Students' Rights: LGBTQ+ Students & the Right to Bring a Date to Your School's Dance

In public schools in the U.S., LGBTQ+ students have a right to attend and enjoy school dances just like anyone else. You also have a legal right to bring a date of any gender identity and sexual orientation. Even though you sometimes hear about schools barring same-sex couples from dances, doing so is likely to be against the law.

According to the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, your public school has a legal obligation to respect the sexual orientation of all its students and not to discriminate against students on the basis of their sex - this includes at school dances.

In other words, you can bring anyone you want to as a date to your school’s dance, as long as they are also in high school, regardless who they are. Whether you want to bring your boyfriend, girlfriend, partner, or just a friend, you both have aright to attend your dance together without discrimination, no matter what either of your gender identities or sexual orientations are.