I don’t know if you’ve been following this — if you hang around in the same circles that I do online, you probably have. If not, here’s a quick recap. A teen by the name of Constance McMillen asked permission of her school administrators to allow her to wear a tux and bring her girlfriend to the big prom. They said “no way, you’re not allowed to dress in a tux, and you’re not allowed to bring your girlfriend, because we’re bigoted assholes.” (Not in so many words.) Constance tried to sue to be allowed in, and the school shut down the prom for everyone. The judge upheld that she was being discriminated against, but didn’t force the school to reinstate the prom. Parents organized a non-official prom, to which she was invited. However, it was “cancelled” at the last minute, and the school reinstated the official prom at a country club. Only seven people showed up at the official prom — Constance and her date, and two learning-disability kids, along with three others.

Turns out that other, unofficial prom was never really cancelled. All but the seven outcasts went to the parent-organized one. So the “official” prom was a decoy to keep the troublemakers and unpopular kids out.

Stephanie Zvan wrote a missive to the children of Fulton, Mississippi, informing them of what a grave and consequential error they have made in participating in the prom head-fake, and how if they don’t do something to rectify the situation and stand in opposition to the parents and administrators that orchestrated this vile and hurtful trick, they’re destroying their brand and sealing their place in society.

What you did was wrong. It was cruel, and pointlessly cruel. It was stupidly easy and easily the stupidest thing I’ve seen in a long time. You gained nothing by it. Hell, you didn’t even have as much fun as you thought prom should be. And you lost everything.

Remember how you thought about getting out of there and doing something with your life? Forget it. You’re one of “those kids from Fulton” now, and everybody knows what you did. Sure, you can find a school to go to, even one away from home, but it’s going to be one of those schools that’s no good for anything but sending you back where you came from.

You can find a job, kid from Fulton, but it will be a job that requires someone just like you. Prepare to spend the next fifty-some years of your life taking the same kind of orders you’ve been taking from your parents and your teachers and your friends. You’ve just waved goodbye to your chance to grow up and determine how you want to live your own life.

Emphasis mine.

I wish I had something more substantial to add to this discussion, but the best I can manage is:

Kids from Fulton,

GFY.

– Jason