Mississippi school prom off after lesbian's date request

[Medusa]

YAY! I get to spout off about Arkansas!

I guess that unless you actually live here it's hard to see past the stereotypical "redneck" or "gay un-friendly" image. (Not talking directly to you here Greyson, just for the general masses)

A few factoids to help get the Queer-friendlyness of Arkansas into perspective:

* The little boy who refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance until Gays have equal rights and who was recently featured on CNN is from the Westfork School district here in Arkansas.
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sh...e-equal-rights

* The Miss Gay Arkansas pageant is 38 years strong.
http://www.missgayarkansas.com/ (and has been hosted at the Peabody Hotel, I might add)

* The Miss Gay America pageant was owned by an Arkansan (Norma Kristie) for almost 30 years. I think she bought it in 1975?

* Diversity Pride Events is one of the largest Pride events in the South, held in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
http://www.diversitypride.com/

* Little Rock has been hosting its own city-wide Pride events for multiple years and are WELL attended
http://www.littlerockcapitalpride.org/site/

* The Center for Artistic Revolution is a HUGE Queer-run 501c3 organization that does anti-oppression work all over Arkansas. It's director is a Queer Woman (who I believe is also a member of this site)
http://www.artisticrevolution.org/contents/index.php

* There are multiple Gay/Lesbian clubs all over Little Rock:
Here are a few:
Club UBU http://www.theaquarium.bizland.com/
Discovery Night Club (the oldest and largest in Arkansas and owned by Norma Kristie, former Miss Gay America 1973) http://www.latenightdisco.com/
Backstreet Club http://www.backstreetdanceclub.com/
(There are actually 7 total GLBT-only clubs in the metro Little Rock area)

* The Diamond State Rodeo Association is a GLBTQ organization for Gay and Lesbian cowboys and cowgirls, folks who do rodeo pageants, and they host multiple social events.
http://www.dsra.org/


* Multiple Gay and Lesbian churches.
Here is one with a specifically Gay membership:
http://littlerock.about.com/gi/o.htm...urc/index.html

* Openly Gay House of Representative, Kathy Webb:
http://www.victoryfund.org/endorsed_.../candidate:116

* Multiple support groups for Trans folks:
http://ar-tg-support.org/


I could list the multiple openly gay-owned and operated businesses that fly Pride flags year-round but I'd be here all night.

I just want folks to realize that there will be an element of homophobia in EVERY city. Hell, I experienced a great deal of it living in Los Angeles and Atlanta and I bet that most folks would consider them incredibly gay friendly. Arkansas is in the South, for sure, but being a Southern city doesn't equal "podunk" or "redneck" or any of the other number of ignorant things I have heard folks say.
It's a smallish cosmopolitan city
I highly doubt we would be on the news unless someone called it in. (I don't intend to)
The Miss Gay Arkansas pageant hasn't ever made the news here (to my recollection) and the only time a Gay Pride event made the news in a negative light was when the first Pride parade was held in Conway, Arkansas (where yours truly was the Grand Princess) and some dumbass spread horse manure on the parade route the night before.
I will also add that they found out who dumped manure on the route and prosecuted it as a hate crime.

No city is perfect, but both Jack and I feel incredibly safe here. We hold hands walking down the street and have never thought twice about giving each other a kiss in public. People pretty much mind their own business.