A Mississippi school district’s decision to capitulate to the demands of a teen who sued for permission to wear a tuxedo and bring her same-sex partner to a high school prom has done great harm to high schools across America, the American Family Association’s Bryan Fischer told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) Wednesday morning.
The Itawamba County School District agreed this week to pay $35,000 in addition to legal fees to Constance McMillen, who became a darling of the homosexualist movement for suing the school after it cancelled the prom rather than allow her to bring her same-sex date. The district has also agreed to let the court enter a judgment against them, and follow a “non-discrimination” policy regarding teens who call themselves homosexual – a move the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) hailed as a precedent-setting victory for Mississippi.
AFA’s Director of Issue Analysis, Bryan Fischer, told LSN that the decision amounts to “homosexual activists shaking down rural taxpayers for 35 grand.”
“It’s a shame that the school district capitulated, because their capitulation in the face of the homosexual agenda in the end is going to mean that every high school in America is going to have to let transvestites in full drag attend their senior proms.”
By not engaging the court battle, said Fischer, the district “compromised the ability of every high school in America to defend natural norms of sexual expression.”
Fischer expressed frustration that Otoswmbada school district turned down expert pro bono legal service, and instead hired an attorney “who did nothing more than negotiate the legal terms of their surrender.”
“[By choosing] to navigate their way out of this crisis, they have put every other high school in America in Jeopardy,” he said. “They were not thinking of the implications for their capitulation for every high school student in America.”
Since her case hit the national headlines, McMillen has enjoyed several perks, including at least one $30,000 scholarship from Tonic.com, an invitation to a White House celebration hosted by President Obama, and an invitation to act as marshal of New York City’s Pride March last month.
Following the decision, McMillen issued a message thanking her supporters. “I think it’s great that there’s that many people out there that understand the difference between wrong and right,” said McMillen in a video statement published by the ACLU, noting in a written statement that she hopes the decision “means that in the future students at my school will be treated fairly.”
However, despite McMillen’s satisfaction, Fischer says the district’s decision will do nothing but hurt the teen. “They have done Constance no favors by giving in to her demands, because they are assisting her in accepting a lifestyle that is destructive.”
Fischer blamed advocates of the radical homosexual agenda for manipulating an impressionable teenager to advance their agenda. Pro-family leaders have frequently denounced homosexualist leaders for making use of children and teenagers as easy targets for recruiting campaign messengers.
“This illustrates how evil advances in America: It advances because kindhearted, goodhearted people refuse to stand up against evil and stare it down; instead they capitulate, they concede, they give in,” he said.