By JAMIE GRISWOLD
@jamiegriswold
MyNorthwest.com

Constance McMillen, the Mississippi high school student that gained national attention fighting for her right to attend prom in a tuxedo with her girlfriend, is in Seattle appearing at ACLU-Washington's 75th birthday party at Cal Anderson Park.

McMillen told KIRO Radio's Dave Ross that her campaign, which gained over 400,000 facebook supporters and ended with a judge's decision in her favor, began very simply.

"It started out and it was just something I wanted, just a simple want that I wanted to do, and then I realized it was much bigger than that, and that I couldn't quit because it was not only important to myself anymore it was important to hundreds of thousands of other people."

McMillen says she originally contacted the ACLU about a fellow student when the ACLU told her that her school's decision about the conditions of her attending prom was its own issue.

"My school had policy saying that same sex dates were not allowed at school. I had asked if they could change their policy and I asked if I could wear a tuxedo and they told me, 'No' on both of them," McMillen says. "I called the ACLU about him [a fellow student] and I was telling them his story and then I gave a reference to how I knew that it was discrimination by telling them my story, and they're like 'Oh by the way they can't do that to you either.' I really had no idea that the school couldn't do this."

McMillen says the ACLU told her the school would likely change their policy and that would be that.

"They [the ACLU] told me 'Your case is probably not going to be that big, because we've sent a lot of demand letters like this and schools just wind up changing their policy, so it's probably not going to be a big deal.' Then when the school canceled prom on a Wednesday night, that next Thursday morning I was on CNN."

When the school didn't change their policy, McMillen says, the ACLU went into action.

"The ACLU filed a lawsuit because they wouldn't change their policy, well they canceled prom all together. So we went to court and the judge didn't make them put the prom back on, but he did rule that they violated my first amendment rights in three ways by not letting me wear a tux, by not letting me bring my girlfriend and by canceling prom."

McMillen says it was the kind messages from her supporters that kept her going through the fight. "A lot of times it got really hard and I wanted to quit but all the people that were messaging me on facebook, and the letters I was getting, the celebrity outreach, it just kept me pushing."

McMillen will join the ACLU on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Cal Anderson Park to celebrate what the ACLU describes as "75 years of protecting civil liberties, including the freedom to love whomever you choose."

You might also be interested in:

• The Dave Ross Show
• Let Constance Take Her Girlfriend to Prom! facebook page