Lesbian couple allowed at prom

THARPTOWN - Franklin County school officials say they are reconsidering a request from a Tharptown High School junior who was originally told she could not attend the prom with her girlfriend.

Cynthia Stewart, 17, said school officials told her that she and her girlfriend cannot attend the prom as a lesbian couple.

Stewart sought help from the American Civil Liberties Union. The organization formally demanded that school officials reverse their decision.

School officials say they were already in the process of re-evaluating the issue and concluded 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 when attending similar school functions.

"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 said.

She said Tharptown High School Principal Gary Odom told her she would not be allowed to attend the prom with her girlfriend.

Assistant Superintendent Donald Borden confirmed Stewart was originally told she could not bring her girlfriend to the prom. He said the school is in the planning stages for the March prom and that the screening process for out-of-district dates has not started.

"We've not made any decisions who can come to the prom," he said. "We're going to screen dates anyway, but we do that for anybody. If her date passes, she comes."

Odom said the checks screen out troublemakers and students with documented behavioral problems.

Stewart has been serving on the school's prom planning committee.

Florence attorney Hank Sherrod III said he was contacted by Stewart's aunt, Kathy Baker, about the matter and he later contacted ACLU officials. Sherrod is a member of the state ACLU executive board.

"Without question, this is a violation of her civil rights," Sherrod said.

He said he has written the school requesting that Stewart be allowed to attend the prom with her girlfriend. He is seeking a decision by Nov. 20.

Sherrod, contacted Tuesday night, said school officials have not contacted him about the change.

"If that's indeed true, it's good news," Sherrod said. "It certainly would make Cynthia happy."

Sherrod added that Stewart's girlfriend "is a teenager with no problems that would keep her from being able to attend the prom. We're not asking for special treatment. We just want to be treated like everyone else.

"We're just asking that (school officials) follow the law and do the right thing by allowing Cynthia to take her girlfriend, which she has every right to do."

Christine P. Sun, senior counsel with the ACLU, said federal law "makes it absolutely clear" that the school system cannot discriminate against Stewart or anyone else.

"We hope that our telling the school about the legal obligations toward its students will make it think again about treating Cynthia Stewart like a second-class citizen," Sun said in a release.

Borden said involving the ACLU was premature, but the school board plans to respond to the civil liberties union.

"This is kind of a shock to me that they went to the ACLU because I don't believe that she had been denied (any rights)," Borden said.

He said the school district doesn't have specific policies addressing proms, allowing those decisions to be handled by individual schools.

Stewart, in a telephone conversation, said she is pleased with the reversal, "but I don't know why I couldn't just bring her in the first place. It doesn't make sense why they said no in the first place."

Baker had a similar reaction when told of the decision.

"It's great to allow her to bring who she wants to bring," Baker said. "I'm glad they've changed their minds."

Baker, who is Stewart's legal guardian, appealed the initial decision to the school board Oct. 28.

"It made me mad," Baker said of the initial decision to forbid her niece from bringing her girlfriend. "I tried to get a reason out of (Odom), but really all he said was he didn't think it would be appropriate. It upset me."

Stewart said she hopes raising the prom issue will change the way some people think about the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community. She said there are other students at Tharptown High School who are gay.

"I'm not just doing this for me; I'm trying to help other kids in my situation," Stewart said.

Sherrod said the law is clear about the issue. He said allowing Stewart to bring the date of her choice to the prom is a right.

"This issue is going to be confronting a lot of conservative school districts more and more as this generation accepts people for who they are," Sherrod said. "There is case law that makes right and wrong very clear."

Trevor Stokes can be reached at 740-5828 or trevor.stokes@TimesDaily.com.