Indiana High School Students Want Homosexuals Banned From Prom
A Sullivan High School teacher, a number of students and parents recently gathered together at the Sullivan First Christian Church in Sullivan, Ind., in an attempt to keep homosexuals out of the school's prom.
Diana Medley, special education teacher for Sullivan High School, spoke up to WTWO-TV about the group's reasoning for wanting a "traditional" prom that excludes homosexual couples from attending.
"We don't agree with it and it's offensive to us," the teacher told the news station recently. "Homosexual students come to me with their problems, and I don't agree with them, but I care about them. It's the same thing with my special needs kids; I think God puts everyone in our lives for a reason."
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One unnamed student told WTWO the reasoning that some students did not believe homosexual couples should be allowed to attend the prom next spring.
"We want to make the public see that we love the homosexuals, but we don't think it's right nor should it be accepted," the student told WTWO.
Although the New York Daily News reports that the group pushing for a "traditional prom" created and deleted a Facebook group to gain support, an opposing group advocating homosexual couples at the high school prom called "Support The Sullivan High School For All Students," has also come into existence.
Lori Johnson created the page fighting for gay people to attend the prom and told the Daily News that she was upset to hear about people trying to remove homosexuals from the high school event.
"I was just outraged," Johnson told the Daily News about the petition for a traditional prom. "I think these people are using religion to hide behind their bigotry."
However, Sullivan High School principal David Springer said the school was surprised to hear that people were calling for a traditional prom, and said the school would allow all students to attend the event.
"I understand it's a conservative community and they have their beliefs about what's right and what's wrong," Springer told the Daily News. "To them, it's become a line drawn in the sand. They're seeing that the school is not going to budge on the issue."
Still, Medley and her traditional prom supporters have continued to speak in favor of banning homosexuals from the event. When asked if she thought homosexual people serve a purpose, the high school teacher told WTWO, "No, I honestly don't. Sorry, but I don't ... A gay person isn't going to come up and make some change unless it's to realize that it was a choice and they're choosing God."
