Enlarge By Rogelio V. Solis, AP Constance McMillen, 18, sued the school district after the board called off the prom because she wanted to bring a same-sex date. JACKSON, Miss.  Constance McMillen started the month graduating from a strange high school in tears. She will end it meeting President Obama, attending a benefit concert with pop legend Ronnie Spector and marching in a New York City parade. It's been that kind of year for the openly gay 18-year-old who made national news when her Fulton, Miss., high school canceled its prom after she asked to bring her girlfriend. McMillen will attend a White House reception Tuesday for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens from around the nation in recognition of gay pride month. ON DEADLINE: Officials deny steering lesbian teen to 'sham prom' TV: Gay teen gets $30,000 on 'Ellen' The White House confirmed Friday that Obama will host the event and is expected to deliver brief remarks. After the prom controversy, McMillen said, she faced a hostile environment from her peers and transferred out of her northeast Mississippi school district to a school 200 miles away in Jackson. She said she broke down in tears at the graduation ceremony. "I didn't really want to walk, but I did it for my parents," she said. "My name wasn't on the program." On Friday, McMillen will be the guest of honor at a benefit concert in Woodstock, N.Y., with Spector, best known for her hits with the Ronettes in the early 1960s. The money raised will go toward McMillen's college education and the American Civil Liberties Union's Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Project and AIDS Project. Two days later, she will be in New York City as one of the grand marshals in the city's gay pride parade. "I'll never get my senior year back," she said. "But the experiences that I have had because of this have really made it a lot easier. It has really helped me." Christine Sun, an ACLU attorney who is representing McMillen in a lawsuit against the school district, said, "She has been able to handle this adversity with incredible grace and dignity." McMillen sued the district after the school board called off the prom. A federal judge agreed the district had violated her constitutional rights. As rumors of parent-sponsored dances swirled around the city of 3,900, the district sent a letter to McMillen's lawyer steering her toward a party at a country club. McMillen arrived to find fewer than 10 other students there. Most of her classmates were at a separate party. "For any teenager, that has to be a traumatic experience," Sun said. McMillen plans to attend community college in Memphis this fall and transfer to the University of Southern Mississippi to get a degree in psychology. Joyner reports for The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger. Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more