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Loading ...Gay community divided on LGBT high school
09.19.2008 3:25pm EDT
(Chicago) A public hearing on the pros and cons of a high school for LGBT students has found divisions within Chicago’s gay community on the advantages of such a school.
About 200 people attended the hearing, the first step in the process. It still requires approval by a Chicago Public Schools evaluation team with the final decision up to the head of the school system, Arne Duncan.Called the Social Justice High School—Pride Campus it would offer a core curriculum preparing students for college, The Chicago Tribune reports. The earliest it could be up and running would be 2012.
Among the proponents of the school was Chad Weiden, who is openly gay and currently an assistant principal at the Social Justice High School. He would become principal of Pride Campus, the paper reports.
“[We want] to continue to provide a college-prep campus for students who are often overlooked. Gay, lesbian and transgender students are often overlooked in our district. And this is a school for all students,” Weiden told the hearing, according to The Tribune.
But Andy Thayer, of the Gay Liberation Network, voiced what he sees as the downside of the school. Thayer told the hearing it could give students a false sense of security and ill prepare them for the real world.
He also said that he was concerned that the school would allow Chicago Public School administrators to ignore their responsibility for making sure gay and lesbian students throughout the whole school system are being treated respectfully.
“My fear is that the rest of the system will be let off the hook,” Thayer said. “The notion that the Pride Campus is a silver bullet to set aside all needs of [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] youth is mistaken.”
Weiden said that if the proposal gains final approval the school would have about 600 students.
The first all-gay high school in the U.S. opened in New York City in 2003, named for slain San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk.
A 2005 study commissioned by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network found that gay-bashing is a major problem in the nation’s schools.
Three-quarters of students surveyed across America said that in the 2004-2005 school year they heard derogatory remarks such as “faggot” or “dyke” frequently or often at school, and nearly nine out of ten 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 had 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 the general population of students.
South Carolina has a charter school for just about everything. I wonder when we will get funding for a school for GLBT students with a football team that will win a state championship?
i love to go to the school
To jibii,
You may never have fully realized you were gay, but somehow, those around you saw it. Your “gothness” did not hide your “gayness”. You were just sticking your head in the sand.
I am happy that you are now out. You will live a much happier life and you will be glad you did for the remainder of a wonderful and productive life. You go girl!
An ALL_GAY school is nothing more than a gas chamber for the bigots to turn on the fire. The gay children will all be in one place, and an easy target. How can anyone NOT see that?
The bigots and haters believe that it is better to blow them all up in one fell swoop and never have to deal with the “sick queer perverts” ever again.
The solution is to put the bigots and haters into a very secure institution that is already funded and well planned.
Why can’t the school distract address bullying directly and enact a zero-tolerance policy?
Saves money on having a new school AND protects the straight students who can get bullied just as bad as gay ones.
For example, my junior high was the literal definition of Hell for me. But I got bullied because I was goth, not gay (didn’t even know I was until a couple years later).
Separating the victims from the problem doesn’t solve the problem.
I personally believe that the most important elements of this debate are ’students’ and ‘choice’. Students have the right to be safe and to make choices that affect their own lives. Some may choose to stay in traditional school settings for their own reasons and yet others should have the option to go to a school which they feel is safe, understands their day to day existence, where they can meet openly with ‘like-minded’ individuals etc. Every person is an individual and copes differently in different contexts, why not maintain/provide both solutions? This is unfortunately another example of a ‘box’ mentality i.e. one rule to suit them all.
I have experienced discrimination and prejudice at high school like many, but that’s my story and how I coped is different to the way others will cope based on background, support systems, peers, family etc. Not every gay youth wants to (or can) make a political statement about their existence and be righteous about demanding equity and freedom from prejudice, they just want to get on and learn. With the internet, text bullying, expectations of how one should look and behave bombarding our youth, discrimination and abuse provides for a far nastier existence for many of our gay youths today at high school than it is for many earlier generations.
