Cochran, Georgia Gets Education On Gay Rights Thanks To Derrick Martin

Seems like there is a real need for some of the less open-minded in Cochran, Georgia to stop and pay attention to the way the rest of the world operates.  Being anti- gay is just not cool.   I can not believe that Amber Duskin will not go to the prom based on a gay classmate attending.  Would I be wrong to assume that Duskin is not college bound and will end up plucking chickens for a living?  On the other hand Derrick Martin is proving to his hometown, and the nation, what an educated and principled person looks like.  This blog will keep readers posted on this matter as the events unfold.

A small group of Bleckley County High School students staged a rally at the courthouse Thursday evening to protest their high school allowing a gay student to take his boyfriend to the prom.

Bleckley school system officials last week granted senior Derrick Martin permission to take another boy to prom. The decision marked the first decision in the county’s history about a same-sex couple attending the prom there.  

“We knew Derrick was gay,” said Keith Bowman Jr., a high school senior who showed up at the rally. “They don’t want (Cochran) to be known as a pro gay town.”

Most of the dozen attending the rally said they weren’t bothered by Martin being gay or being allowed to attend prom with his partner. But they said the school system’s decision has brought too much attention to their small town.

The rally’s organizer, Amber Duskin, sent text messages to high school students Wednesday asking them to show up.

The senior said she asked her high school to return her prom ticket money and does not plan to attend because of Martin.

“I don’t believe in going up there and dancing with gay guys like that,” she said. “It’s also not just him bringing a boy. It was bringing all this attention to it.”

A group of college students also stopped by the rally but not to protest.

“We’re for it,” said Carly Nobles, a Middle Georgia College student. “It takes a lot for someone to come out (as gay).

“This is a small town. Some of these students are sheltered, and I don’t think they can think for themselves.”