Mr. Sexsmith’s Other Girlfriend: Prom Is So Gay

Mr. Sexsmith’s take on the recent outrage surrounding a Southern high school’s treatment of a young lesbian couple.  He asks, rightly so, Why so much outrage over a prom date, when queer youth are murdered and there’s so little public furor?  Where are our priorities?  

It may be easier to deal with such a relatively small problem as Constance McMillan’s - she and her girlfriend aren’t allowed to the prom, so gay rights activists can petition, protest, and take other action to solve this symbolic problem.  It feels like we’re doing something big, if only metaphorically.  If the school reinstated the prom and allowed the couple to attend, that could be counted as a success. 

When a queer person is murdered though, there’s no way to take that back.  That problem, of the person’s death, is unsolvable.  The only way to fight this gross act of discrimination would be to begin to slowly chip away at the massive iceberg of hate and ignorance.  And that’s really hard.  It’s being done every day through efforts of thousands, and through organizations like the Human Rights Campaign and PFLAG, but it’s a much more complex and daunting problem to face.

Symbolic issues, such as the attendance (or not) of a senior prom, represent facets of an important equality issue.  However, it’s a shame that the public (myself included - see my earlier post) tends to focus on less important issues when, in fact, people are still dying over their sexual orientation.  I see why it happens - it’s easier to deal with - but I’ve got to shake my head at the backwardness of easy-route activism. 

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