Same-sex Couples at Proms?!

Let me establish just a few facts before the focus of this post.

1. 9% of high school students identify as "gay, lesbian, bisexual or questioning." (Seattle Public Schools, "1995 Seattle Teen Health Risk Survey," reprinted in Third Annual Report of the Safe Schools Anti-Violence Documentation Project, 1996)


2. The typical high school student hears anti-gay slurs 25.5 times a day. (Carter, Kellye, "Gay Slurs Abound," in The Des Moines Register, March 7, 1997)

3. 53% of students report hearing homophobic comments made by school staff. (Making Schools Safe for Gay and Lesbian Youth: Report of the Massachusetts Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, 1993)

Over twenty years ago, the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island upheld the right of a gay student to bring a same-sex date to a high school dance in the case of  (student Aaron) Fricke v. (Principal Richard) Lynch.  In this decision, the Court ruled that existing free speech doctrine protected gay and lesbian students' rights to attend their proms with same-sex dates of their choice.

The case was one of the first successful victories in the courtroom for a Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender (LGBT) issue involving young people. The federal court in Rhode Island told Aaron's school that it had to let him attend the prom with Paul. In fact, the court even told the school that it had to provide enough security that Aaron and his date would be safe.

After Aaron went with Paul to the prom, Aaron remembered what he was thinking as he stared at all the reporters who were there:

"I thought of all the people who would have enjoyed going to their proms with the date of their choice, but were denied that right; of all the people in the past who wanted to live respectably with the person they loved but could not; of all the men and women who had been hurt or killed because they were gay; and of the rich history of lesbians and homosexual men that had so long been ignored. Gradually we were triumphing over ignorance. One day we would be free." 
 
The Court had decided that "even a legitimate interest in school discipline does not outweigh a student's right to peacefully express his views in an appropriate time, place, and manner." The Court ruled that threats of violence against Fricke and his date gave homophobic students an unconstitutional "heckler' veto that would allow "them to decide through prohibited and violent methods what speech will be heard." (Fricke v. Lynch, May 28, 1980)

This ruling, along with many others, would seem to spell out certain student rights of sexual orientation. Incidents in Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia in recent years have made schools back down rather than face litigation when they have been challenged on policies that discriminate against homosexual students. The courts have taken care of the cases the schools haven't.

 Constance McMillen

But, in 2010, Mississippi must still not have received the memo. 

Constance  wanted to take her lesbian partner and wear a tuxedo to the prom.

The Itawamba County Agricultural High School prom, originally scheduled for April 2, was eventually canceled by school board officials who previously said they reached their decision based on "the education, safety and well-being of [its] students." A Feb. 5 memo to students laid out the criteria for bringing a date to the prom, and one requirement was that the person must be of the opposite sex.(Carlin DeGuerin Miller, "Constance McMillen Wanted to Taker Her Girlfriend to the Prom, So the School Board Canceled It,"
 CBS News, March 11 2010)

McMillen challenged the memo. Then, the ACLU sent a letter on Constance's behalf, and one week later, the school canceled the prom. McMillen and her lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union challenged that decision in court.

The ACLU lawyers cited the 2008 ruling Collins v. Scottsboro Board of Education in which an Alabama circuit court forced a high school to reinstate a prom it had canceled rather than allow a lesbian student to attend in a tux with a female date. This time, in response to the ACLU's request to force the school to reinstate the prom, Judge Glen H. Davidson, a Reagan appointee, ruled in March that the school had violated McMillen's First Amendment right to freedom of expression. (Margaret Wheeler Johnson, "Constance McMillen's Suit Over the Prom Is Winning Over the South," www.slate.com, July 7 2010).

That was good news according to her attorney, Christine Sun, senior counsel with the ACLU's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender project. Not only did the ruling win Constance's case, it also set a precedent and helped broadcast an important statement, which was made stronger by virtue of where it came from, she said. Though McMillen has suffered plenty throughout her ordeal, much of her life is proof that the South is changing culturally as well as legally. 

So, what did the school do? McMillen was sent to a "fake prom" while the rest of her class partied at a secret location at an event organized by parents. McMillen told The Advocate that a parent-organized prom happened behind her back — she and her date were sent to an event at a country club in Fulton, Mississippi, that attracted only five other students. Her school principal and teachers served as chaperones, but clearly there wasn't much to keep an eye on. (Neal Broverman, "McMillen: I Was Sent to Fake Prom," www.advocate.com, April 5 2010)

According to a statement from the ACLU, McMillenMcMillen believes the alternative prom she was sent to was a sham because only a handful of people attended. "A lot of people were talking about how it was a joke just set up for me," she previously said. Still, at the time, support from around the nation poured in for the teen.

"We're in a conservative area of the country, where people tend to think we can do what we like," said Sun, who lives in New York but has traveled multiple times to Mississippi on McMillen's behalf. "This case sends a strong message that that's not going to fly anymore."

