and her friends did exactly that for the jr/sr prom. They took a sophomore who was sad she wouldn't be able to attend prom at the old alma mater the next year because she was moving to Bastrop.

A few weeks later that friend died in a car accident. The girls were so happy that they had been able to share a special night of dress ups, and fun with each other, and that their friend had gotten to experience the prom with them

It wasn't about same sex coupling, it was about being with your friends on a special occasion.

[little jeremiah]

Homosexual Agenda Ping + High School Deviancy Promotion Alert.

Notice: Please, please, please - get your kids out now!

Sometimes I read the comments of people saying that to take your kids out of the public schools is "letting the liberals win". No, it's taking your kids out of a fetid, festering swamp where they will get polluted with sick ideas and rotten morals, which are worse than AIDS, TB, and hepatitis.

If the schools were filled with the Black Plague and impetigo, you wouldn't let your kids attend and risk infection.

The homosexual radicals have made the schools their especial target. The infection they are spreading is worse than any disease of the body.

Let me know if anyone wants on/off this pinglist.

[little jeremiah]

Yes, but the whole purport of this article, and the reason for the support of same sex couples attending proms by the so-called People for the [anti] American Way is to promote acceptance and normalization of homosexuality among teenagers. It's obvious.

[PurVirgo]

didn't think about that...

I didn't have to buy my own tickets to my prom, so I don't even know if you can buy single tix...

But you do have a point there...

[PurVirgo]

That is a very touching story, and it really makes me smile even though it had a sad ending.

Bless your daughter's kind soul =)

[sockmonkey]

Notice: Please, please, please - get your kids out now!

Lago Vista is basically a suburb of Austin (San Francisco West, we call it), so I'm going to assume that most of the children there are already aware of the gay subculture.

That said, in the small central TX towns near me, a child is more likely to be exposed to a homosexual/marxist philosphy type agenda in one of the parochial schools of the major religious denominations, than in public school.

[little jeremiah]

A. Homeschooling is cheaper than any parochial school, and you know what your kid is being taught.

B. Being aware of homosexuals is not the same as being indoctrinated into the glories of homosexuality. GLSEN is a powerful organization dedicated to changing the cultural and moral foundation of the US. Have you read any of the links EdReform and Scripter post daily? Being aware is nothing. Being exposed to a conscious pattern of pro-homosexual dogma throughout the entire school life of a child is entirely different, and exceedingly dangerous.

In CA, it has been mandatory since 2001 to teach children about homosexuality in a positive light K-12. And that's just a start.

[zx2dragon]

Health care is not the prom. Apples and oranges.

For my prom (many, many moons ago) they sold tickets in pairs only. I forget the reasoning they had at the time, but a number of people came in with their friends just so the whole gang could enjoy.

[Arrowhead1952]

I posted this same article from the Austin Pravada. My daughter was telling me that the teachers picked up all newspapers before the first class yesterday. The lady and her daughter are just looking for their 15 minutes of fame.

(Lago Vista school policy prevents same-sex prom dates or guests)

[trussell]

And where do you propose we put our children once we take them out of public school?

I am a single parent with 2 children. My ex doesn't contribute to the support of these kids at all. I haven't received support from him for over a year.

I have to work to provide for the kids, so I can't homeschool.

I don't make enough to put them in a private school.

What do you suggest I do with them?

[Skooz]

"It's supposed to be a special night that you're supposed to share with people you like to be around," said Sherrell Ingram, 16. "If they're setting limits on who you can and can't bring just because of their sex, it's not going to be great anymore. It's not going to be special."

"I was like, `Whoa, Mom, read this,' " Ingram said in Wednesday editions of the Austin American-Statesman.

Like, fer shur, totally. Like, 16 year-old girls should totally, like, be totally ignored everythime they, like, open their ignorant traps, fer sur. Because, ya know, they're like totally so stupid, fer sher.