Rock band Green Day and openly gay singer Lance Bass are co-sponsoring a prom honouring a lesbian who was barred from her school’s prom event.
The stars, together with the American Humanist Association, have promised to hold the Second Chance Prom in honour of Constance McMillen.
McMillen made headlines when officials at Itawamba County Agricultural High School in Mississippi cancelled its prom rather than allow her to bring her girlfriend as her date or wear a tuxedo.
Other students from the school will also be invited to the Second Chance Prom. It will feature a dinner, live entertainment, a ceremony to honour outstanding youth in Mississippi, booths highlighting organisations striving for LGBT equality and celebrity guests.
“We’re proud to be standing on the side of love and acceptance instead of fear and prejudice, and we hope that the event will bring appreciation of the diversity within our society and encourage others to embrace it as a positive value that can continue to forge progress for all Americans,” said Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association.
In March, a US district judge ruled that Itawamba School officials infringed McMillen’s rights by barring her from the prom but he did not force them to hold the event.
