Monday, March 27, 2006

Catholic High School Bans Grrl Dates at Prom

(Link) A violation of First Amendment Rights, aka "freedom of speech", you say? Not so, says Lamda Legal. As a private school, Villa Marie is free to be unconstitutional.

1 comment:

LNewsEditor said...

JIC Post:
From Associated Press

(Buffalo, NY) -- An openly lesbian Buffalo student says her Catholic high school won't let her bring her girlfriend to the prom.

Church officials at the all-girl Villa Maria Academy say they have to stand by their principles.

Senior Laura Murphy says she's been told to bring someone else or come alone.

She says she is being discriminated against, and she's collected petition signatures from about a third of the school's 130 students in support.

A deputy legal director of the national Lambda Legal group says students have First Amendments rights of free expression to protect them in public schools. Villa Maria Academy is private.

Lambda Legal this year is publishing a prom season guide to inform same-sex couples of their legal rights.

Murphy and her girlfriend attended a semiformal dance at the school in December without incident.

Murphy says, quote, ``It's something special, and I want to share it with someone special. I don't want to take a guy I don't really care about.''