In 2004, the national gay rights group GLSEN -- the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network -- had issued a report that said of all 50 states, Mississippi had the most hostile environment for gay youths.(GLSEN 2003 National School Climate Survey, www.glsen.org, April 1 2005)

"We hope this judgment sends a message to schools that they cannot get away with discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students," said Bear Atwood, interim legal director at the ACLU of Mississippi. Is this just another communications breakdown?

McMillen eventually transferred out of the district, graduating from Murrah High School in Jackson with a 3.86 GPA. She said she transferred out of the district to escape harassment from other students who blamed her for the prom controversy.

More Celebrity

The Itawamba County school board in Mississippi had already agreed to pay Constance McMillen $35,000 in damages and adopt a policy prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, according to a statement released this July by the American Civil Liberties Union. ("Mississippi School Pays Damages to Lesbian Teen Over Prom Dispute," CNN Wire Staff, July 20 2010) 

Constance McMillen became quite a celebrity. "I'm not going to go to prom and pretend like I'm not gay," she said matter-of-factly to Ellen Degeneres. The "Ellen" show awarded her a $30,000 scholarship, she appeared at the GLAAD Awards, and even rode as a grand marshal in the NYC Pride parade. Most teens might trade a prom for the following: a well-financed education, the recognition of millions of people across the country and self-respect. (Thomas Rogers, "The Year in Sanity: Constance McMillen," www.salon.com, October 12 2010)

Denise McMillen, her mother, who is 37 and lives in southern Mississippi, has openly dated women since her 20s and raised Constance's 15-year-old younger sister with her partner, Elsa. Her mother is not a gay activist, unless that is what living openly makes you.

Denise says her own churchgoing mother accepted her sexual orientation almost immediately and that she has rarely found herself the subject of anti-gay hostility. Constance's father and his very religious parents have said that while they may not approve of homosexuality generally, they accept Constance as she is. Constance doesn't recall her classmates at Itawamba High voicing any objection to her sexual orientation until the school cancelled the prom. Both Constance and Denise say they have never feared for their safety. (Margaret Wheeler Johnson, "Constance McMillen's Suit Over the Prom Is Winning Over the South," www.slate.com, July 7 2010)

Though she doesn't belong to a church, McMillen describes herself as an "open-minded Christian" and a strong believer in monogamy, which she expresses in a distinctly evangelical way. "Actually, I have a promise ring from my girlfriend, and I'm pretty sure that within the next year she's going to propose. Of course, we wouldn't get married until she's 18." (Margaret Wheeler Johnson, "Constance McMillen's Suit Over the Prom Is Winning Over the South," www.slate.com, July 7 2010)

  
Update

A federal judge just ordered  the Itawamba Mississippi school district to pay about $81,000 in legal fees and expenses in the lawsuit. The decision Tuesday by a federal judge may be the final chapter in the well-publicized legal battle between Constance McMillen and the Mississippi school district. Although the lawsuit was settled in July when the school district agreed to pay McMillen $35,000 in damages and adopt a policy prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, the July settlement was not part of the $81,000 payment ordered by the judge Tuesday.(CNN staff, "School District Ordered to Pay Legal Fees for Lesbian Student," CNN, October 27 2010)

Now, McMillen is treated as a heroine in the LGBT community. She is in demand everywhere. Constance has met President Barack Obama at the White House during a reception of the nation’s LGBT leaders, and she has a Facebook page called "Let Constance Take Her Girlfriend to Prom!" that has attracted more than 400,000 fans to date

Constance has big plans for her future, and it won’t involve living in rural Mississippi. “After community college, I will spend four years at Southern Mississippi University,” she said. Then she wants to come to Southern California to get a doctorate degree in psychology.(Ken Williams, "Constance McMillen: Small-town Girl Fighting for Her Rights Becomes Symbol for Young LGBT Activists," www.sdgln.com/news, July 10 2010)

“And I want a second job after college,” she said. “I want to keep being an activist. I want to find something that I can do to help others not go the ordeal that I have gone through.”

Computers At Work

The Cost of Computer Misuse

David Berlind reported that Websense — a company that sells solutions that help managers crackdown on unauthorized usage of the Internet — issued the following statement: "Websense, Inc., the world’s leading provider of employee internet management solutions, today announced that internet misuse in the workplace costs American corporations more than $178 billion annually in lost productivity." (ZD Net, CBS Interactive Inc., July 19 2005)

Chen Bin from The Business Times Online added this hypothetical:

 "An employee with a monthly salary of $3,000 costs the company about $20.70 per hour. If he spends 30 minutes accessing the Internet on non-work related websites each day, the wastage to the company is $10.40 per employee daily - or $217.50 a month. For a company with 200 employees, the wastage will amount to $43,500 a month or $522,000 a year, representing up to 6.25 per cent of the company's annual wage costs."


