MIDDLETOWN — A female student at Mercy High School, an all girl Catholic school, has started a petition asking to be allowed to bring a girl as a date to prom.
The petition, at Change.org, states:
Many LGBT+ children who are raised in a Catholic home are terrified to come out. They could face harassment, judgment, and rejection from their peers and family. So they don’t come out, and they suppress that part of themselves. Suppressing who you are and living in constant fear of the people around you hashorrible effects on mental health,causing a high suicide rate among LGBT+ teens who are not supported by their family or community.
The petition, started a week ago, is about 600 signers short of it’s goal of 2,500. It was started by Allison V. who did not give her last name.
She wrote:
In my opinion, Catholics should strive to be like Jesus and accept all of God’s children with the same love and compassion they would show to their own children, and all students should be allowed to bring whoever they want to Prom.
