Gay High School Student Allowed To Wear Tuxedo To Prom After Uproar

Claudetteia Love was planning on boycotting the dance because her Louisiana high school told her she had to wear a dress.

A Louisiana high school that told a gay honors student she could not wear a tuxedo to her senior prom has changed its mind after a the story spread across the U.S.

Claudetteia Love, an openly gay student & top academic scholar to miss prom over no-tux rule http://t.co/odR7P3Rj0s

Claudetteia Love, 17, is openly gay and was planning on attending the dance with a group of friends, the News-Star reported.

However, the principal at Carroll High School in Monroe said that she could only wear a dress to the dance, her mother, Geraldine Jackson, told the newspaper.

"He said that the faculty that is working the prom told him they weren't going to work the prom if (girls) were going to wear tuxes," Jackson said. "That's his exact words. 'Girls wear dresses and boys wear tuxes, and that's the way it is.'"

So, Love and her friends decided they would boycott the dance. She told the News-Star she was very hurt by the school's decision because she has often been touted as a example of its academic achievement.

"I told my mom, 'They're using me. They put me in all these honors and advanced placement classes so I can take all of these tests and get good grades and better the school, but when it's time for me to celebrate the fact that I've accomplished what I need to accomplish and I'm about to graduate, they don't want to let me do it the way I want to,'" she said.

Love did not return a request for comment from BuzzFeed News.

Love's story quickly spread across the internet, and even inspired a Change.org petition to let her wear what she wants.

As the story grew, the ACLU of Louisiana released a statement to all school superintendents in the state about Love's situation.

The ACLU said that it is illegal for schools to deny students the chance to attend a dance because of what they choose to wear or who they choose to bring as their date.

"In light of the clear law protecting students' rights to bring dates of their choosing and to wear attire typical of either gender, I trust that students in your district will have a safe and happy prom season free from unlawful discrimination," the ACLU said.

However, on Tuesday the school changed its mind.

The school board president and the school principal contacted Love and told her she was welcome to wear the tuxedo, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) said in a press release.

The NCLR, which is representing Love, said that the school was doing the right thing.

"Forbidding girls from wearing a tuxedo to the prom would have served no purpose other than to reinforce the worst sorts of harmful stereotypes and censor a core part of Claudetteia's identity," executive director Kate Kendell said.

Love said she is happy that the school is going to let her be herself at her prom.

"Now that I can go in my tuxedo, I am looking forward to celebrating the end of my senior year with my friends and classmates at the prom, like any other student," she said in the NCLR press release.

The school did not return a request for comment from BuzzFeed News.

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