Is New High School Prom Litigation Looming? Female Teen Plans to Wear Tux, Officials Say No
Monique Verdin hasn’t filed suit … yet.
But litigation may well be looming as the 19-year-old awaits enforcement of a stated policy that girls who attend her Louisiana high school’s prom must wear dresses. Verdin intends to wear a tuxedo, reports the Daily Comet.
“It’s a tradition,” says supervisor Tony Authement of the Terrebonne Parish public high schools. “Tradition, and that is it. Period.”
Although the school district cites a 1987 federal district court case in the Southern District of Ohio as support for its position, gay rights advocates say the case, Harper v. Edgewood Board of Education, 655 F. Supp. 1353, does not override constitutional rights that preclude people from being required to dress a certain way because of their gender.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “School District Must Pay $81,000 Legal Bill re Teen’s Challenge of Same-Sex Prom Date Ban”
