https://twitter.com/paula_goodgame/status/847084559292387329
17-year-old Paula Goodgame‘s memories of her junior prom will be full of sadness and rejection after the school banned her from bringing her girlfriend as her date to prom.
On Wednesday, Goodgame took Twitter to open up about the incident, that has since gone viral, sharing the disappointing news that her school wouldn’t allow her to bring a same-sex date with her to prom. Paula’s girlfriend, Anjali Persad, goes to a nearby private school and isn’t a student at St. Petersburg Catholic High School, where Goodgame is a junior. The prom policies posted on the SPCHS website say that students hoping to bring a date from another school must submit a “Prom Guest Request Form” with signatures and photo ID.
But after Goodgame’s prom guest request was rejected by the school, it prompted her to seek guidance from the counselor who further clarified same-sex dates “are not allowed.” In an email to Buzzfeed, Paula revealed that she wasn’t aware of the school’s discriminatory policy, revealing, “I just transferred here and I don’t exactly have too many friends, and that — added on with the social anxiety of prom — makes me feel like prom would be awkward for me. Because of that and news I heard from my friend, I was asking for confirmation if I could bring my girlfriend to prom. That way I could have a familiar face in the crowd and be with my date.”
She added,”If she can’t go to my prom, then that prom is not worth going to. You’re supposed to have that whole ‘magical’ night with someone special, ya know? It wouldn’t be worth it without her.” Social media has definitely stepped up in support of the high school student:
https://twitter.com/sabrinakriebel/status/848946145837682688
https://twitter.com/andy_ratliff/status/847449736852389892
https://twitter.com/ARIRI98/status/848968957960835073
SPCHS has yet to comment on the matter, despite the serious backlash and hundreds of people pledging to email the school. Goodgame will attend her girlfriend’s prom this weekend, but remains unsure if she will attend her own prom.
Good luck Paula and Anjali.
SMH: A Florida Teen Was Banned From Bringing Her Girlfriend To Prom was originally published on globalgrind.com