Companies Can and Do Monitor Work Computers


Chris Minnock of Internet Evolution (September 21, 2009) said, "Legally speaking, employers have the right to monitor employee computer activities without their knowledge. It’s a good idea for companies to specify in the employee handbook that they may do this -- even if they actually don’t." It’s also a good idea for employees to behave as if all of their communications on company equipment are being monitored -- even if they probably aren’t. Many companies do monitor and/or filter employee Internet activities. Other companies only monitor employees’ activities when they suspect a problem. (www.internetevolution.com)

Companies, of course, see a definite need for monitoring. Not only can employee misuse of e-mail and the Net put pressure on company bandwidth to the point where Internet connection speed slows to a crawl, it can also hamper employee productivity. Misuse may even threaten security. And, even worse, misuse can leave employers open to criminal proceedings and civil litigation. Internet use in the workplace is a grey area and it is important to attempt to bring use under control in a way that's fair both to employees and to the company.


Still, the Line Is Blurred 

Most employers allow a certain amount of personal use of office resources such as phones and computers; however often the line is not specifically drawn. Where is the line? And, what charges are made and penalties enforced when such a line is crossed? Obviously, an employee must be familiar with the company's computer use policies.


Freeman Klopott of Medill News Service (May 2, 2006) reports that the growing list of communications technologies that links workers to the workplace 24/7 increasingly is adding to blurring the lines between work and home. Employees surf the Web at work, check the weather, make travel plans, and shop. Reported, one woman even ordered controversial personal prescriptions at work on the computer. At home, many send e-mail, continue their work chores on the Internet, and otherwise stay connected with their professional lives.

Judge John B. Spooner, a New York City administrative law judge who recently ruled in a case of an employee who allegedly used the Internet for personal reasons during work hours that Internet use at work can be compared to reading a newspaper or making a telephone call. Spooner recommended that Toquir Choudhri, a 14-year veteran of the city Department of Education, receive the slightest reprimand for insubordination, even though supervisors wanted him fired for using the Internet for personal matters after he was told not to.

Actual Court Cases


 Now, are you ready for some true horror stories about misuse of the Internet at work?

1996 misuse of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory computers was by far the most prevalent ethics violation. "Of 93 ethics investigations in 1996, 21 involved allegations of computer misuse. Seventeen allegations were substantiated. Six involved improper e-mail, Forum and newsgroup postings; four stemmed from use of computers for personal gain; four resulted from accessing or downloading pornography; two involved unauthorized home pages; and one resulted from unauthorized software." (JPL Ethics Briefs, ethics.jpl.nasa.gov/briefs, Volume 2 Issue 1 - April 25, 1997)

 In 2000, the US oil giant Chevron was forced to pay $2.2 million (plus legal fees) in compensation to four of their employees who took exception to a sexist e-mail entitled "24 reasons why beer is better than women" that had been forwarded to them by work colleagues.("Equipment," www.techcentral.ie, April 1 2005)

Stephanie Armour of USA Today (October 18, 2007) reported, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleged that Sierra Aluminum fired a six-year employee after she reported that an assistant manager had viewed pornography on his company computer. The company paid $200,000 to settle the matter.

In another case, the EEOC alleged that First Mutual, a mortgage company, subjected a male employee to a sexually hostile work environment, sexual harassment by a female co-worker and retaliatory firing when he complained. According to the lawsuit, the alleged harasser e-mailed nude photos of herself and of another woman to the man's company computer. (Stephanie Armour, USA Today, October 18 2007)


Some Research Findings on the Internet At Work

Research on Internet use at work cited by Business Wire (ClearSwift, www.businesswire.com, December 5 2007) reported the following:



Results highlights:

• 64 percent of U.S. companies deny their employees access to social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo
• 54 percent of HR decision makers have encountered or have had to discipline employees for time-wasting on the Internet
• 14 percent have had to discipline staff for data loss and 7 percent for posting inappropriate content on social sites but only 36 percent have a policy covering such usage
• 23 percent of HR decision makers are unfamiliar with Web 2.0 technologies such as YouTube, Facebook, and Wikipedia

These findings caused Business Wire to urge businesses and HR departments to take a sensible approach to the risks posed by social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. The research also emphasized that in today’s competitive environment, businesses cannot simply lock down access to Web 2.0 services; rather, they must embrace them and harness sophisticated content security solutions to protect themselves while allowing the business to enjoy the benefits these new technologies can provide.


"5 Ways Your Computer Use Can Get You Fired"

By Liz Wolgemuth (March 11, 2008) U.S. News and World Report

This article has been condensed to a list. Get full information at http://www.usnews.com/money/careers/articles/2008/03/11/5-ways-your-computer-use-can-get-you-fired.html?PageNr=1&-C=

1. Blog it up.


2. Play away. (games)


3. Look at pics. (especially offensive content)


4. Post your pics. (especially anything that runs contrary to company values)


5. Write r-rated E-mails. (even inappropriate or offensive language)