By Andrew Kwok
Daily Titan Staff Writer
Published: March 17, 2010

Members of gay rights organizations from Cal State Fullerton and Cal Poly Pomona united Wednesday, March 17, to rally against Itawamba Agricultural High School’s prom cancellation in Fulton, Miss., and Westboro Baptist Church’s upcoming protest at Dutchtown High School in Dutchtown, La..

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against Itawamba High School for canceling prom due to a female student’s request to attend with a female date and wear a tuxedo, according to CNN.

Kamah Wilson, a member of CSUF’s Queer Straight Alliance, organized the protest as soon as she heard about the prom cancellation at Itawamba High School.

“I think after I got over the emotional part, that’s when I was thinking, ‘Don’t just be emotional,’ ” Wilson said. ” ‘Do something about it.’ ”

The protesters gathered at a table on the Titan Walk holding hand-written signs, and concluded the movement by marching and chanting across campus.

Wilson said she expected a roughly 60-person turnout, but the protest involved around 20 people at the peak of its attendance.

Wilson, who moved to California from Gonzales, La. in May 2009, was further motivated to take action after she heard that Westboro Baptist Church has planned to protest against Dutchtown High School’s play, “The Laramie Project,” which features a gay man as its main character.

Westboro will protest against the play at Dutchtown High School during the performance, according to WAFB, a news station in Louisiana.

Gonzales is located near Dutchtown, which is why the issue had a significant impact on Wilson.

Supporters of the movement were reached through Facebook, which is how Cal Poly students like Courtney True learned about the protest.

True, president of Cal Poly’s Queer Students & Allies for Equality, grew up in Texas and says she is familiar with institutionalized discrimination.

“In small towns, it’s very traditional, it’s very religious,” True said. “Hate like this is homegrown; it comes from religious backgrounds and your parents and how they believe.”

True said that since California is more liberal than most Southern states, similar incidents involving gay high school students may either be less prevalent or more overlooked.

“That’s another reason why we’re here – to bring it into the mainstream to let people be aware of what’s going on and the hate that’s being propagated all over the U.S.,” True said.

Katie Claburn, a member of QSA, said she had heard of gay students who worked around school policies in order to have same-sex dates to their high school proms. Claburn recalled that two couples had posed as opposite-sex dates and switched during the dance.

“No one hears about these issues,” Claburn said. “If they were more mainstream, it would get more coverage; people would see what a problem it really is.”

Q-SAFE plans to hold its own movement against Itawamba High School, but since Cal Poly’s winter quarter has just ended, the organization will have to wait until the week after Cal Poly’s spring break, True said.

Claburn said that although the problem at Itawamba High School could have been avoided if McMillen decided to go to the prom alone, Itawamba’s discrimination against homosexuals is an important issue that needs to be addressed.

“In some places, it’s just still not accepted,” True said. “That’s why this needs publicity; that’s why this needs to be able to be seen by more than just the queer community.”