This musical is based on real life events that occurred in Fulten Mississippi in 2010.
In 2010, Constance McMillen was a senior at Itawamba Agricultural High School in Fulton, Mississippi. She had plans to bring her girlfriend to their senior prom and wear a tuxedo, and in response, was banned from attending by the school board. McMillen challenged the board's decision; in response, the board decided to entirely cancel that year's senior prom.
McMillen and the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) sued her school district, and a federal court found the Itawamba School District guilty of violating McMillen's First Amendment rights. During the hearing, the school board testified that they cancelled the prom because the "media attention generated distracted the school from its educational mission, and that the board cancelled the prom in an attempt to restore order." Judge Davidson said he was not swayed by that testimony because the high school's own principal had testified to the opposite, saying that "e-mail and phone calls generated by the controversy had no impact on classroom instruction."
Judge Davidson wrote, "The court finds this expression and communication of McMillen's viewpoint is the type of speech that falls squarely within the purview of the First Amendment". However, in favor of the Itawamba County School District, Judge Davidson ruled that he would not force the school district to hold the prom since a private prom had already been planned. At the preliminary hearing, school board members testified that all junior and senior students would be allowed to attend the private prom but did not make it clear as to whether or not same-sex couples would be allowed to attend. McMillen received no official information on, nor an invitation to, the private prom.
The board did eventually allow McMillen to attend prom, but the local parents quietly organized a separate prom for the rest of the students, making sure to keep the location secret to avoid media attention.
There were actually several proms in this story. After the school district cancelled the first prom, the local parents planned a second private prom. But that prom was cancelled when McMillen attempted to purchase a ticket. A member of the parent organization told the local newspaper that there were many parents involved who did not want to be sued for not allowing same-sex dates at the private prom, so they cancelled it. However, the following day another new private prom had been organized at the Fulton Country Club, and McMillen would be allowed to attend with her girlfriend.
McMillen and her date attended that prom, but found only five other students in attendance because yet another private prom had been arranged by parents, to be held in the community of Evergreen, and the rest of the students attended that prom instead of the Fulton Country Club prom.
Students who attended the "Evergreen" prom posted photos of the event on their Facebook pages, but many of the photos were deleted after they became public. Some students said the event was not a prom but was instead a birthday party, while others said it was just a private party. However, while claiming the event was not a prom publicly, students uploaded photos from the event to their Facebook pages labeled as "Prom 2010" and posted status updates which referred to the gathering as "prom.”
McMillen subsequently transferred out of the Itawamba high school and into Murrah High School in Jackson, Mississippi, saying she was harassed by other students blaming her for the prom controversy.
On July 20, 2010, the school district settled the case out of court by paying McMillen US$35,000 (equivalent to $43,492 in 2021), paying her attorneys' fees, and agreeing to create a non-discrimination policy that includes sexual orientation.
