Following a Mississippi school board’s decision to cancel prom after a lesbian teen expressed her desire to attend with her girlfriend, The Empowering Spirits Foundation (ESF), a national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, is teaming up with the Safe Schools Coalition of Mississippi to promote an all-inclusive prom in the Fulton, Miss. area.

This follows Itawamba County School Board’s cancelling of prom after Constance McMillen, a Fulton, Miss. senior, stated she would attend with her girlfriend.

“Constance has been victimized twice – first by being told she couldn’t attend prom with the person she cares for, and then after the school board took the drastic step to cancel prom altogether,” said A. Latham Staples, ESF President & CEO. “The school board didn’t take into account the rights of this student, but instead made a rash decision based on dogmatic principles; which in turn has left Constance in a situation where she is uncomfortable to just attend school.”

“This struggle is not about a single class in society, but society altogether – the unity of America. Diversity and individuality are qualities that enrich this country,” added Staples. “This schooling system had a wonderful opportunity to educate students about the diverse cultures in society, but failed greatly.”

Jennifer Carr, Development Director for the ACLU-Miss. stated that the support from groups across the country has been overwhelming.

“It’s important that we remedy this current situation, but also to continue our efforts to make sure this doesn’t happen again in the coming years,” said Carr.

Those wishing to contribute financially to an all-inclusive prom may do so via www.aclu-ms.org and clicking on the “Donate” icon; or call Jennifer Carr, ACLU-Miss. Development Dir., at 601-354-3408. Anyone wishing to volunteer in a different capacity may contact Bryan Jackson at bjac...@empoweringspirits.org.

Prominent gay rights group Lambda Legal is ready to file its promised lawsuit to win gay marriage in New Jersey.

NJ.com’s blog The Auditor reported on Sunday that the group will petition the state Supreme Court on Thursday.

“We’ve lived the agony of defeat,” Steve Goldstein, CEO of Garden State Equality, New Jersey’s largest gay advocate, told the website. “Now it’s time for the thrill of victory.”

The challenge comes after senators killed a gay marriage bill in January. The defeat means that the Legislature isn’t likely to revisit the issue over the next four years as Governor Chris Christie, a Republican who took the helm in January, does not support giving gay couples the right to marry.

In Lewis v. Harris, the New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously agreed that it is unconstitutional to deny gay and lesbian couples the rights granted to married heterosexual couples and ordered the Legislature to remedy the situation. Lawmakers responded with a civil unions law.

Gay activists say New Jersey’s civil unions law is not equal to marriage.

Lambda Legal announced it would return to court the day after senators rejected the measure.

“The requirement to ensure equality for same-sex couples, established by the New Jersey Supreme Court in its decision in our marriage lawsuit in 2006, has not been met,” Kevin Cathcart, executive director of Lambda Legal, said in a statement.

“There is enormous, heartbreaking evidence that civil unions are not equal to marriage, and we will be going back to the courts in New Jersey to fight for equality. Too many families are at risk. We cannot wait any longer.”

The latest company being called out for their discriminating hiring practices is J. Crew (following the lead of Prada, American Apparel and scores of others). Today a rally will go down at 1:15 p.m. in front of their 5th Avenue location, after a non-profit group called Make the Road New York filed a complaint with the NY Attorney General’s office.

The group says the preppy proprietor might as well post a “transgender people need not apply” sign on their door. They recently put the company’s Manhattan retail store to the test, (along with 23 other retail stores), sending a transgender and a nontransgender to apply for jobs—with everything else (age, race, experience) matching on their resumes. The full results can be seen after the jump. The group’s report “also found a 42 percent net rate of discrimination for transgender job applicants… [and] 49 percent of transgender workers surveyed reported that they have never been offered a job in the time that they have lived openly as transgender.”

Queerty asks, “J. Crew has spent nearly three decades outfitting America’s homosexuals in their dandy wardrobe… why aren’t you hiring transgender job applicants?”

UPDATE: Irene Tung of Make The Road NY tells us J. Crew is being singled out of the 24 stores tested because they “acted in a discriminatory way with two different matched pairs. The two separate instances of discrimination are considered by the Attorney General and also by social scientists who specialize in matched pair testing, to be especially egregious because they represent a pattern of discrimination. So it is this pattern of discrimination we are singling out at J. Crew.”

More specifically, one of the transgender employment testers, Julian Brolaski, applied at the 5th Avenue J. Crew store and “was treated brusquely, told to fill out an application and was never called. His testing partner, Leigh Cambre, who entered the store a few minutes later, described a very different experience, ‘I filled out an application, was interviewed on the spot and offered a job soon after.’ A separate pair of testers documented a similar situation.”

JACKSON, Miss. — Constance McMillen didn’t believe her Mississippi school district would really call off her senior prom rather than allow her to show up with her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo.

