Ellen DeGeneres presents $30,000 scholarship to Mississippi lesbian in prom flap

[Kadie]

Ellen presents $30K to Miss. lesbian in prom flap

Friday, March 19, 2010


(03-19) 12:03 PDT Jackson, Miss. (AP) --

A lesbian high school student embroiled in a legal flap over her school's prom policy has received a $30,000 scholarship on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."

Constance McMillen was speechless Friday when the talk show host pulled out an oversized check from the Web site Tonic.Com, a digital media company.

DeGeneres says she admires McMillen for challenging Itawamba County School District rules that would prevent her from escorting her girlfriend to the prom. The school district canceled the April 2 prom after McMillen's request.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/03/16/national/a163535D85.DTL&tsp=1#ixzz0ieXMteez

[demosincebirth]

1. I think it would do more good going to a battered women's shelter.

[Bluebear]

7. Is that so.

[Romulox]

11. Investing in a young woman's education is a very worthy cause.

It's not fair to try to weigh educating young people against preventing domestic abuse! Both need to be top priorities.

[GreenPartyVoter]

17. +1000

[DevonRex]

12. But THIS girl is the one who was hurt by the school and probably

by her classmates, too. She did a brave thing. I'm originally from there. Being different in any way is hard in rural MS. But being a lesbian? She must have gone through hell at times. I admire her for her courage. She probably helped other LGBT students in that state more than anything in the past decade.

[ljm2002]

13. Well...

...if you feel that strongly about women's shelters, then by all means feel free to donate $30,000 to them. I would applaud you.

Anything that one donates to, means that same money was *not* donated to something else. Any action that you take, means you did that one thing, and you did not do an infinite number of other things.

This is a young woman who has taken a lot of flak for wishing to be honest about her own identity. It is a huge issue these days, as gay youngsters are targeted for abuse by other youngsters. In this instance, the young woman's father insisted that she go back to school after the prom was cancelled, and she had to endure spiteful comments from youngsters who thought she was at fault for "ruining" their senior year.

In any case, Ellen DeGeneres can give her money where she damned well pleases. I think it's a worthy cause and I applaud her.

[lpbk2713]

18. Excellent post

:thumbsup: :hi: :thumbsup:


Who the hell are we to say what Ellen should do with her money?

[Bluebear]

24. Well stated, thank you.

[kgnu_fan]

35. You know what? I can not agree with you more!!!!!!!!!!!

It is Friday and I just have very little patience for BS.

[freeplessinseattle]

36. Kudos, from a former shelter worker & DV advocate

This young woman is fully deserving and these type of people that sit at their keyboard dictating how people should donate their time and money are imbeciles. I can think of 100 things right now that they could be doing for the DV cause than sitting on their tush kvetching about a gay person getting a scholarship.

With the determination and strength she has shown I am sure she will use her education to make a larger impact-maybe even including helping GLBT victims of DV.

[MerryBlooms]

40. Stellar post!

I'm in total agreement.

Ellen DeGeneres has always been a bright shining star through all the muddy waters. She's stayed true to who she has always been - a loving, compassionate, strong and kind soul ... (yeah, I believe in the soul thing - shoot me.)

[GreenPartyVoter]

16. I imagine she has enough money to cover both. Who is to say that she hasn't?

[meeshrox]

20. hmm...

"I think it would do more good going to a battered women's shelter."

I'm sure anyone could think of other places to spend the money. But, it's not you or me giving it away...I think it's a wonderful gesture from Ellen.

[walldude]

25. Really? I would think that supporting this girl in her cause on

national TV and giving her a chance at a better life is a slap in the face to the ignoramuses who actually canceled a prom because they are Homophobic. Ellen should be applauded.

[Dappleganger]

27. ROFL!

Do you have *any* idea how much Ellen donates to various charities??

[Orsino]

31. Another donation to a women's shelter would not garner attention.

This makes national headlines, and can't help shaming the h8ters. I think it's up in the air which donation does or would do "more' good.

Let's say that there are many kinds of good to be done.

