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Loading ...Chicago mulls gay high school
09.11.2008 4:30pm EDT
(Chicago, Illinois) Chicago school officials are considering a plan to create a separate high school for LGBT students, but the proposal is not without its detractors – both outside and within the gay community.
Some LGBT advocates hail the idea, but others warn the school would isolate gay students. Conservatives call the proposal a waste of taxpayer money.A 2005 study commissioned by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network found that gay-bashing remains a major problem in the nation’s schools.
Three-quarters of students surveyed across America said that over the past year they heard derogatory remarks such as “faggot” or “dyke” frequently or often at school, and nearly nine out of 10 reported hearing “that’s so gay” or “you’re so gay” – meaning stupid or worthless – frequently or often.
Over a third of students said they experienced physical harassment at school on the basis of sexual orientation and more than a quarter on the basis of their gender expression.
Nearly one-in-five students reported they had been physically assaulted because of their sexual orientation and over a tenth because of their gender expression.
The study also showed that bullying has a negative impact on learning.
LGBT students were five times more likely to report having skipped school in the last month because of safety concerns than did the general population of students.
Nevertheless, some LGBT community leaders say a separate school for gay students could give them a false sense of security and make them unprepared for life outside schoolhouse walls.
“If we’re going to set up a separate school, let’s put the bullies in the school and not our gays kids,” Rick Garcia, public policy director of Equality Illinois told the Chicago Tribune. “Kids should be able to go to school in a safe environment wherever they are.”
Conservatives call the proposal for the school a misuse of public funds and charge it would require administrators to take a moral stance on homosexuality.
The plan must still undergo a series of public hearings – the first is set for Sept. 18. It then would require approval by a Chicago Public Schools evaluation team with the final decision up to the head of the school system, Arne Duncan.
The earliest it could be up and running would be 2012.
The first all-gay high school in the U.S. opened in New York City in 2003, and is named for slain San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk.
I am a proud member of the LGBT community and I think this is an outrage. Our society has reversed and here we stand once again facing an issue of segregation. The schools need to stand up against the bullies because they will only find someone else to pick on when the “gays” are no longer there.
Yea! When I said “safe heaven” I meant for a variety of kids being bullied not just gay kids.
I thought that the Supreme Court of the United States had made “separate but equal” schools a thing of the past. How quickly we forget. The solution is not to have separate schools for sundry minorities. The solution lies in learning to respect all citizens and their right to exist in an environment of safety which is conducive to their being able to learn and benefit from the educational opportunities available.
First of all, schools every where and at every level need to adopt a zero tolerance policy for “bullying of any kind.” Children rise to the level of expectations. If young children are allowed to get away with bully behavior, they will continue to exhibit that behavior. If that behavior has consequences which are severe enough then that behavior will be extinguished. Those types of programs take money and commitment over years of implementation. This old attitude of bullying is just something to be endured is a load of bull feces. There is no reason to accept such a fatalistic approach. Positive action is required to stop bullying by making it unproductive for the bully to gain from the practice.
Secondly, teachers and administrators and all personnel in all schools must be made aware of the ethics codes of their states and governing organizations and forced to adhere to those standards. The success of education rests with adults being required to do their jobs. Teachers in the Chicago area are many times members of the NEA and as such should follow the Ethics Code.
# Shall make reasonable effort to protect the student from conditions harmful to learning or to health and safety.
Teachers who stand by and let bullying happen need to be made to answer for their actions. Failure to interfere in the bullying process should have consequences for adults which allow it to happen or who turn a blind eye to such activities.
# Shall not intentionally expose the student to embarrassment or disparagement.
Since teachers should not do such, they should not allow such to be done. Supervision is the name of the game. If teachers let it be known in no uncertain terms that such behavior is not acceptable in their class or in their school that standard will become the norm for their students. Practice makes perfect. If bullying is allowed or tolerated or ignored it will act like the cancer it is and someone will become its victim.
# Shall not on the basis of race, color, creed, sex, national origin, marital status, political or religious beliefs, family, social or cultural background, or sexual orientation, unfairly–
a. Exclude any student from participation in any program
b. Deny benefits to any student
c. Grant any advantage to any student
That means that all students deserve to be served by the school, the teachers, administrators and all school personnel without having to worry that they will not be safe. If teachers do not want to deal with all students, including gays, then possibly they need to find another profession.
The third and most difficult portion of getting this problem under control is the earlier a child is exposed to all the different families in the world the more it will be something that is no big deal. Until the religious right comes to realize that children’s literature and stories about princes and penguins are not going to make children gay but only more tolerant of their neighbors and their friends, life is going to be difficult for gay children. We have our work cut out for us but “separate but equal” has already been tried and proved to be a failure.
You don’t do this. You have a special school for the bigots. Maybe call it a reform school, where you teach them what democracy and freedom mean. And you teach them how the criminality of the right wing churches over millenia have meant not just bullying, but the destruction of civilizations, and the 1000 years of the dark ages.
This is just another kind of segregation–I completely agree that if anyone’s to be moved out of the “normal” high schools, it should be the bullies.
Also, I can’t speak for everyone, but in my experience (I just recently graduated college), high school students are still discovering and exploring their sexual identities. This is not to say any LGBT students are “faking”, but rather that high school is a period of exploration in all areas of life. It’s not a time when kids need to be forced into a certain place in society, based on an identity they are still in the process of defining.
ALSO, this takes the gay kids away from the straight kids–and the straight kids away from the gay kids. A lot of my conservative friends have become more tolerant of the LGBT community through exposure–by making friends with LGBT people and realizing they’re just as weird and amazing as everyone else in the world. You can’t just hide the LGBT students away from the other kids–it deprives both groups of the opportunity to grow and learn.
