NYC to Open Gay High School...

[FeeFee]

NEW YORK, July 28 — New York City is creating the nation’s first public high school for gays, bisexuals and transgender students. The Harvey Milk High School will enroll about 100 students and open in a newly renovated building in the fall. It is named after San Francisco’s first openly gay city supervisor, who was assassinated in 1978.
I THINK EVERYBODY feels that it’s a good idea because some of the kids who are gays and lesbians have been constantly harassed and beaten in other schools,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday. “It lets them get an education without having to worry.”
The school is an expansion of a two-classroom public school program that began in 1984. A gay-rights youth advocacy group, the Hetrick-Martin Institute, has managed and financed the program since its inception.
The new school’s principal, William Salzman, said the school will be academically challenging and will follow mandatory English and math programs. It also will specialize in computer technology, arts and culinary arts.
State Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long criticized the creation of the school.
“Is there a different way to teach homosexuals? Is there gay math? This is wrong,” Long said. “There’s no reason these children should be treated separately.”
The Hetrick-Martin Institute’s Web site says the school will give its students “an opportunity to obtain a secondary education in a safe and supportive environment. ... We believe that success requires the ability to respect and value the diverse human community.”

[enlightenment06]

Yeah I just checked out an article about that. I don't think that taxpayer dollars should be going to this school. I think as a private school it'd be fine, but I think it's inappropriate to have a special gay public school.

[Steeltrap]

Originally posted by enlightenment06
Yeah I just checked out an article about that. I don't think that taxpayer dollars should be going to this school. I think as a private school it'd be fine, but I think it's inappropriate to have a special gay public school.

You bring up a good point about taxpayer dollars. I don't think they could restrict enrollment if this is a public school. Watch someone file a lawsuit.

[Sistermadly]

Hm.. this is a tough one. I know that high school can be a tough place for GLBT teens, but I'm not sure about the stigma of a 'gay' high school. It's giving credence to the idea that gay people are "special" and need separate institutions in order to survive. In a society where gays and lesbians are fighting to be seen as more normal (i.e., gay marriages), I think this sends a conflicting message.

[AKA2D '91]

Don't shoot me, but aren't Gays and Lesbians tax payers, too?

[Senusret I]

I think that legally, they won't be able to discriminate in their enrollment policies. I think if there were to be a lawsuit, it would be a result of a heterosexual student being denied admittance. Even if they DID discriminate against heterosexual students, would a student or parent really have time to go through all that just to make a point?

I kinda thought that Harvey Milk was already a high school, but I see it was just a special program.

It is understandable why people might have a problem with the school. But I think it is also the responsibility of the school system to provide a safe environment for all of its students, an environment that is free from violence and persecution based on anything...in this case, sexual orientation.

Ideally, it would be best to change the system itself and guarantee equal protection for all students. But I don't think American schools have yet reached the point where they can guarantee ANY child's safety, much less a child who identifies as gay or lesbian.

Originally posted by AKA2D '91
Don't shoot me, but aren't Gays and Lesbians tax payers, too?

Yup.

[Lady2000]

I saw a MTV True Life about a similar school in Dallas, TX called Walt Whitman High School. After seeing this program, I'm split on the issue. On one hand, yes some GLBT students may need an alternative to going to a public high school because they have a higher chance of a violent crimes happening to them in high school if they are open about their sexuality. I also think that often times teens need to enjoy high school with others whom they can identify with, so they can feel a sense of normality. If people are constantly ridiculing you and attacking your beliefs sooner or later you would want another option or you will quit school all together. Then on the other hand, alot of people have to go through alot of riducule and hard times in high school so what makes these teens different. Taking into account also that the GLBT society wants to be equal to everyone else, why should there be a separate school, it's hard to achieve that equality that you want if you are segregated from others.

I do not however think that the schools should be private, because everyone is entitled to an education no matter what their sexuality. If some of these teens do not feel comfortable in this environment then they need these alternatives. I compare this school to some of the schools set up for teens who are having children but want to continue their education. It may be an alternative for someone who may not otherwise go to school.

