By now, you would have to have been living on another planet not to know the story of Constance McMillen, whose Mississippi high school canceled its prom after she told officials she wanted to bring her girlfriend and wear a tux.
What most news channels have missed, however, is that Constance’s mother is also a lesbian. Constance mentioned this in passing to Michaelangelo Signorile during an interview for his show on OutQ Sirius radio. (Thanks to the attentive women at Autostraddle for picking up on it.)
Does this matter?
I’d like to think that even if Constance’s mom was straight, she would have been supportive of her daughter. Her dad is supportive, and he is not (to the best of my knowledge) gay. Still, this shows that LGBT parents are more than capable of raising strong children who are willing to stand up for their beliefs. I’d also guess that LGBT rights have a special prominence for Constance because they affect not only her, but also others who are close to her.
Abigail Garner’s book Families Like Mine
Perhaps Constance’s story will be an inspiration not only to other teens, but also to the LGBT parents of LGBT children. They can support each other in the face of misperceptions, no matter what the mythmakers may say.
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My situation was actually the opposite. I came out at 18 and my mother was not supportive although she quickly became very supportive as is the entire rest of my family (including grand-parents, great-aunts & uncles, etc.). When I was in my 20s, my mother came out. Years later, when I would tell people that my mother was a lesbian they always assumed that #1. She was out when I was young (she was not) and #2. That was part of why I was a lesbian (in spite of the fact that I have 3 straight siblings).
I’ve actually had one (LGBT) parent say to me that she hoped her son didn’t turn out to be gay because “being gay is hard, and I don’t want him to go through what I did”. I understand, but I also find that sad. I hope Constance and her mom will inspire others as well.
my mom (hetero-married to my dad for longer than i’ve been around) identifies as bi, which i knew for several years before i really began to sort out my own identity (just plain queer, pretty much). coming out to my family was mainly weird because it was like, “i want them to know…but at the same time, is it even worth mentioning since i know this isn’t going to be a big deal for any of them?”
strangely, my mom really seemed to think that i was going to need to break it to my dad a little bit gently — of course, by the time she mentioned this, i was pretty sure he’d figured it out on his own quite some time ago. also, my dad almost always gives higher approval ratings to the girls i date than the boys. reason? the girls have been more skilled musically. gender is not the issue for my dad. guitars are the issue.
School held fake prom for Lesbian couple, while real prom held elsewhere. Here’s the link.
http://gawker.com/5509819/did-a-mississippi-school-stage-a-fake-prom-for-a-lesbian-and-her-date