Bleckley County High School senior Derrick Martin made history Saturday when he arrived at his high school prom on the arm of another boy. He was the first in his hometown of Cochran — and perhaps in Georgia — to ask permission to take a same sex partner to prom and have his school allow it.
Derrick Martin (left) and Richard Goodman
Reports the Macon Telegraph:
When Martin, 18, and his boyfriend Richard Goodman, also 18, stepped onto a makeshift “red carpet” and their names were announced, a few parents whispered but many in the crowd gave him a loud cheer. No one yelled out in protest.
“I wonder if they realize what they’ve done,” said Arturro Beeche, a San Francisco professor who flew into Georgia on Friday and drove Martin and Goodman to the prom. “Once it happens in small-town America, it will inspire so many,” he said.
Security was tight with at least 15 officers stationed at the high school, and no one could enter the parking lot without a ticket.
Last month, news that Martin won the approval of his school to take his boyfriend to the prom, prompted an outpouring of support and some criticism, even at home.
In the weeks that followed, Martin faced mixed reaction from his community, from being kicked out of his parent’s home, to being the subject of death threats and a student protest.
But that did not deter Martin from his plans to attend his prom with Goodman as his date.
“You have to do what you think is right,” Martin said last Friday while he and Goodman picked up their matching black and white tuxedos. “I was tired of being sneaky and hiding things.”
Next stop for the couple: Goodman's May 8 prom at Tift County High School in Tifton, GA.
Filed under: Georgia
AWW. They're so tiny and cute! I'm glad for them. I never heard of same-sex dates being an issue at my school, but the only one I was aware of both attended and therefore didn't need permission.
I go to Bleckley & on every site they have this story on they never have the whole story. The main reason people were mad at Derrick was because he got the media invloved for no reason. The school had already approved his date before he went to the media. That's also the reason he was kicked out. His mom hadn't been feeling good and his dad asked him not to do that & he did it anyway. He's a legal adult, he can take care of himself. There was no issues at all until he went and did that. Because of that, there was two proms. No one protested him at the prom because they were all at the other prom. I just think this whole story was blown way out of proportion.
I'm from a little MN school that has never had a problem with same sex dates, the idea that permission needs to be asked is odd to me.
But they are so cute :D