[Roberts:] All eyes are on Gulfport, Mississippi this morning as the president arrived for the first leg of his three-state tour. But about 150 miles north of the gulf, in a small town called Wesson, the big news this season was all about the high school yearbook. It was here that a teenager senior picture triggered an unexpected backlash and sparked outrage throughout the state. Soledad O'Brien with one teenager's story.
[Soledad O'brien, Cnn Special Correspondent:] Before you went in to get your yearbook, what did you think was going to happen? [voice-over]: For 18-year-old senior Ceara Sturgis, her high school yearbook is more than a collection of memories.
[Ceara Sturgis, High School Senior:] Yes.
[O'brien:] It's about her struggle to be who she is in tiny Wesson, Mississippi, population about 2,000. [on camera]: How would you describe yourself?
[Sturgis:] 18 years old. I'm gay. I don't like people to push me around especially when I have the right. And I don't give up.
[O'brien:] What she didn't give up on was her fight to get this picture in her yearbook. A picture she took wearing a tuxedo instead of the traditional dress, called a drape. Ceara said she tried taking a picture wearing the drape.
[Sturgis:] I started crying. And mom was like, well, you don't have to take it. Let's just try it in the tux. So we tried it. And I thought it looked pretty good. Fresh.
[Veronica Rodriguez, Ceara's Mother:] First day of school I went to the school and told the principal. And he said, well, girls in drapes, boys in tuxedos. And I said well you know how she is. She's gay.
[O'brien:] Principal Ronald Greer refused to print the picture of Ceara in a tux in the yearbook. Neither the principal nor the school's superintendent would talk with us. After repeated calls, the district office administrator told us, quote, "We are done." Back in October, the principal told the Jackson TV station, he wasn't able to comment, quote, "on that particular situation." Ceara and her mom believe the main reason the photo was vetoed, Principal Greer's attitude towards homosexuality. Ceara's yearbook fight made news.
[Crowd:] Surprise.
[O'brien:] And rallied gay students and activists in Mississippi. They threw her a surprise birthday party to thank her for being a role model for gay teenagers.
[Unidentified Female:] Yes.
[Izszy Pellegrine, Gay Youth Activist:] Ceara's story didn't surprise any one in the activist community. We all knew that things like, what happened to Ceara were happening and continue to happen to kids all over the state. I think we are immensely grateful that Ceara was willing and able to step forward.
[Unidentified Male:] Here, you took mine.
[Sturgis:] OK.
[O'brien:] For prom.
[Sturgis:] It's really tight.
[O'brien:] Ceara wore a tux. But didn't take a girl deciding instead to take her long time best friend, a boy named Austin.
[Sturgis:] Oh, you look cute.
[O'brien:] This tux didn't cause a controversy. But, shortly after prom, Ceara got her copy of the yearbook. Her portrait wasn't in it. [on camera]: Where would you be?
[Sturgis:] Between there and there.
[O'brien:] So you should be like right here.
[Sturgis:] Yes. I figured that if we kept fighting for, for a little bit they would just end up changing their mind because I didn't think it was a big deal.
[O'brien:] What did it feel like to not be there?
[Sturgis:] It made me sad.
[O'brien:] Well, tell me.
[Sturgis:] It made me feel bad.
[O'brien:] I'm not trying to make you feel bad. But I want people to understand because other people will say, oh, for God's sake, it's just a picture. So explain to us what does it feel like to not be where you're supposed to be?
[Sturgis:] It's not fair.
[O'brien:] Why is it not fair?
[Sturgis:] I don't know OK, let's say we put it in the yearbook, would anyone hurt like I hurt since I'm not in the yearbook? It wouldn't hurt anyone.
[O'brien:] She's thinking about suing. It won't put her picture in Wesson's 2010 yearbook, but she says it may help other gay kids in Mississippi.
[Unidentified Female:] All right, now just do a serious face.
[O'brien:] And at this point, that's what Ceara is thinking about. Reporting in America, Soledad O'Brien, CNN, Wesson, Mississippi.
[Roberts:] And later this week, Ceara's story inspires another Mississippi teen to stand up and speak out. We'll have her story. And later this month, don't miss Soledad O'Brien's "Gary and Tony Have a Baby." That's June 24th here on CNN at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. "LARRY KING LIVE" starts in just a few minutes. But coming up next, the World Cup rules and late night scores.
[David Letterman, Host, "late Show With David Letterman":] World Cup soccer happens every four years. It's like a Rush Limbaugh wedding.