Being a gay teenager isn't easy. And when a gay teenager is told by adults who are in positions of authority that being gay is wrong, the seeds can be planted for a lifetime of self-hatred and hurt. We're hoping that isn't the case for Constance McMillen.

McMillen is an 18-year-old high school senior in northern Mississippi who wanted to attend her school's prom on April 2 with her girlfriend, dressed in a tuxedo, after the school released a memo saying that no same-sex couples were allowed to attend the prom together. When the American Civil Liberties Union got involved on McMillen's behalf, the school district announced on Wednesday that the prom, which was to be held at Itawamba County Agricultural High School, would be canceled.

"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, Miss.

In a statement, the Itawamba County school district said they hope someone will organize a private event for the students, but could not hold the official prom "due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events." Officials did not specifically cite McMillen as the cause for the event's cancellation.

The ACLU, however, says that the school district is just trying to wash its hands of the situation, rather than treat McMillen as an equal student.

"But that doesn't take away their legal obligations to treat all the students fairly," Kristy Bennett, legal director for the ACLU of Mississippi, told The Associated Press. "On Constance's behalf, this is unfair to her. All she's trying to do is assert her rights."

The ACLU filed a suit Thursday against the school district in federal court, demanded that the prom be re-instated and McMillen be able to attend with her girlfriend.

A rural area near the Alabama state line, Itawamba County boasts a population of 23,000.

We're hoping that McMillen will not be seen as the villain to her fellow students, and that this will be a lesson to them about the harm that fear and ignorance can bring. We're proud of you, Constance, for fighting for what you believe in.

[Image: Matthew Sharpe/Special to The Clarion-Ledger]

Happy International Women's Day!

Over the past 18 months I've written for AWEARNESS, I've written a lot about women's rights. For International Women's Day Gender Across Borders wants to know what "equal rights for all" means to me.

Equal rights for me means just that, equal rights. As a human being with two X chromosomes I should have the same access to education, jobs and safety as humans with only one X chromosome. That access goes far beyond any city, state or national border too.

My activism is rooted in my early education of human rights though working with Amnesty International. The U.S. Congress could pass every law feminists could think of, every judge could believe women when they ask for protection against violence and the police would enforce everything and I still wouldn't be satisfied.

I would relish that our job was done here in the U.S.A. and it left me with more time to fight for the education of my sisters abroad, for them to be free of forced marriage, for them to be healed from fistula and for their work to be honored around the world.

As long as there is a young girl trafficked, denied her education and forced to bear a child at way too young of an age, I will be there to fight for her. It's not enough for women in one country to enjoy freedom.

If you want to work on international women's issues, any one of these organizations would be happy to have your support:

• CARE

• Fistula Foundation

• Half the Sky Movement

• Heifer International

• MADRE

Have your own favorite? Please share it here!

[Image: Gender Across Borders]

Today's International Women's Day blogathon asks us to describe a particular organization, person, or moment in history that helped to mobilize a meaningful change in equal rights for all. Shirley Chisholm is, for me, that woman. Chisholm was in 1968 the first black woman elected to Congress. Four years later, in 1972 she was the first black woman to run for president. Nowadays, with Barack Obama in office and Hillary at State we take for granted how arduous the struggle for equality. In 1972 -- on the cusp of the Civil Rights victories -- a woman President was politically impossible.

And still Shirley Chisholm ran.

She had to know that she didn't stand a chance. One doesn't get elected and re-elected to Congress without some sense of the politically possible. Chisholm ran because she knew that someone had to start the historical process that would lead, eventually, after a long hard road, for African-Americans and women to be able to make credible runs for the White House in the future. It took tremendous courage to start that ball rolling back in 1972, with the Civil Rights winds at her back and the women's liberation movement still ahead. Thank you, Shirley Chisholm. Even at this remove your courage is astonishing.

Thirty-six years later, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama fought the most amazing political race in the history of Democrat primary Presidential contests. For the entire summer of 2008, the country was riveted. State-by-state they fought. Barack Obama ultimately won the nomination, and he was virtually assured the Presidency through that victory. And when he became President, he appointed Hillary Rodham Clinton, the first Secretary of State who was once the First Lady. Both of them can thank Shirley Chisholm, one of the least thanked and oft-forgotten of the statesmen and women who put cracks in the glass ceiling and made it such that we all have the possibility of running for the highest office of the land.

In the spring issue of Bitch magazine on page 11 is an interview I did of Rana Husseini, a Jordanian journalist. I'm not pointing it out to AWEARNESS readers because I wrote it, rather it's because you should know about Rana and her courage to raise awareness of so-called honor killings.

The main focus of the interview how "Western" feminists can work on cases of honor killings in Western countries without coming off as arrogant and offensive. In Husseini's book, Murder in the Name of Honor, she talks a lot about how Jordanians accused her of being a puppet of Westerners when she advocated for stiffer penalties for men who kill their female relatives "in the name of honor." The question of how far should Western feminists go was raised soon after First Lady Laura Bush's radio address about Afghani women and when former President Bush invoked "rape rooms" as part of his justification for invading Iraq.

As the United States and other countries continue to insert themselves in the matters of other countries, especially those in the Middle East, I think it's imperative that we listen to the voices of those, like Husseini, who also want to see change, but know the terrain better than us.

[Image: Bitch Media]

PETA's media strategy is as volatile and fast-changing as the last weekend leading to a close election. Anything can happen and it usually does. Almost as soon as my colleague Kelsey Wallace reported on their Tiger Woods campaign, they are already saying goodbye. A PETA source told The New York Post's Page Six: "We were contacted by Tiger's lawyers at IMG who kindly, but firmly, told us we were not authorized to use his image on the billboard, and would we desist. We agreed and have now turned the focus of our campaign to Mark Sanford."

Over the years, we have tried to get a bead on the organization's ways of breaking out from among the raucous din on the media landscape to draw attention to their message of animal rights. Our personal favorite was PETA's insidious, savvy plan to make George Clooney-flavored tofu -- "CloFu" -- to draw attention to foods in which no animal has been killed. While their message, to be sure, is noble, their tactics are sometimes -- how does one say this? -- controversial. Their "Veggie Love" video was seen as too racy for the Superbowl, and PETA's founder Ingrid Newkirk had to apologize for their "Save the Whales" billboard.

PETA's potential slogan for the upcoming Governor Sanford campaign? "Your dog doesn't have to go to South America to get laid." Out of 349 votes cast on the PETA blog, 47 % think "there are better people who PETA could choose for its campaign." What do you think? You let PETA know your thoughts by voting here, and be sure to let us know in the comments section as well!

[Image: SCGovernor]