[Dionysus]

Just as with schools that are segregated by gender and race, an exclusively gay school will only shelter them. Once they go to college and get out in the real world, they will HAVE to deal with homophobes and vice versa. IMO I think it is better that they adapt at an early age, than having to deal w/ intolerance later on. I'm not even going there about colleges and jobs looking at their transcripts from a gay school-immediate disadvantage.

At the same time, I understand the want to create an environment where gay students will not be bothered because of their lifestyle, but I think isolation is a bad way of solving the problem of harrassment…especially being a public school…which comes out of our pockets. When will it stop? Will we have public schools for nerds, gothics, the ugly, etc?

[AKA2D '91]

Are we going back to the days of segregation?

[exquizit]

Originally posted by Lady2000
I saw a MTV True Life about a similar school in Dallas, TX called Walt Whitman High School. After seeing this program, I'm split on the issue. On one hand, yes some GLBT students may need an alternative to going to a public high school because they have a higher chance of a violent crimes happening to them in high school if they are open about their sexuality.

I was thinking of the same show, I just didn't remember where I'd seen it. I think it showed that no matter what type of school they're in there's still problems (i.e gossip, fighting, bullies etc.) Soon after they left the school they still had to face the harsh reality of the rest of the world.

I'd have to agree that I'm split down the middle too.

[tunatartare]

I don't think that this is such a great idea because it will shelter the kids and give them a false image of the world. Especially in a place like NYC which is in no way like the rest of the world. By going to a high school for their sexual orientations (trying to be PC here) it's not going to prepare these kids for what's going to happen to them when they get to college and have to come face-to-face with kids who don't support gay rights or who don't understand where they're coming from. Also, I think that by creating a high school based on sexual orientation of all things, the NYC Board of Ed is setting these kids up for trouble later on in life. Not all college admissions people are going to favor this and it might hurt the kids when they try to apply to schools. And I'm sorry, but let's face it, if I were a college admissions counselor, I would much rather read an essay about a gay kid who went to a regular high school and had to deal with the pressures involved and was able to come out of it on top and a stronger person for it than I would like to read an essay of a kid who couldn't deal or chose not to and took the easy way out by going to an all-gay high school. It shows that the kids who stuck around had more adversity and character.

[starang21]

Originally posted by AKA2D '91
Don't shoot me, but aren't Gays and Lesbians tax payers, too?

but so is everyone else. if it's tax funded, then everyone else should be allowed to attend as well.


EDIT: whoops, buffalo soldier beat me to it.

[1savvydiva]

Well, I totally disagree with this. Heck, at my old school, myself and several of my friends felt uncomfortable at times! We felt like, and were, the minority. I got called the "N" word, more than once I might add! I am not trying to discount what these teens go through, I am sure that it is hard. My point is that if someone started a high school for African-American students on the sole basis that those students felt discriminated against and then wanted to fund that school with federal dollars, a whole bunch of people would be upset about that.

High school is not a fun time for a LOT of people, but taking the weak/different/poor/minority/etc. out of the 'general population' is not going to help the situation, if anything it would give them a distorted view of the world.

I think that money, or a portion of it, would be better spent in implementing programs to teach sensitivity...that's the problem! The problem in these public schools is not the fact that the GBLT student are in attendence, the problem is the "chosen" few that decide to harrass those students. If school districts impose a no-tolerance type program for these offenders, and make themselves readily availble to those students claiming to have had problems, a lot of these issues would not escalate to a problem.

[MaMaBuddha]

the harvey milk school does not discriminate to those that are heterosexual. it started off as a fantastic program for teenager that identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered, then opened up to troubled teens of all lifestyles.

i have mixed feelings about the school because although it is considered a safe space for those teens that are of that alternative lifetyle and helps them complete their education. it does not shelter them from the way of the world becoming a responsible adult.

i volunteer there as a advisor at HMI and love it.

as far as tax dollars are concern...i think the tax payers should be concerned about the drug abusers that are able to able to walk into hospitals and obtain free needles with no questions asked, or perhaps worry about why not enough tax dollars are going towards schools which are currently over crowded.

[lovelyivy84]

I am cautiously in favor of the project.

I don't think the school could legally refuse admission to any student regardless of sexual orientation, but a child who elected to go to that school would go with the understanding of the program's targets, cutting down the chances of hate crimes.

I will have to read more about how the school will operate and admission policies before making a decision.