Louisiana School Won't Allow Star Female Student to Wear Tux to Prom

Claudetteia Love, an out student and one of the brightest academic stars at Carroll High School in Monroe, La., was told she couldn't attend the prom if she wore a tuxedo.

Even though officials at Carroll High School say their ban on girls wearing tuxedos to the prom is just part of their dress code, Love and her mother claim the prohibition stems from the school's deeply homophobic culture.

"[The school principal] 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," Geraldine Jackson, Love's mother, told USA Today. "That's his exact words. 'Girls wear dresses and boys wear tuxes, and that's the way it is.' "

Love is one of the top students at Carroll and is representing her school at an upcoming scholars' banquet; she has a full scholarship next year to Jackson State University. The teenager said she planned on going to the prom with friends, but they all bowed out of attending after hearing about the school's dress code.

The prom happens April 24, so there's still time for the school to reverse their decision. A school board member is actually challenging the principal's tuxedo policy, and is taking the issue to the superintendent.