Green Day Hope To 'Force Change' By Sponsoring Prom For Gay Teen

Lance Bass will also pitch in after a Mississippi high school barred Constance McMillen from her prom.

By James Montgomery, with additional reporting by Kelly Marino

Constance McMillen, a student at Itawamba Agricultural High School in Fulton, Mississippi, made headlines earlier this year when she was barred from attending senior prom with her longtime girlfriend. When McMillen persisted, the school board announced it was canceling prom entirely.

McMillen — assisted by the American Civil Liberties Union — sued the school district. In a preliminary ruling, a federal court found that the Itawamba County District had violated her First Amendment right to freedom of expression, though the judge stopped short of ordering the school to reinstate the prom.

And while the case is still pending, McMillen has found herself some rather unlikely allies, including Green Day, who, along with stars like Lance Bass and "Iron Chef" star Cat Cora, have agreed to sponsor (with the American Humanist Association) a "second-chance" prom, to be held May 8 in Tupelo, Mississippi.

Green Day aren't exactly the kind of guys you'd expect to shed tears over anything, but the first time they watched rehearsals for the Broadway musical version of "American Idiot" — opening Tuesday (April 20) at New York's St. James Theatre — they did just that.

"I was watching the actors, and I catch the eye of one of the singers, and he just gives me a little [thumbs-up] sign, and so that gave me the courage to look over at the band," "Idiot" director Michael Mayer told MTV News. "And there were tears in their eyes. I saw that what we were doing was connecting to them on a heart-and-soul level, and it wasn't about commerce and it wasn't about business. ... All of that went away, and I saw that these are just three wonderful men who made these wonderful songs, [and] we were giving it back to them as this sort of wonderful gift. I was blown away, and I thought, 'OK, there is something here.' "

Of course, we had to verify the story with the guys themselves. So when MTV News caught up with them at "Idiot" rehearsals, we asked: Did the musical really bring on the waterworks?

"All of us actually came to tears, because you don't get to see Green Day play live if you're actually in Green Day," bassist Mike Dirnt said.