Punished For Looking Good In a Tux
I’ve been reading about the out gay high school senior in Mississippi and her supportive mother who have engaged an ACLU lawyer in a battle against the school officials who banned her photo from the yearbook on the grounds that she was wearing a tuxedo instead of a drape.
Ceara Sturgis in her Tux
Ceara Sturgis makes me feel hope for the future. She can’t be more than 18 years old; she’s fresh-faced and completely adorable, with an emo hipster haircut and a certain confidence in herself that just moves me to tears. I defy you to watch the following video clips and not tear up as Ceara asks what’s so wrong with her wearing a tux, anyway, her tone ironic and easy, underscoring a complete lack of shame. Just try to keep a dry eye as her mother says, “Gay or not, I don’t care; that’s my daughter and I love her.”
I get dejected about the state of things at times, in terms of our rights, social stigma, and all the ways we’re institutionally dehumanized… but I have to say, seeing this girl who is so willing to advocate for herself and empowered enough to do it — and a mother who backs her up all the way — shows me that her generation is reaping some of the benefits of a turning tide.
- Login or register to post comments
- Comments [71]
Tweet
Comments [71]
Te Too?
Have you also read Te of Piglet?
Tao Te Ching
It's actually the "Tao of Pooh". I've read both books but I'm more a Piglet sort of girl. As to zen, I also read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" on the recommendation of an ex.
Wish I had that one
when I was reboring the carb on my Suzuki! LOL
K
Ha, I thought I made up the Zen of Pooh, until I saw your Te of Piglet reference and Googled it. I pulled this Piglet quote before I read the Wiki entry and think it still works.
“'Supposing a tree fell down, Pooh, when we were underneath it?' 'Supposing it didn't,' said Pooh. After careful thought Piglet was comforted by this.”
"When you look for the bad in mankind expecting to find it, you surely will." ~ Pollyanna
I thought you knew
and were just generalizing the title.
I always found Pooh reassuring that way, too.
Save the honey pots!
moms
Tae, I hope you took pictures.
My mom is pretty funny. She gave up long ago trying to get me to dress "appropriately." But after decades of non-interference in my fashion choices she gave it one last try for my brother's wedding. "Is it even worth the effort to ask you to wear a dress?" I just laughed and she said, "Will you wear the purple and mauve tie?"
"When you look for the bad in mankind expecting to find it, you surely will." ~ Pollyanna
LOL
My parents refused to send me
My parents refused to send me to kindergarten but I'm sure it would have been unacceptable even in the 1960's in small town Pennsylvania.
oh, the formative years!
In my kindergarten the boys played the dogs and the girls played their owners!!
We had them on make-believe leashes...
Huh.
I remember that game.
OMG. She is so adorable! My
OMG. She is so adorable! My inner 16-year-old dyke is having owwooooga heart-shaped-eyeballs.
Got Style
And I'm not just talking clothing.
Her mom got an attorney, wow,
Her mom got an attorney, wow, that's a take no shit mom.
Here's the actual quote--
Per the Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/16/ceara-sturgis-lesbian-hig_n_323968.html):
"Veronica Rodriguez, 47, said school officials are trying to force her daughter – who doesn't even own a dress – to appear more feminine. 'The tux is who she is. She wears boys' clothes. She's athletic. She's gay. She's not feminine.'"
The degree of implicit acceptance in that statement is actually mind-boggling.
Her mom also told a news
Her mom also told a news reporter, matter-of-factly, something like "My daughter's athletic; she's gay; she's not feminine. That's just who she is." And proceeded to say, essentially, that she didn't deserve discrimination because of this.
time to get busy – contact info
time to get busy:
Wesson Attendance Center (Home of the Cobras!)
http://www2.mde.k12.ms.us/1500/WAC/wac.htm
Name of Wesson's cowardly principle without principles: Ronald Greer
Copiah County School District
http://www2.mde.k12.ms.us/1500/CCSD/DOCS/Copiah_County_School_District_I...
Pure discrimination in her face
They don't have a leg to stand on. They will lose.
Ummm, she is like totally cute! Over the last few years I started finding myself attracted to good looking women with her style.
*giggle*
I liked the way that channel did their report. Anyone else think it was funny when they were mentioning the student handbook, showed it, then slapped it down on the table? I thought that was funny! LOL!
Siera
I don't know who I'm prouder of — Ceara or her mother. (OK, really Ceara but way to go mom, too.)
This is Mississippi, not a big urban center. GLBT youth standing up for themselves makes me more hopeful than anything happening in Washington. I'd like to know if any of her classmates are supporting her.
"I base most of my fashion sense on what doesn't itch." ~Gilda Radner
"When you look for the bad in mankind expecting to find it, you surely will." ~ Pollyanna
I know, her mom is RAD!
I would like to send that lady a big bouquet of flowers.
Love a baby butch.
awesome.
tweet tweet @gracemoon