Rosanne Strott invited a friend to tonight's prom, but after she bought a ticket and her date paid for new clothes, the 18-year-old senior at Bishop Feehan High School in Attleboro learned that administrators would not allow her date to attend.
The problem: Her date is a woman.
...
[S]he plans to put on her orange and yellow dress and Swarovski crystal necklace -- to comport with the prom's "007: Diamonds are Forever" theme -- and go on her own to the Rhodes on the Patuxet hall in Cranston, R.I.
"I decided that if I couldn't go with who I wanted, I wasn't going to take anyone at all," she said.
Now, what is the school's rationale for this? Religion? Some obscure set of rules? Not quite....
Administrators say they have banned same-sex couples because they want the prom to remain traditional.Emphasis mine.
"We're not looking for trouble at our prom," George A. Milot, superintendent of schools in the Diocese of Fall River, said yesterday. "Having boys bring boys or girls bring girls opens the door to all kinds of scenarios that could lead to problems. We're not willing to open the door. We're sticking with tradition; we have enough problems as it is."
Trouble? Problems? What, do you expect them to show up leading a motorcycle gang and trash the hall? Do you think that they'll spike the punch? Maybe they'll beat up the other dancers for money? Or maybe you're so afraid that your students will be subjected to reality that they'll begin to question your arbitrary rules?
Ryan Palanza, the student head of the school's prom committee, said that if he could make the choice, he would allow Strott to bring her date.
"I think it's ridiculous that you can't bring a friend of the same sex -- it shouldn't really matter," said Palanza, who expects about 500 people at the prom. "But since it's a Catholic school, I could see why the school has a problem with it. We have to adhere to the diocese's rules. This is just a diocese thing."
Oh no, it's already begun!
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