As graduation approaches for many in the upcoming weeks, teens are excited to start their journeys. In many cases, they will let nothing stand in their way of their future. For one teen in Georgia, she was shocked to find bringing her date to prom would lead to expulsion. And this just weeks before graduation, too. Now, her mom is speaking out about her daughter’s kind character and how the school made an ill-informed and outright disgusting choice.
Emily Wright was attending school at the North Cobb Christian School in Georgia and was especially excited for the off-campus prom event. However, just 10 days after prom, she was called into the principal’s office for a meeting. The reason? She brought a transgender boy as her date to the prom.
Emily went through questioning as if she were in a police interrogation room. Her mother Tricia shortly after found out the school planned on expelling her daughter. You read that right: They were going to kick her out of the school two weeks before graduation over her choice in a prom date.
Tricia was rightfully angry. It was a clear case of outright discrimination. More importantly, there was no written ‘rule’ you couldn’t invite a trans person. In fact, the only rule your date had to follow was age, and Emily’s date was well within the guidelines.
Emily responded to the entire interaction, “I cried very hard. I was just thinking that my entire future was in jeopardy.” After the meeting, she was forced to withdraw from the school. Her parents decided to fight back and penned a letter to the school telling them that this act of discrimination was wrong.
Their letter stated that the school’s “discriminatory decision” was “not reflective of the Christian values you claim to uphold.” It went on to say, “The school chose to kick out a senior student just four weeks before graduation simply because Emily was being inclusive and kind.”
So, why are they treating Emily’s prom date like they’re illegal goods? Because they don’t fit a school’s religious agenda or standards? And why are we punishing a school-aged child for making the decision to be kind and inclusive to all people?
Even amid media pressure, the school has not moved on their decision and Emily has transferred to another public school just to graduate on time. The fact that she and her family had to make that choice shows that anyone—from school officials to political leaders here in America, need to be better informed about gender identity and what morals actually are.
