Brody's Notes... Why We Fought our High School

The following article can be read in its enitrety at The Bilerico Project. [ Link ] Desiree Shelton is an out lesbian and a senior at Champlin Park High School, in Minnesota's Anoka-Hennepin School District. She and her girlfriend, Sarah Lindstrom, were elected to the school's Snow Days royalty court for the winter formal dance. When they were told that they would not be able to walk in the dance's formal procession, they sued their school district with the help of the Southern Poverty Law Center, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and the law firm of Faegre and Benson. The Anoka-Hennepin school district settled the case and this past Monday the two young lesbians walked in the procession hand in hand as their classmates cheered.

Desiree Shelton (left) and Sarah Lindstrom (right) speaking to reporters.

Photo By Jim Mone

By Desiree Shelton (Champlin, Minnesota) FEB 2 | Lately, everyone seems to have a strong opinion of this whole Snow Days controversy, and I feel like it's important for me to explain why we did what we did. This was more than a high school Pep Fest - it was about basic rights and the ongoing fight for equality that seems so hard to win, even in 2011.

In the beginning, after Sarah and I found out that we were both nominated as royalty, a couple of people suggested that we should walk together during the procession, matching tuxes and all. We thought this was a great idea, and we talked to two straight male friends, who were also on the royalty court, who agreed to walk together so that no one was left out.

Sarah and I were really looking forward to being able to share this occasion together and also thought this would be a great opportunity to send a positive message to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community and its allies (after all the bad media the school had been getting about the gay-related suicides) by showing other students that LGBT students can express ourselves, defy gender roles, and still be treated as equal to other students, and not feel ashamed or hide "in the closet" for fear of harassment.

We felt that even something as small as having two lesbians walk in the procession together could have a big impact for other LGBT students.

But then, last Tuesday, January 25, 2011, the week before the procession, we were told by the administration that we were not going to be allowed to walk together. They had a number of ridiculous excuses, such as "the tradition was one boy and one girl" and "it could make some kids uncomfortable." I don't think they expected us to question why we couldn't walk together, but I didn't understand why it was such a big deal.

The next day, Sarah and I went in with a couple of supportive teachers to meet with the principal. The principal did thank us for coming to him with our concerns and giving him a few things to think about that could help him become a better principal for all his students, which I appreciated. He said that he would have to talk to the district superintendent and school board about it, though, so we scheduled another meeting for the next day.

Later, we heard that they were thinking about having everyone walk individually instead being paired up. So much for tradition! We were angry that they were changing the procession only because we wanted to walk together. What kind of message was that going to send to LGBT students and allies, and the rest of the student body--that we didn't deserve to be treated as equally as everyone else? That is blatant discrimination.

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