and... now, a photo of her IN the tux!

Go Ceara! (she now has a facebook fan page  as well). ____________________ Officials Respond to Lesbian Student: 'No' to Tuxedo Photo by Emily Dean | Article Date: 10/18/2009 12:35 PM

School officials in Mississippi have denied the lawful request of a Mississippi lesbian student who wanted to use a photograph of her dressed in a tuxedo for her senior yearbook, reports the Examiner. Out and proud 17-year-old high school student Ceara Sturgis wanted her senior photograph in a tuxedo to be used in the 2009-10 yearbook for the Wesson Attendance Center. Her mother, Veronica Rodriguez, was informed last month by school officials her daughter's photo would not be included in the yearbook. The yearbook photo was taken over the summer in the same studio used for the school pictures. "The tux is who she is. She wears boys' clothes. She's athletic. She's gay. She's not feminine," said Rodriguez in an interview. The American Civil Liberties Union took on the case for the high school senior who is being denied placement in the yearbook. It's the first time the Mississippi ACLU has taken on a high school youth gay issue. The ACLU issued a demand letter to Principal Ronald Greer to publish the picture of Sturgis in the tuxedo. And in a statement released Friday to the Copiah County Courier, school Superintendent Ricky Clopton responded to the ACLU saying that the district has no intention of reversing the decision. "We have had our legal counsel research the validity of the position of the School District on this matter," he said in the statement. "We are informed by counsel that this exact issue has been litigated in federal court. The decisions of the federal courts completely support the policy of the district in this regard. It is the desire of the Copiah County School District to inform, first, the patrons of the district, and second, all other interested parties, that its position is not arbitrary, capricious or unlawful, but is based upon sound educational policy and legal precedent." Sturgis is a standout student at her K-12 school of about 1,000 students. She is a National Honor Society member, active in school athletics, band and other extracurricular activities. The teenager said she should get to decide how she looks in the senior photo. "I feel like I'm not important, that the school is dismissing who I am as a gay student and that they don't even care about me. All I want is to be able to be me, and to be included in the yearbook," Sturgis said in a statement. However, Sturgis is not giving up that easily and she plans on continuing her fight, "I'm standing up for a bunch of people who support me," she said. "It's an honor." Last week, a Facebook fan page set up in Sturgis' honor already has more than 450 members.