ACLU of Alabama News
Alabama School Bars Lesbian Student From Attending Prom With Her
Girlfriend
Last week, The American Civil Liberties Union demanded
that Franklin County School System officials reverse its decision that a
lesbian student can’t attend the school prom with her girlfriend.
Cynthia Stewart, a junior at Tharptown
High School, approached
the ACLU for assistance after school officials denied her request for the
upcoming March 25 prom.
"I can't believe my school is doing all of this just
to keep me from bringing my girlfriend to the prom," said Stewart, a
17-year-old student who, as a member of the prom planning committee, has
personally raised over $200 for the prom and created the theme her classmates
chose for the dance. "All I want is to be able to be myself and go to my
prom with the person I love, just like any other student wants to do."
Stewart's aunt and guardian, Kathy Baker, approached ACLU
of Alabama board member and local attorney Henry F. Sherrod III last week for
assistance after the school announced it was cancelling the prom. Baker
had approached the school board to appeal the principal's earlier decision
that Stewart could not bring her girlfriend to the dance, but her plea on
behalf of her niece was turned down. Some teachers told classes last
Thursday that prom was being canceled altogether as a way to avoid having to
let Cynthia bring her date. Finally, at least one teacher made
statements to students Monday indicating that the prom is back on, but there
has still been no reversal on the decision that Stewart can’t bring her
girlfriend to the event.
"It's just sad to see this school twisting itself in
so many different directions to avoid its constitutional obligations to one
student," said Sherrod. "Cynthia doesn't just deserve to be
able to take her girlfriend with her to the prom like any other student – she
has a federally-protected right to do so."
In the letter to Franklin County School System officials,
the ACLU cited cases both in Alabama
state court as well as federal court guaranteeing students' First Amendment
right to bring same-sex dates to school dances. In addition to
illegally canceling the prom, the ACLU said that Tharptown High School's
principal further violated Stewart's First Amendment rights by requiring her
to remove a sticker she was wearing at school that read, "I'm a
Lesbian." Stewart said that when she told the principal she had a
First Amendment right to wear the sticker, he replied, "You don't have
that much freedom of speech at school."
"Federal law makes it absolutely clear that Franklin
County School System doesn't have any right to discriminate against lesbian,
gay, and bisexual students who want to bring same-sex dates to school
dances," said Christine P. Sun, Senior Counsel with the ACLU national
Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project, who represents Stewart along with
Sherrod. "We hope that our telling the school about its legal
obligations towards its students will make it think again about treating
Cynthia Stewart like a second-class citizen."
The ACLU has given the school district until November 20
to respond to its letter.
Additional information, including a copy of the ACLU's
demand letter, is available at http://www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/russellville-alabama-school-prom-discrimination.
CURRENT
STATUS: According to published
reports, school officials say that Stewart’s girlfriend can attend the prom
in March as long as she is cleared through a screening process that all
out-of-district dates must undergo. We
await official word from the school confirming these reports.
Thank you for your continued support of civil liberties
in Alabama!
Olivia Turner
Executive
Director, ACLU of Alabama
207 Montgomery Street, Suite 910, Montgomery, Alabama 36104
T: 334-262-0304 | F: 334-269-5666 |
info@aclualabama.org
www.aclualabama.org
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