Scoop’s Views

Was it sweet 16 and never been kissed for a gay high school student who wanted to wear a dress?

It seems that Kevin Logan wanted to go to his Gary, Indiana, high school prom last year, but when he showed up at the door in a pink dress, West Side High School officials told him to nix the dress or go home.

According to several media accounts today, Logan apparently walked up to the doors of the high school in a pink prom dress. Principal Diana Rouse stood in the doorway, according to Logan, and refused to let him into the prom.

See, Logan says he goes by the name of “K.K.” — for Kinky Kevin, perhaps? — and says he is a “gay bisexual male,” so in his mind, he believed he had the right to dance in his dress at prom and be queen of the prom, even if only in his mind.

To offset his sadness, Logan has filed a lawsuit against Rouse and the Gary, Indiana school board, saying they violated his “civil rights” by not allowing him into the prom based on his attire.

“What should have been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Logan to share memories with friends before graduation became an episode of humiliation and exclusion,” the suit states.

Rouse, who’s been contacted by a variety of media outlets, has declined any comment, instead deferring all calls to the school board’s public information spokesperson. It seems she’s been well briefed by the school district attorneys, because a few media reports note that after telling the media to call the PR flacks, she hangs up, which is a very wise move.

The school board, because of pending litigation, has also declined to comment about the case.

What’s hilarious about this entire case is that another student, a self-described lesbian, showed up at the door to go to prom dressed in a tuxedo-style outfit. Maybe no one knew she was a she when she arrived in the tux.

Jim Madigan, K.K.’s attorney, in speaking with CourtTVnews.com, said, “Society thinks it’s okay for women to want to be a little more masculine, but it’s not okay for male students to act in a way that is feminine. That double standard really is something that’s sort of an old stereotype. It’s a double standard that’s a remnant of sex discrimination.”

Madigan said he contacted the school, ask wanting to know why Kevin “K.K.” Logan wasn’t allowed to go to his/her prom. He said the school cited a community school board policy governing dress code, which prohibits any clothing or accessories that advertise “sexual orientation, sex, drugs, alcohol tobacco, profanity, negative social or negative educational statements.”

Isn’t that understandable? If not, well, get a grip. It’s also a policy held by just about every school district across the country, as well as most around the world, if not all. Schools are a place, supposedly, and if the unruly could ever be tamed in the classrooms and if everyone could read, write, and speak English, a place where education takes place. The same holds true for all school-related functions and activities.

Schools are not, on the other hand, a place where one should try to break society’s rules. Schools have, well, historically, been a place of education; a place where students went every morning, ready to learn. Sure, not everyone was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, nor were many eager to learn, but in the past, schools did a pretty good job, overall.

In order to be an fine, upstanding citizen, you must first learn right-and-wrong, good-and-bad, good taste vs. bad taste, appropriate vs. inappropriate. Sure, many of the things that should lead individuals in a free society to be a fine, upstanding, law-abiding citizen should be learned in the home. Sadly, and if you watch the local news or pick up any newspaper, you hear and read news, more and more with each passing day, how those in the home, the supposed family, are failing.

Because the “home” hasn’t always been a law-abiding place, but also because of the role education — the educators, the teachers themselves — are called upon to fill, schools operate under a special responsibility that an organization or individual, and for schools, it’s written into law, and called in loco parentis, which is Latin for “in the place of a parent.”

The concept is derived from British common law, and in modern use, is applied in two separate areas of the law.

In the first instance, in loco parentis allows institutions, such as schools and colleges, to act in the best interests of the students charged to their care. That means the school administration may handle situations as they see fit, which often affords rights to governmental entities that would normally be considered violations of the students’ civil liberties.

The second application of in loco parentis, at least in the U.S., often affords a non-biological parent the legal rights and responsibilities of a biological parent if the non-biological parent identifies, fills the role, and assumes all responsibilities as a parent.

In this case, K.K. Logan — in his drag — was acting inappropriate. He knew — and I am sure it will come out at court — that there was at least one discussion before the prom where someone told him he would not be allowed into the prom if he should up dressed as a girl.

Sometimes, it seems, people just want to toss bricks through a window. In some arenas, it’s called “civil disobedience,” in others it’s called criminal activity, and in some, it’s domestic terrorism, but in this case, it’s a case of bad taste bordering on clueless, if, and that’s a big if, he really thought he’d get into the prom.

According to Madigan, it seems dear little Kevin or K.K., whichever persona wins the case, is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. Why? Because people who sue — who think they can sue because someone looked at them cross-eyed and got their little feelings hurt — often get large, no, very, very large judgements, sadly enough.

In this case, if the kid wins, give him $1. It’s a statement that he won. Will $200,000 or $2 million make things be different in regard to that night? No, so if it’s but the taste of victory Mr. or Ms. Logan wants, then $1 ought be victory enough. If it’s greed, that will be seen when Madigan presents his case and tells the jury how much he thinks is fair compensation, as well as an award for punitive damages, at least in his eyes.

Mind you, many attorneys take on cases like this simply because they see multiple zeros before the decimal point in the price tag awarded by juries.

In addition to looking for some kind of cash settlement, Madigan and Kevin “K.K. Logan are seeking to have the dress policy ruled unconstitutional on the grounds that it violates the First Amendment.

“You simply cannot tell gay students that anything in their clothing that makes clear that they are gay, lesbian or trans-gender is inappropriate,” Madigan said.

Why not, I would dare challenge Madigan. Schools, again, are public institutions for education, not free speech. In fact, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that, even at late as 1988, that the First Amendment rights of school students are not as broad as those of adults in other settings. What’s so hard to understand?

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