Even better news

Better news than the blog below about changes in Cobb County is the followup to stories a few weeks ago about the teenage Derrick Martin in Cochran, GA, who was given permission to take his boyfriend as his date to the school prom -- and created a media storm and protests from some teens at school, who organized an alternate prom.

Here's what he told the gay newspaper GAVoice:

"The whole town turned out this year, and we were both making ourselves sick thinking of all the outcomes . . ,. All eyes were on us as we walked to the podium, and the start of the "red carpet" [each couple was introduced as they walked down the red carpet]. I braced myself for an onslaught of hate and shouting, but what we were greeted with surprised me more than I ever could have imagined.

"People I didn't even know were there just cheering for us, smiling and telling us things like, "be true" and "keep on baby." I couldn't even believe it. All this time I had considered all of the bad things that could have happened, but I never gave a second thought to the night actually going perfectly."

The only think missing, Martin wrote, was his parents. They told him he could no longer live at home after he went public with being gay and brought on all the media attention.

How sad that his parents could not celebrate with this courageous young man, who has handled all the publicity with grace and maturity. Otherwise, it does sound like a perfect evening and an encouraging outcome -- you have to believe that a few people in Cochran had their prejudices challenged and, just maybe, they began to think.

Ralph