Derrick and Richard in their matching black tuxedos
A follow-up on the story of Derrick Martin who asked for and was given permission by the school authorities to take his boy friend to the prom. Unfortunately, Derrick's parents threw him out of the house when the publicity began. A friend's parents took him into their home.
From Macon.com:
Bleckley County High School senior Derrick Martin made history Saturday when he arrived at his high school prom on the arm of another boy.
He was the first in his hometown of Cochran — and perhaps in Georgia — to ask permission to take a same sex partner to prom and have his school allow it.
About 7:45 p.m., couples started to arrive at the high school in a line of stretch limos, a bus, a John Deere tractor and even carriage and buggy, and afterward walked through a crowd of parents and friends who snapped photos.
When Martin, 18, and his boyfriend Richard Goodman, also 18, stepped onto a makeshift “red carpet” and their names were announced, a few parents whispered but many in the crowd gave him a loud cheer. No one yelled out in protest.
“I wonder if they realize what they’ve done,” said Arturro Beeche, a San Francisco professor who flew into Georgia on Friday and drove Martin and Goodman to the prom. “Once it happens in small-town America, it will inspire so many,” he said.
....
The move had been met with some conflict, such as talk of a separate prom.
A few weeks back, a small group of students held an opposition rally in front of the town courthouse to protest. Martin’s parents also kicked him out of his home after the publicity.
But a rally in support of Martin was also held in a Macon park and supporters have donated more than $5,000 for college this fall.
Bleckley County High School in Cochran, Georgia, showed Itawamba High School in Fulton, Mississippi, the right way to do it. Fortunately, Constance McMillen's parents stood by her as her school, her classmates, and their parents failed her. There's no word in the story as to whether Derrick's parents have relented and invited him back home, so I presume they have not.
H/T to Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin for the link.
