No prom? Blame the gays

This story really makes me sad.

A northern Mississippi school district will not be hosting a high school prom this spring after a lesbian student sought to attend with her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo.

The Itawamba County school district's board decided Wednesday to drop the prom because of what it called recent distractions but without specifically mentioning the girl's request, which was backed by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The student, 18-year-old high school senior Constance McMillen, said the cancellation was retaliation for her efforts to bring her girlfriend, also a student, to the April 2 dance.

"A bunch of kids at school are really going to hate me for this, so in a way it's really retaliation," McMillen told The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson. Calls to McMillen by The Associated Press late Wednesday went unanswered.

School policy requires that senior prom dates be of the opposite sex. The ACLU of Mississippi had given the district until Wednesday to change that policy, arguing that banning same-sex prom dates violated McMillen's constitutional rights.

...

The ACLU said McMillen approached school officials shortly before the memo went out because she knew same-sex dates had been banned in the past. The ACLU said district officials told McMillen she and her girlfriend wouldn't be allowed to arrive together, that she would not be allowed to wear a tuxedo, and that she and her girlfriend might be asked to leave if their presence made any other students "uncomfortable."

Alright, I know it's Mississippi, and apparently it's a small religious town, but how can a school be so fucking stupid? Don't they know this is just going to open up a can of worms? No, instead they have to stand by their "traditional values" of discrimination instead of letting a girl wear a tux and dance with another girl. Jesus Christ, people. Have a little compassion, or at least a little legal common sense.

And the fact that they canceled prom is even worse than if they just banned this student from taking a same-sex date. I think McMillen is right when she says this is punishment - those gays are to blame for prom being canceled! If only they could just be good, quiet, heterosexual girls who wore dresses. If this high school is anything like mine (or most American high schools), prom is a big fucking deal. Even I went to prom. Twice.

This makes me wonder what could have happened at my high school back in the day. Two of my close friends were lesbians who were dating each other, and they were considering going to prom together. I know there were some worries over if Munster would allow it, if they'd have to fight for it, if they'd have to drag in their parents (who are super supportive wonderful people). They would have been the first same sex couple to try it - gays went to prom, but usually with a friend for a date because they were too afraid to come out (I was actually my gay friend's beard for his senior prom). In the end, it didn't matter though - they decided that prom was lame, and they went to a Star Wars convention instead (probably a much better choice).

I really hope this school comes around and stops acting like the asshats they are. No, prom isn't some god given right to all high school students - but to revoke that privilege because of one gay couple is just wrong.

(Via BoingBoing)

Happy Birthday, Blag Hag!

Guess what?! Today is Blag Hag's first birthday! I've officially been blogging for a year. Woooooo! Let's celebrate! Crazy internet party! Yeah!

Or maybe you could just like, say what posts you liked the most in the last year. That would work too. Still think a crazy internet party would be more fun though.

Anti-Porn & Anti-Sex Worker Bingo!

Man, I wish I would have had this before I attended that Porn & Popcorn event. Would have made it a lot more tolerable to yell "Bingo!" halfway through (click for larger).
Of course, that blog entry is still getting spammy anti-porn and anti-me trolls posting from who knows where. Maybe I should just play bingo with those comments - probably could get a blackout fairly quickly.

(Hat tip to Lauren, Via Feminisnt (Warning, NSFW))

Programming + Rap = Win

I don't know enough programming to understand any of the details, but this is still pretty cool. Two Stanford students (coincidence!) made a Rap Lyric Generator for the final project for one of their CS classes. The result? Well, I had a hard time telling the difference between the man-made rap song, and the computer generated one.

Let's play a game! Guess which of theses verses come from a real rap song, and which were generated by a computer (answers at bottom of post).

1. And I say "a yia yia yia"
Let’s get it on every time
Holler out "Your mine"
And I say "Oh oo oh oo oh oh oh oh oh
So if you willin’ you wit it then we can spend time
And I say "a yia yia yia"

2. Now first let’s call for the motherfuckin indo
Pull out your crutch and put away your pistol

3. you take pride in suckin’ a good dick
and after i nut bitch you better not spit ha ha ha ha
you’re a dirt dobbler a goop gobbler
you’ll fuck satan for the righteous dollar
so gimme some gimme some

4. can a nigga get some to go yeah baby
she got it she got it she got it
i do my thang in the club
you can do it

5. see i won’t deny it i’m a straight ridah
i got semi-autos to put holes in niggaz tryina play me
i look to my future cause my past is all behind me
yeah see the cross on my neck that just might freeze me

Of course, that's probably because rap sounds like total nonsensical gibberish to begin with... Alright, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say their hard work probably had something to do with it too. I mean, they even included a graph of "Rap Quality" (which I'm pretty sure is an oxymoron). Bad music aside, the project is still cool!

(Answers: Human, Human, Human, Computer, Computer)

Stanford summary

Let me provide you with a visual explanation of why I want to go to Stanford:
Oh my god, how could one place be so beautiful? I think I've been living in Indiana way too long.

Seriously though, I really enjoyed Stanford, and not just for the lovely weather and beautiful palm trees (but those were definite perks). The professors and students were super nice and easy to talk to, the research was really interesting, and I think it would be a good fit for me. I'll find out if I'm officially accepted later this week! The major downside is the cost of living - the cheapest apartments there are more than twice than what I'm paying now, sheesh. At least in grad school I'll actually have a pay check. If I can live off virtually nothing, I think I'll be okay even on a grad student's salary.

In addition to going through the typical interview process, I also was invited to AHA!'s meeting at Stanford. It was basically a big Q&A session where I talked about my experience blogging and a little bit about being an atheist in the midwest. I had a blast, and really enjoyed meeting the club members! Depending on my grad school decision, I might be going to those meetings a lot more often.

On Saturday we got a mini vacation, which was a lot of fun. We went to the Exploratorium, took a boat ride out to Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge, and ate at a yummy pub in downtown San Francisco.

Sea lions!

I had no idea that there were boat police that could actually pull over other boats. And with a mounted gun! ...I am easily amused.
Alcatraz and San Francisco
Golden Gate Bridge
And meeeee, just to prove I'm not just making up my adventures.

One reason to be a creationist

A friend of mine sent me this image with the comment "This is why I believe in an infallible God."Hey, but you know what? Science can bring that back! Mwahahahahahaaaaa!

...I have obviously not learned anything from Jurassic Park.

Sarah Jessica Parker = Toblerone?!?

I have just one thing to say about the Oscars.What the hell is Sarah Jessica Parker wearing? A gold tube with exploding foil at the top? Is she a candy bar wrapper or something? I mean, I'm not Ms. Fashionable, but what the hell?

Mmmmm Toblerone. Delicious, but not a good fashion inspiration.

Other than that, I have nothing to say. I watched the Oscars for about 20 minutes just because my roommate had it on. I usually don't give a damn about them, but this year I'm especially apathetic since I hadn't seen a single film that was up for Best Picture - yep, not even Up or Avatar. I blame that on the fact that I've been single for most of the past year, and I think I only watch movies on dates.

...And before I start contemplating how sad that is, I'm going to go to bed. Will post about my Stanford trip tomorrow!