Lesbian student banned from wearing tuxedo to prom
A lesbian student at a school in Louisiana says she has been banned from wearing a suit to her prom – and told to wear a dress instead.
Claudetteia Love, a student at Carroll High School in Monroe, Louisiana, was told by the school’s principal that she would not be allowed to wear a suit to the upcoming event.
The student – who is at the top of her class and has already earned a scholarship to a top university – said she was upset that the principal would block her from expressing herself.
She told the News-Star: “I told my mum, ‘They’re using me. They put me in all these honours and advanced placement classes so I can take all of these tests and get good grades and better the school, but when it’s time for me to celebrate the fact that I’ve accomplished what I need to accomplish and I’m about to graduate, they don’t want to let me do it, the way I want to.”
Ms Love’s mother Geraldine Jackson waded into the row – but says Principal Patrick Taylor refused to relax the rules.
She said: “He said that the faculty that is working the prom told him they weren’t going to work the prom if (girls) were going to wear tuxes.
“That’s his exact words. ‘Girls wear dresses and boys wear tuxes, and that’s the way it is’.”
Mr Taylor said the decision was just enforcing a dress code that applies to all students.and not anything personal against any student.
However, Rodney McFarland, President of the Monroe City School Board, has weighed in on the matter – and condemned the school’s principal.
He said: “As school board president, I don’t agree with Carroll banning her from her prom just because of what she wants to wear — that’s discrimination.
“As far as I know there is no Monroe City School Board policy saying what someone has to wear to attend the prom. You can’t just go making up policies.”