On Thursday, a day after the Itawamba County school board did just that, the 18-year-old lesbian high school senior reluctantly returned to campus to some unfriendly looks, she said.

“Somebody said, ‘Thanks for ruining my senior year.”‘ McMillen said.

The district announced Wednesday it wouldn’t host the April 2 prom. The decision came after the American Civil Liberties Union demanded that officials change a policy banning same-sex prom dates because it violated students’ rights. And the ACLU said the district not letting McMillen wear a tuxedo violated her free expression rights.

The ACLU filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Oxford to force the school district to sponsor the prom and allow McMillen to bring whom she chooses and wear what she wants.

District officials didn’t returned numerous calls left by The Associated Press seeking comment on Thursday.

McMillen said she never expected the district to respond the way it did.

“A lot of people said that was going to happen, but I said, they had already spent too much money on the prom” to cancel it, she said. “I’m just trying to get done what I originally wanted done. Now, we’re having to fight just to have a prom.”

McMillen said she didn’t want to go back to Itawamba County Agricultural High School in Fulton the morning after the decision, but her father told her she needed to face her classmates, teachers and school officials.

“My daddy told me that I needed to show them that I’m still proud of who I am,” McMillen told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “The fact that this will help people later on, that’s what’s helping me to go on.”

A school board statement said it wouldn’t host the event in Fulton, “due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events” but never mentioned McMillen.

Same-sex prom dates and cross-dressing are new issues for many high schools around the country, said Daryl Presgraves, a spokesman for GLSEN: Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, a Washington-based advocacy group.

“A lot of schools actually react rather than do the research and find out what the rights of these students are,” said Presgraves, who was preparing to facilitate a discussion about anti-gay bullying at a National Association of Secondary School Principals meeting.

U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., said a bill he’s introduced in Congress would protect students such as McMillen. Polis said the measure would make it illegal to discriminate against gay and lesbian school students. He said his bill is modeled after similar laws in at least 10 states.

“This situation with the prom is a perfect example of why we need to protect students from discrimination. In this case it’s a prom. It other cases, it’s getting beaten up or killed,” Polis said.

Polis said he was “dismayed” by the school board’s action.

“They ruined the prom, not only for this young woman, but for all of the straight kids at the school,” he said.

The school district had said it hoped a privately sponsored prom could be held. McMillen said if that happens, she’s sure she’ll be excluded.

“It’s a small town in Mississippi, and it’s run by an older generation with money. Most of them are more conservative and they don’t agree with it,” she said.

Fulton Mayor Paul Walker said he supports the school district’s decision and knew of no private efforts to host the prom.

“I think the community as a whole is probably in support of the school district,” Walker said of the town of about 4,000.

Southside Baptist Church Pastor Bobby Crenshaw said he’s seen the South portrayed as “backwards” on Web sites discussing the issue, “but a lot more people here have biblically based values.”

Itawamba County is a rural area of about 23,000 people in north Mississippi near the Alabama state line. It’s near Pontotoc County, Miss., where more than a decade ago school officials were sued in federal court over their practice of student-led intercom prayer and Bible classes.

A couple of students had different reactions to the decision.

Anna Watson, a 17-year-old junior at the high school, was looking forward to the prom, especially since the town’s only hotspot is the bowling alley, she said.

“I am a little bummed out about it. I guess it’s a decision that had to be made. Either way someone was going to get disappointed — either Constance was or we were,” Watson said. “I don’t agree with homosexuality, but I can’t change what another person thinks or does.”

McKenzie Chaney, 16, said she wasn’t planning to attend the prom, but “it’s kind of ridiculous that they can’t let her wear the tuxedo and it all be over with.”

Presgraves said his organization hears about school districts that prohibit same-sex prom dates and gay-straight alliance clubs at schools. He said those kind of policies are detrimental to gay students.

“It sends a message that these students shouldn’t be treated the same,” Presgraves said.

GLAAD has learned from a source that wishes to remain anonymous that sponsors of the Stars on Ice Tour, which include Smuckers and IMG Entertainment, have refused to allow 3-time US National Champion and 2-time Olympian Johnny Weir to participate because they claim that he is “not family friendly.”

Championship skater Johnny Weir not allowed to perform at Stars on Ice Tour
To say that Weir is “not family friendly” would be a clear jab at his perceived sexual orientation. Weir is extremely involved with his family. He is putting his younger brother through college, and supports the family financially because his father’s disability prohibits him from working. Weir’s dedication to his family can be clearly documented in the Sundance series, Be Good Johnny Weir, which follows him and his family and friends through his life and career as a championship skater.

