Former ‘N Sync member Lance Bass will join celebrity chef Cat Cora and members of Green Day are among those helping to pay for a gay-friendly prom in Mississippi after a lesbian teen was duped into attending a “fake prom” earlier this month.
According to the Advocate, the Tupelo, Miss. event, scheduled for May 8, is being organized by the Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition and is open to all students, regardless of sexual orientation.
The prom is an annual event, but this year it has drawn national attention because of the case of Constance McMillen, a high school senior who challenged her school district’s rule banning same-sex dates at proms.
Last month, the Itawamba County School District refused to allow McMillen, 18, to bring a female date to her high school prom and then canceled the event.
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She went to federal court, and a judge ruled the district had violated her civil rights, but he did not order the district to hold the prom, because a parent-sponsored event was being scheduled away from the school.
However, McMillen said that the parent-organized prom happened behind her back, and on April 2 she and her date were sent to to a “fake prom” that attracted only five other students.
The American Humanist Association also will contribute $20,000 for the May 8 event in Tupelo.