[Forkboy]

37. Why? What's wrong with this?

[Name removed]

39. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[TheManInTheMac]

41. So?

Do you know how much she donates to battered women's shelters? I don't, and neither do you. If I give some money to Chile for earthquake relief is that bad because Haiti needs money too? Is there a list of priorities I should know about?

[donheld]

43. .

:grr:

[monmouth]

2. Ellen is one of the sweetest and most generous people around. Will

they be having the prom? I had heard numerous venues were opened to them. I certainly hope so..

[sam sarrha]

4. i heard the Unitarian Church is sponsoring it now..

[Romulox]

3. Ellen's a good egg! This was a very kind gesture. nt

[SharonRB]

5. Very cool!

I love Ellen.

[Bunny]

6. Am I the only one who thinks it's odd that they'd have the prom on Good Friday?

:shrug: Maybe it's a Catholic thing, and maybe that area doesn't have a lot of Catholics, but where I grew up it would have been unthinkable to have something like this on Good Friday.

I'm glad Ellen came through for Ms. McMillen. :thumbsup:

[supernova]

14. Probably off school

either Good Friday or Easter Monday. More time to get ready.

Good for Ellen. That was a sweet thing to do. This young lady and her girlfriend need all the support they can get.

[Spazito]

8. Very cool of Ms. DeGeneres!

:applause:

[Echo In Light]

9. k/r - wowzer

[CBR]

10. Good for Ellen. K & R nt

[The Genealogist]

15. Constance McMillen has done very well here

She stood up to bigotry and won an important emotional battle for what is right. Her actions exposed the ugly face of homophobia as it looks when ensconced in power. Thank you, Ellen DeGeneres, for rewarding this hero on the front lines of a battle in the war for JUSTICE FOR ALL!!!

:bounce:

[meeshrox]

19. Good for her!

A just reward for such courageousness! :applause:

[mdmc]

21. I joined her fb group

send her to the prom..

[DawgHouse]

22. Very generous!

[Political Heretic]

23. FAN-DAMN-TASTIC! I hope those homophobes are seething over her good fortune!

[mitchtv]

45. at least one here at DU is

I'm sure you can figure out who

[Bill_Segundo]

26. It;s a drag that everybody loses.

If the Unitarians sponsor a prom how many people will show up? Seems like some of that $30k ought to go for a prom EVERYBODY can attend.

[Starry Messenger]

28. That brought a happy tear to my eye

I love Ellen.

[liberal_at_heart]

29. That is so cool! Way to go Ellen! I hope Constance gets her prom.

[Drix]

30. You Know What Would Be Cool.....

If a big nationally known band donated their services and played her prom.

[radhika]

32. Funds for College? Perfect Gift for a New Grad n/t

[PufPuf23]

33. I like to see happy political narratives on DU.

DU gets depressing because it seems we can't win in politics by win or loss.

[TheWatcher]

34. If only the Politicians themselves could follow her example.

This was a private citizen, in this case, Ellen, doing a very generous, and a very good thing IMHO, as well as making a statement against bigotry, discrimination, etc.

As for Politicians themselves?

You can pretty much count on them for one thing, and one thing only.

Representing their own self-interests, or the interests of agendas that have nothing to do with that which they were elected for.

Representing We The People.

They Win, We Lose.

It's been that way for a very long time.

It is however, always refreshing when there is a win for us. :)

Bravo to you, Ellen.

As for that which is depressing, well, I am afraid that has much more to do with the reality and circumstances that we are in as a country than it does DU itself.

[treestar]

38. That is good of her

I can't believe that school cancelled the prom over that.

[AsahinaKimi]

42. That is so awesome!

just wow.

[KonaKane]

44. What got me, was a passing snide comment from Constance's classmate

who sneered at her "Thanks for ruining my senior year".

She didn't ruin your senior year, Barbie. The homophobic Bible thumping idiots who run the school did.

[prolesunited]

46. Ellen did NOT write the check

"Constance McMillen was speechless Friday when the talk show host pulled out an oversized check from the Web site Tonic.Com, a digital media company."

Ellen *presented* the check and gave the issue a platform on her show.

So, all of you debating who or what donate should donate her money need to find something else to do.