Prom is lesson in tolerance

A Murray High student's request to participate in junior prom activities with her girlfriend brought what some call a lesson in tolerance.

Heather Johnston, who says she is gay, wanted to participate in the promenade at junior prom.

In the time-honored event, held in the rotunda of the State Capitol and steeped in tradition, boys line up on one side of the Capitol's marble staircases, girls on the other. They walk down the stairs toward each other and meet on a landing. The boy offers the girl a rose, then escorts her down the remaining stairs to the rotunda, where they take their places for a dance.

Each student's name is read in the process, and nearly everyone's parents are there to videotape it.

The idea appealed to the 17-year-old Johnston, who says she had never attended a prom.

"I got excited about it. I thought, 'We should do this.' "

But as Johnston and her girlfriend attended the first promenade practice, a question arose: Should one of them take her place in line with the boys?

Finding the answer wouldn't be easy.

"There was some concern from a few of the students at practices, as they were . . . coming down with one girl mixed in with boys. That seemed to cause quite a conflict with some of our students and some of our conservative parents," Murray principal Dee Jensen said.

"Our community is ultra-conservative in their approach to some things," he said. "That's their right. And being a public entity, we have to try to walk the middle road."

School administrators initially sided with tradition. The two girls could line up on the girls' side together but would have to promenade alone or with a male classmate — not uncommon for girls whose dates attend other schools or are not juniors.

The suggestion angered Johnston.

"She'd gone out and gotten herself a nice prom dress, went to the practice and was told they weren't going to be allowed to do that," said her stepfather, Joe Barraco. "She qualified for all their restrictions . . . they were both juniors, both members of the school, yet they were going to turn them down."

Johnston's mother, Janice Barraco, sought help and was directed to the American Civil Liberties Union.

"I'm usually not a person who does confrontation things, so this was a growing thing for me," Janice Barraco said. "I decided I was going to stand by this kid no matter what."