She can't bring same-sex date to Catholic high school prom
Rosanne Strott invited a friend to tonight's prom, but after she bought a ticket and her date paid for new clothes, the 18-year-old senior at Bishop Feehan High School in Attleboro learned that administrators would not allow her date to attend.
The problem: Her date is a woman.
Strott argues the school district is discriminating against her because she is bisexual.
"The decision is pretty ridiculous and unnecessary," she said in telephone interview yesterday. "I wasn't trying to make a statement; I was just trying to bring a friend and have fun."
Instead, she plans to put on her orange and yellow dress and Swarovski crystal necklace -- to comport with the prom's "007: Diamonds are Forever" theme -- and go on her own to the Rhodes on the Patuxet hall in Cranston, R.I.
"I decided that if I couldn't go with who I wanted, I wasn't going to take anyone at all," she said.
Administrators say they have banned same-sex couples because they want the prom to remain traditional.
"We're not looking for trouble at our prom," George A. Milot, superintendent of schools in the Diocese of Fall River, said yesterday. "Having boys bring boys or girls bring girls opens the door to all kinds of scenarios that could lead to problems. We're not willing to open the door. We're sticking with tradition; we have enough problems as it is."
He insisted the diocesean schools are not discriminating against gays and lesbians.
"Rules are made by schools that anyone can call discrimination if they want," he said in a telephone interview. "The school has the right to make rules in the best interests of the students. We teach tolerance towards people who may be gay. That is not the issue at all. That's the confusion. It's against gay sexual activity."
A similar decision would be illegal at a public school and perhaps illegal at other private, non religious schools in Massachusetts, said Sarah Wunsch, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. She said state law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in public schools.
But she said Bishop Feehan High School probably doesn't have legal liability because it is part of a religious institution.
"It seems to me proms are a time for kids to have fun, and it's really too bad a school has to inject biased attitudes into the mix to prevent a kid from going with whomever she wants to go with," Wunsch said.
Ryan Palanza, the student head of the school's prom committee, said that if he could make the choice, he would allow Strott to bring her date.
"I think it's ridiculous that you can't bring a friend of the same sex -- it shouldn't really matter," said Palanza, who expects about 500 people at the prom. "But since it's a Catholic school, I could see why the school has a problem with it. We have to adhere to the diocese's rules. This is just a diocese thing."
The decision -- Strott said a school official told her Monday -- left her date with a brown, spaghetti- strap dress and brown pumps that Macy's won't let her return.
It also left her upset. "I don't understand the big deal," said Jocelynn Sousa, 20, of Norton, who said that she and Strott are just friends who work together at an arts and crafts store in North Attleborough.
"I was just trying to do her a favor, so she didn't have to go to her prom alone."
She added: "I think the school is just worried about its image. They don't want it to happen there."
Doug Strott , Rosanne's father, complained that the district's policy did not seem to exist until his daughter told friends she planned to bring a girl.
"This is discrimination, because they're not allowing her to bring the person who she wants to bring," he said. "Whatever the issues or concerns, they could have been dealt with."
For Rosanne, who won Best Hair in her class of about 250 students and has made a name for herself painting and arranging sets for the school's plays, it's a hollow sendoff as she plans to attend Massachusetts College of Art in the fall.
At least, she said, the school reimbursed her for the $55 ticket she paid for her date.
"It's not fair to say a girl bringing a girl is abnormal because it's not traditional," she said. "Isn't the point of high school to become educated, progressive, and to change with the world?"
Even without her date, she said, "I still intend to have a good time."
David Abel of the Globe staff can be reached at dabel@globe.com. 