By Emily Carson
Copy Editor
One step forward and two steps back.
Just when it seems this country is becoming more tolerant of those who are different, headlines emerge to prove that wrong.
A group of students, parents and a teacher at Sullivan High School in Sullivan, Ind., have banded together to push for a “traditional” prom that would prohibit their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered classmates from attending.
On Sunday, the group met at the town’s First Christian Church to discuss holding a more “traditional” prom where only same-sex couples would be allowed entry.
“I believe (homosexuality) is a choice. I don’t believe they were born that way. I think that life circumstances made them that way,” Diana Medley, a special-education teacher at Sullivan High, told Time.com.
A person would not choose to be hated, ridiculed and looked down upon. It is not a choice, just simply something that is realized over time.
Considering this, gay couples should be treated the same as their straight counterparts. Who someone chooses to spend time with emotionally and romantically is their decision. An event like the prom that is celebrated by almost every student shouldn’t be taken away because of that decision.
Medley made another comment to a local television station saying she didn’t think homosexuals have a “purpose in life.”
To hear another person try and justify their life over another’s is heart-breaking to me. Every single human being is born with a purpose regardless of their sexual orientation, and each of them deserves the right to experience every part of life.
The group advocating a traditional prom created a Facebook page called 2013 Sullivan Traditional Prom. It has been taken down since, but those involved in the group have collectively stated, “We do not hate anyone, we are not judging anyone. We are choosing to stand on the word of God.”
Denying someone his or her basic rights as a human being goes directly against the teachings of Christianity. The group’s actions reflect nothing but hypocrisy.
A decade ago, the federal government only allowed marriages between a man and a woman. As of January, nine states, including Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont allow same-sex marriages.
Same-sex couples and the debate on gay marriage have come a long way in recent years, but it’s obvious that some haven’t embraced the new changes. The majority of the American people still needs to learn to accept others.
This also applies when considering our youth. High school is a time when adolescents learn to interact with each other. Teaching them not to accept others by doing this is just going to create problems for everyone later in life.
The fact that a teacher is a part of this is even more sickening. Such a closed-minded person shouldn’t be allowed to be in the lives of young people at such a crucial time.
Each person has the right to their own opinion, but being completely ignorant and refusing to even compromise is not right. Making comments that involve hurtful words because you don’t agree with someone else’s actions shouldn’t be condoned.
President Obama was the first American president to publicly accept same-sex couples. The rest of the American public should follow behind him.
