TN School Refuses To Allow Gay Teen To Bring Boy To Homecoming Dance, Citing ‘Logistical Reasons’

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Lance Sanderson: Image Via WMC-TV

Lance Sanderson is a proudly gay teenager who attends Christian Brothers High School, an all-boys school in Memphis, Tennessee. And for the homecoming dance he wants to invite another teen boy as his date.

Despite the fact that Sanderson had discussed the matter with an administrator last year and gotten permission to bring the boy, that official left the school over the summer and now he’s being told that his request is denied. Why? Well, the school cited a policy against boys from other schools attending social functions:

“CBHS students may attend the dance by themselves, with other CBHS students, or with a girl from another school. For logistical reasons, boys from other schools may not attend.”

Logistical reasons? What does that even mean?

Sanderson, however, says an official at the school gave him a much different reason when he discussed it with him a couple of months ago:

“I was sitting down talking to one of the current administrators over the summer, and at the end of our conversation, I mentioned it, expecting him to say the same thing. (But) he had a very different response. He mentioned a (gay) couple in Texas and said I was a lot like this one person and said that the guy’s boyfriend murdered him. It was a little rough.”

He also believes the new policy was implemented specifically due to his request:

“The way they worded it is ‘for logistical reasons,’ boys from other schools may not attend. I asked about it in a meeting (Tuesday) morning, and they said they didn’t want guys from our school getting into disagreements with guys from other schools.”