I agree with a few others a LGBTQ HS at first glance is wonderful but at second thought it is making kids an automatic target. If this is going to be the plan it should not be broad casted as such it should be a safe heaven for not only LGBTQ students but those that get harassed in school point blank period. As long as those that aren’t LGBTQ have a clear understanding that hatered shown to these particular students WILL NOT be tolerated then I see it working better this way. But until these decisions are final I believe every school starting in Middle school should have a club for LGBTQ students like they do in college. I think this would help curve a lot of suicides, acting out, harassment, etc. Also another thing schools should start doing is explaining the different variations in gender…educating kids while they are young will stop a lot of harassment as well. The better they understand what effect their words and actions have the less things will occur.
-Antoyneo
Perhaps I am out of place to be commenting here because I myself never came “out” in high school. However, having just graduated last year, I’m no outsider to how those who were brave enough to be true to who they are were treated. To me, this idea, while intending the best and good in theory seems extremely detrimental to me.
Yes, it would reduce discrimination in the school but think of the repercussions of a “gay” school. The school itself would be a possible target for hate crimes and the implementation of such a school would create a de facto “separate but equal” type ideal. And I just don’t see how that would be taking steps toward equality. That said, I know how a friend of mine suffered socially and psychologically throughout high school. In that light, a safe-haven such as one offered by the proposed school is something I find myself unable to outright object to.
I do like the idea of having a safe haven for teenage gays, but I’m not convinced that a separate school is the answer.
It still would not stop bullying, because sexual orientation is only ONE of the many things that kids get bullied for. To name some others, being too short, being too tall, being too skinny, being too fat, being unathletic, not being smart, having a physical deformity, being poor, the list goes on. A gay school will not prevent bullying because there are always more aggressive people and more passive people.
I think the money to make gay schools would be better spent making programs for education on sexuality. It’s not a fix-all, but it would surely help.
Also, for straight people to have exposure to gay people, (though I wish I had a better answer to prevent bullying) I think it’s just as good in the long run for everyone.
If we can fight ignorance, then we can get closer to acceptance.
I think a better idea would be a school for people who are routinely bullied for whatever reason, some kind of safe haven.
I was never bullied at school but I was always more of a “jock” type person even though I’m 100% proudly gay but I know other kids weren’t as fortunate.
One kid who was always being beat on because he was “gay” now has a wife and two kids.
Given time this discrimination will disappear but a general “safe house” school would be a useful interim fix IMO.
On the face of it, it seems as if building more gay high schools would be a great idea but after thinking about it, I realize that it’s actually a bad idea. If I had gone to an all-gay high school – I would have had much less contact with “the majority” (straight people). If I went to a gay high school, I think that almost all of my high-school friends would have been gay. How would this have prepared me for the future? Most of the people that I work with are straight. Maybe separation is equivalent to marginalization! Are we that afraid! If gay high schools become the trend, I can envision creating an us-versus-them attitude (which doesn’t exist now). We would be in “our school” and they would be in “their school”. Maybe the students from the gay high school would interact with the students from the straight high school at the football, baseball or hockey competitions!
I’m certain that the gay high schools across the land would always have the very best in teachers and facilities!?!
I think that it would have been great fun to have gone to a gay high school but can’t see how it will help the gay community in the long-run. Will separating our gay students from their straight peers help us move faster towards mutual understanding, true equality and equal rights?
This is a catastrophically foolish notion. In this country, a public think-tank has recently suggested that black Caribbean students should have their own high-schools to combat academic under-achievement among black boys. I think this is dangerous, not only because it isolates a minority and makes it more inward-looking, but also because it impoverishes the majority. Adult society is increasingly diverse; diversity is a value kids should learn about in the playground. This cannot happen in an environment where minorities voluntarily ghetto-ise themselves, and so deprive both the majority and the minority of the experiences that come from confronting difference. I think the same is true in this case. The solution is to make ‘mainstream’ schools more accepting and safe environments. This will no doubt be difficult and it will take patience, but it is better than trying to resort to easy answers like segregated schools.
I don’t think you can call it segregation if it is completely voluntary where you go. I think it shows that schools cannot handle the bully problem. Some kids might like a gay school better — especially if they are into drama or art. It is nice to do a play about gay kids and guys might like to draw guys in a class where everyone else likes to draw guys. LOL But they really need to work on the bully problem more instead of thinking separate schools are the best.
@Natas; It’s a “part of life” to get picked on in school?
Maybe where you grew up you, or whoever you knew, were just “picked on” but where I grew up, it was a struggle to stay alive being openly gay, and no I am not effeminate at all.
I had people following me home from school in pick-up trucks with bats and 2×4’s, people egging my car, calling my home threatening to kill me and my family, kids shoving me down flights of stairs, destroying my instrument in band, keying my car, etc.
I’m sorry but I don’t believe it’s a “part of life” to have those sort of things happen to you, just for being who you are. YOU may not have experienced much growing up, but 4 years ago, all of that happened to me on a daily basis.
While I agree a separate school would simply isolate them from the rest of society, I do not agree with your idiotic statement that it’s something they simply need to deal with and get over. You, my friend, are an idiot. Plain and simple.
I think it’s a fabulous idea!! This way kids can go to school and not worry about being attacked and/or verbally abused!1t’s not isolating them it’s protecting them & giving them a chance to be who they are w/o worrying about being abused!
Yes, it’d be ideal to have a school where us gay teens can go and study without looking over our damn shoulder every secondd with paranoia, but that’s not going to happen anytime soon. If I could go to a gay-friendly school, I KNOW my grades would improve drastically, as well as my psychological wellbeing. I’d rather ditch school than risk getting jumped by some dickheads just because I am who I am. I’d seize the opportunity to go to a school like this in a heartbeat.