Weir’s performance and costume style is sometimes considered flashier than those of other skaters, leading to questions about his perceived sexual orientation. While Weir has not officially announced his sexual orientation, he has garnered a significant amount of LGBT fans. He remains one of the most outspoken skaters today, and won an online poll asking fans “Who would you like to see guest star on Stars on Ice?”

Weir recently announced that he is taking a break from skating in order to “rework his technique.” This news does not release the Stars on Ice sponsors from asking him to participate. The door should be opened to him as one of the most influential skaters in the field today. GLAAD’s President Jarrett Barrios spoke out against homophobia within the sports community in a recent Huffington Post piece.

GLAAD encourages its members and anyone concerned about this type of exclusion and prejudice to sign the petition .

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newson today announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor of California, steadying uncertainty over his push to lead the struggling state.

His capricious journey has been dizzying for gay rights supporters who’ve held their breath almost as tight as Gov. Schwarzenegger has held his opinion on equal rights in the Golden State. Four months ago, Newson dropped out of the race for governor citing financial woes and the popularity of opponent Attorney General Jerry Brown. But then Newson filed early paperwork required to run for lieutenant governor in mid-February. A week later, he told Rachel Maddow that his filing was not confirmation he would run in the 2010 race.

Hard to keep up with Newson’s political ambitions? You’re not the only one, but today’s announcement is the final answer we’ve been waiting for. Newson’s political totter has finally settled with an announcement of his bid for lieutenant governor.

What could a Newson victory mean for California LGBTers?

Back in 2004, after hearing President Bush oppose same-sex marriage in his State of The Union address, Newson ordered the San Francisco city clerk to begin performing same-sex marriages at City Hall. The weddings were stopped by judicial order, but the defiant measure placed the issue of same-sex marriage on the national stage.

“This is about bringing people together,” Newson said after giving the order in 2004. The weekend after over 2,000 gay and lesbian couples lined to marry in San Francisco. And although those marriages were nullified by the court, the executive order was testament to how far Newson is willing to maneuver to ensure equal protections.

A number two position on the state level won’t wield such power, but the influence (not to mention a possible run for No. 1 later) could be unprecedented, especially as prop 8 arguments rise within the California judiciary.

Original Article By Chris Joyner, USA TODAY March 11, 2010

JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi county school board announced Wednesday it would cancel its upcoming prom after a gay student petitioned to bring a same-sex date to the event.
“Due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events, the Itawamba County School District has decided to not host a prom at Itawamba Agricultural High School this year,” school board members said in a statement.

Constance McMillen, an 18-year-old senior at Itawamba, recently challenged a school policy prohibiting her from bringing her girlfriend as her date to the April 2 prom. McMillen, who is a lesbian, and the Mississippi chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union urged school officials to reverse the policy both on McMillen’s choice of date and attire. She also wanted to wear a tuxedo to the dance.

ACLU attorney Christine Sun said her organization receives requests for help every year from students facing anti-gay prom policies. The complaints are especially prevalent in the South where attitudes toward sexuality are more conservative, she said.

In the announcement, the school board encouraged the community to organize a private prom. “It is our hope that private citizens will organize an event for the juniors and seniors. “We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this causes anyone,” the statement concluded. School officials did not respond to calls seeking comment.

The announcement alarmed McMillen.

“Oh, my God. That’s really messed up because the message they are sending is that if they have to let gay people go to prom that they are not going to have one,” she said. “A bunch of kids at school are really going to hate me for this.”

School officials told McMillen last month that she could not bring her sophomore girlfriend to the prom and also told her she could not wear a tuxedo. The school then circulated a memo that prohibited same-sex dates.

ACLU of Mississippi issued a letter demanding the district change its policy. The letter gave it until Wednesday to decide on a course of action.

The ban on same-sex dates is a violation of McMillen’s constitutional rights, said Sun, the ACLU’s senior attorney on gay rights. “We believe the law is pretty clear,” Sun said. “The school just can’t arbitrarily say you have to bring an opposite date to the prom.”

A private prom would allow the district to get around the issue, McMillen said. “If they set it up privately they probably aren’t going to allow gay people to go and there is nothing that you can do about it,” she said.

Other school systems have managed gay prom issues in varying ways:

• In Alabama, the Russellville school system changed its policy prohibiting a lesbian student from attending prom with her girlfriend after the ACLU got involved, Sun said.

• Salt Lake City-based Utah Pride Center hosts an annual “gay prom,” but executive director Valerie Larabee said districts have not enforced same-sex date prohibitions for years.

• In Florida, Prideline Youth Services has hosted a gay prom for South Florida high school students for 15 years. Executive Director Luigi Ferrer said all schools in the Miami-Dade County district allow same-sex couples to attend prom.

• In California, schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District allow same-sex dates.

