Teen Turned Away From Prom Over Cleavage Wants Apology

A Washington teen says she was humiliated and her prom night was ruined after she was turned away because school officials objected to her cleavage. Now her parents are seeking a public apology.

Brittney Minder, a senior at Central Kitsap High School in Silverdale, Wash., traveled all the way to Canada in search of the perfect prom dress, returning with a purple, strapless dress she says she fell in love with.

Upon arriving at her senior prom this past Saturday, however, she was turned away by school officials because the dress apparently revealed too much cleavage.

"In my opinion, I feel that it is because I'm bigger chested and there is more cleavage that you can see, and there's nothing I could really do about that," Minder told ABC News affiliate KOMO.

Central Kitsap High School permits strapless dresses according to its dress code. "Strapless dresses and those with spaghetti straps are allowed providing cleavage, midriff and lower back are covered," the code says.

But Minder's parents say the high school enforced the policy unfairly and want school officials to apologize.

"All women are not created equal, and you cannot compare a golf ball to a grapefruit," Brittney's mother Kimberly said.

Brittney says her gown was in fact designed for a woman with a larger than average bust size, which left her father to speculate on what exactly the school would have deemed acceptable. "A girl like Brittany should not have to go to a dance in a burlap sack because she's large busted," her father Gary told KOMO. "It's ridiculous."

"Central Kitsap High School uses a dress code for students attending school dances," school district spokesman David Beil told ABC News in an emailed statement. "Students must agree with the dress code by signing their name before they can purchase a ticket. If a student's appearance does not meet the dress code, the staff help students to come up with a solution so they can still attend the school function."

The school did not address the parent's request for an apology.

Minder was denied entrance to the senior prom until school officials made her cover her cleavage with a shawl, but she only stayed for an hour because she says she felt humiliated.

"It was tough being there after all that happened. I didn't feel comfortable. I already had a blow to my self-esteem. I didn't really want to be there anymore," she told KOMO. "An important night of my life was ruined, and there's no way I can gain that experience back."