Ga. Gay Teen Gets Support from Far and Wide for Same-Sex Prom Date--but Parents Kick Him Out

The old adage says that a prophet is honored everywhere but in his homeland. For a gay teen in rural Georgia, that saying must ring true: people from across the country have shown their support for the teen, who has won permission to bring his boyfriend to prom. Fears of the prom's cancellation had been set aside; the teen's school has said that the prom will go on even though the same-sex date is sure to be controversial. But the story's happy ending is not without qualification: the teen's parents threw him out of the house once his story hit the media.

At first, Derrick's story was one of redress and balance, a counterpoint to recent headlines about the prom that was cancelled in Mississippi when 18-year-old lesbian student Constance McMillen asked to be allowed to bring a girl as her date and to wear a tuxedo. A March 23 Macon.com article cast the story in the light of the McMillen case--which went to court, only for the judge to uphold the right of the school district to cancel the dance, rather than to allow a same-sex couple to attend, but who also found that McMillen's rights had been violated. The crux of the story? The Georgia school, located in Bleckley, Georgia, a tiny community of about 5,200 far from any large cities, was willing to go forward with its prom, and to grant Derrick's request that he be allowed to bring his boyfriend Richard as his date instead of a female friend, as Derrick had done in the past.

"I didn't expect them to say yes," Derrick told the press, adding that, to him, it's a matter of equality: "It's who I am. I have the same rights. It's my senior prom, and I wanted to be able to prove not everyone would cancel prom" rather than respect the needs of GLBT youth.

The school was hesitant at first, but then determined that there were no policies in place against allowing a student to bring a same-sex date to prom. "You don't have the right to say no," said Michelle Masters, the school's principal. "As a principal, I don't judge him. I'm taught not to judge. I have to push my own beliefs to the background."

"Students are allowed to bring their date to prom," said the superintendent of schools, Charlotte Pipkin. "There's nothing that says who the date is." Added Pipkin, "I want this to be an enjoyable event, and I don't want anything to take away from that," she added.

A follow-up story published at the site the next day reported that GLBT equality supporters from around the country had responded gleefully to the news, with offers to provide Derrick's needs coming from individuals in other states and a filmmaker based in Atlanta expressing interest in making a documentary about Derrick and the prom. Supporters even created a Facebook page for Derrick.

Such generosity may be well timed: Derrick, who has been open about his sexuality since his sophomore year, told the media that his parents have tossed him out. Speaking without evident rancor, Derrick told Macon news channel WMAZ-13, "It's their house. It's always been their house--so they can take me or not." Derrick keep the focus on the struggle for legal and social equality, saying, "It's the same thing as African Americans wanting their rights," says Martin. "Or any minority wanting their rights. Every person is a human being and they deserve their rights."