Editorial: Same-sex ball partners

You shall go to the ball - unless you go to St Patrick's College and want to bring a mate who's left school or goes to another school.
The Wellington boys' school is probably wishing it wasn't having a ball at all this year after several days of media ruckus over its decision not to allow a student to take an ex-student, a male, as his partner.
The move was, of course seen instantly as homophobic and decried across the mainstream and social media landscapes. More than 12,000 people were said to have joined a Facebook group formed in response to the policy.
Whether or not the boys are homosexual is - of course - none of our business, and the school has taken great pains to point out that it wasn't barring the pair because of sexuality but because ex-pupils and boys from other schools weren't allowed.
The school's rector Father Paul Martin was quoted yesterday as saying their ball was for their boys only - and that would be where their argument falls down.
Who are all their boys dancing with, if not students from other schools?
If girls from other schools are okay, and sexuality is not an issue, why shouldn't a student invite a boy from another school?
In a perfect world maybe every student would have a boyfriend or girlfriend to accompany them to the ball, but as you know it's not a perfect world.
Most students would rather take a mate than go alone.
And as a Rotorua teen says in yesterday's Daily Post story, it shouldn't matter whether a student is taking a same-sex student to the ball as a friend or as a boyfriend or girlfriend.
It's good to see Rotorua schools taking a commonsense approach to the issue, if it's an issue at all.
For example, at Rotorua Lakes High students can bring dates from outside the school, same-sex or not, as long as they sign a form saying they'll stick to school rules.
Girls' High has a similar rule and at John Paul College it's quite common for students to take friends as ball dates.
For St Pat's to take such a rigid stance without considering measures such as those adopted by Rotorua schools was to invite a storm of unwanted publicity.