Students such as McMillen are “enormously courageous” for making their stands, said Virginia Uribe, founder of Project 10, a gay student advocacy group in Los Angeles.

Joyner reports for The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger

A federal judge annuled the marriage of two gay men that took place in Buenos Aires last week, according to the Catholic News Agency; but gay marriage bills are still moving ahead in Argentina.
Judge Felix Gustavo de Igarzabal of Buenos Aires ruled that marriage is defined by being between a man and a woman – and since both parties were men, no marriage took place. This reversed an earlier decision allowing two gay men to marry at the city’s civil registry office on March 3.
The Argentine congress is currently considering two bills that would legalize marriage equality. Some polls have shown that up to 70 percent of Argentinians support gay marriage. The Argentine Supreme Court is also currently hearing two cases on gay marriage. The Justice Minister is on record as favoring a gender neutral marriage law, as is former president Nestor Kirchner.
Two men were legally wed in the province of Tierra del Fuego in December, after the governor ordered the civil registry office to perform and register their marriage. Cohabitating same-sex couples have the right to collect the pensions of their deceased partners in Argentina and gay prisoners can receive conjugal visits. Civil unions are recognized in four jurisdictions in Argentina, including Buenos Aires.

Legislation can be like a train: It runs on a track and makes certain stops along the way. But, in Congress, the train doesn’t run on time.

Last September, openly gay Representative Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts) said the Employment Non-Discrimination Act would likely get a House committee vote in September and a floor vote that fall. Didn’t happen.

And last December, when out Representatives Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) and Jared Polis (D-Colorado) told a gathering of gay leaders that ENDA would pass the House in January, they weren’t making a promise. They were making an educated guess.

What has been happening, of course, has been a contentious partisan fight over a major effort to ensure that most Americans have health care and an urgent push to pass a bill to preserve and create jobs for the country’s growing number of unemployed. Add to that, two major earthquakes in other countries requiring U.S. assistance, one major Democratic loss of a critical Senate seat, and a persistent pushback or roadblock by Republicans on everything from judicial nominees to unemployment checks.

The Senate just Tuesday night was able to finally vote on an emergency measure to simply extend unemployment benefits and several other programs for 30 days until Congress can approve a more permanent measure. The temporary bill was delayed for five days by the refusal of Republican Senator Jim Bunning (Kentucky) to allow a routine vote of unanimous consent.

With this as a backdrop, Frank’s prediction this week is that ENDA will have its vote in the House committee this month. And he said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) has assured him it will go swiftly to the floor.

Baldwin gave the same assessment of Pelosi’s commitment to ENDA when she spoke to the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund’s Leadership Institute last December in San Francisco. Pelosi’s commitment on ENDA, she said, “is unflinching.” She said Pelosi “wants to have very quick movement of the bill from committee to floor, hopefully within a week” of the bill’s passage in committee.

Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, said Wednesday she is “extremely optimistic” ENDA will get its vote in the House Education and Labor Committee this month.

Keisling said delays last fall could be attributed to a need to make some “language tweaks” and that she is not entirely sure right now what the language will be concerning the so-called bathroom issue. Opponents of the inclusive ENDA legislation – it includes protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity – have often argued that the measure would enable men to use women’s bathrooms.

Frank said Tuesday that there has been a general agreement reached to resolve certain language changes, including on the use of bathrooms. Keisling said she doesn’t know what that language is and that “it might be harmless or it might be horrible.”

“We’ve been strenuously arguing that we don’t need clarification,” said Keisling. “But legislation is too often about compromise.”

Keisling noted that other compromises have included an exemption for military service and a stipulation that the bill does not require an employer to “treat an unmarried couple in the same manner as … a married couple for purposes of employee benefits.”

Keisling said Frank has been “working very hard” on the bill, “and we’ve been working closely with his office.”

“I want to be clear, Congressman Frank’s not saying he wants bathroom language,” said Keisling. “He’s saying they really think we need it to pass.”

“They,” she said, are the variety of Democratic leaders working on passing the bill. And the conclusion is that the clarifications are “not helpful substantively or legally,” she said, “but they say they are helpful politically.”

New York City police are investigating the beating of a 22-year-old man in Brooklyn on March 2 as an anti-gay hate crime.

The man was attacked by five other men and suffered cuts on the back of the head and bruises on the face, said WPIX.com news. During the assault, the men used anti-gay slurs.

“I was appalled and sickened to learn of last weeks anti-LGBT hate crime , said New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who is a lesbian. “New York City’s greatest strength is our diversity. All New Yorkers should be free to walk our streets without fear of being attacked for who they are or who they are perceived to be.”

“The victim of last weeks attack was simply walking on the street when he was beaten by a group of men while being called anti-gay epithets. This is outrageous and unacceptable,” she added.