Lesbian Teen Denied Access to Prom with Date

A Mississippi School chose to cancel the prom rather than risk having a lesbian teen dressed in a tuxedo attend prom with her female sophomore date. Is this within a school district’s authority or is this discrimination? The ACLU, now representing the teen, Constance McMillen, is suing the Mississippi school, requesting that the prom be reinstated and all students be allowed to attend. According to the school board her request violated the school rule against same sex dates at school activities. In another statement by the same board, the order to cancel the prom was "due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events." In December when Constance spoke to the principal he told her it had to do with the tickets and something about it being cheaper to attend as dates, and they were trying to prevent that. The article notes that the prom was not actually canceled until the ACLU got involved. Based on information in the article, it appears that whatever Constance expected the school board to do, canceling the prom was not it. Now she is concerned about her peers being angry. She also indicated however, that she wants others to know that the ACLU is there for you and you do not have to put up with discrimination. According to the article, apparently the school canceled the prom to prevent interference of the educational process. I believe this has backfired, as Itawamba County Agricultural High School now has national recognition. The following is a link to Constance McMillen’s interview by CBS.
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6292187n&tag=mg;mostpopvideo

The article does not address any positive responses from peers or others which are easily accessible on her facebook and elsewhere online. There is also no mention of the fact that the student have been offered an alternative place to hold the prom. Constance father and aunt indicates support, however, one must wonder how the parents of her sophomore date feel about the publicity.