I SAY GIVE THE KIDS A CHOICE OF SCHOOL.
I am inclined to agree with the individual that feels that other schools will be let off of the hook. Why not invest the money involved in getting the “gay” school off the ground in encouraging true unity in the regular school sytems. Haven’t we been separate long enough?
OMG! Am I haveing de j’vu? “Seperate but equal” education has raised its ugly head again. It was a failed social experiment for opressed southern blacks; it will surely fail for harrassed northern gays and lesbians children. Segregation in any form, no matter what the stated intent might be, is an act of apartied and only serves to give the dominent society greater control. What dunder-headed idea will well-meaning social activiest resurect, next, to solve a social problems that should never exist if only existing anti-violence laws were inforced immediately and at the local level? In the future world can we expect Gay-American gettos, or Homosexual pograms, and how about walled concentration camps? Creating a “special” school for otherwise normal children should not be tolerated. How can anyone possibly think that a segregation and isolation can prepare school children, regardless of their physical, mental, intellectual, or sexual orientation, to function in the real world? This idea is taking the Mommyism much to far. Lordy, save us from the do-gooders who think they know, absolutely and always, what is best for us. The issue is school-yard harrassement — which that is something that can be solved by enforcing dicipline, changing violent behavior, and introducting peer-to-peer social counceling at an early age.
Many people blogging in on this topic think “segregation” and assume a most extreme position on the issue of this school. Now, hold on. This school isn’t being touted as the only solution to the problem of anti-Gay harassment in our schools. Let me say it again, NOT THE ONLY SOLUTION…but one of many. A screening process of some kind should be used for GLBT youth who want to attend this school. Just because you belong to a sexual minority doesn’t mean you absolutely must attend Social Justice High School. Wouldn’t that be a nice option for a kid who is beaten up regularly (or threatened regularly), listens to anti-Gay slurs with some frequency (and can never concentrate in the classroom/with a GPA of something like a 2.0 when he or she could be much closer to a 4.0), avoids school sports, skips school, practices unsafe sexual practices (because it’s hard to learn how to care about yourself in a truly abusive environment) and could easily engage in drug use, to numb out the pain of everyday life. Life is more about survival not getting an education that will help them in an increasingly complex world. With all due respect, I believe that many of us adults are missing the tragedy of this picture. The kids in our community are out fighting our old wars of homophobia every day. They are on the front lines while we (adults) sit back at home, figuratively speaking, debating the politics of “their” war. Many of these kids are crumbling under the strain of this war while we debate the merits of long-term solutions, at the very real expense of a short-term solution…a reprieve for our kids on the front lines. We need to put our energy behind allowing for a few more short-term solutions that will save young lives. (Again, look at the statistics on suicide among GLBT youth.) To use more of a metaphor, many GLBT youth are struggling to survive behind enemy lines and have not base camp, no perimeter, and few people in sight to help them, in their individual schools. Schools like Social Justice Hight School are giving many of these young people an option for survival. As adults, we should never forget where “we” came from. We survived. Many young people do not survive a homophobic environment. A friend of mine from my small hometown actually did make the decision to kill himself due to the harassment he was receiving from the local community. When you debate this decision think about the immediate safety of our kids. I really don’t care about the current politics or history lessons. I care about saving the lives of our kids…do you? Again, schools like Social Justice High School are just part of the answer…not meant to be the whole solution. We have the opportunity to give our kids more than what most of us had when we are their age. Let’s give.
As a Chicago Lesbian I think this is a horrible idea. I first read about this school idea in the newspaper a couple of weeks back and was shocked at the atrocity. The LGBT community as worked for decades to be put on the map as equal, NOT “separate but equal.” We might as well be jim crowed at this point. Remember when the schools were separate or blacks and whites? Maybe all the gays should form their own community so that no one knows that we are people just like everyone else. I’m sure this is a fabulous idea for the conservative right that doesn’t want their closed minded children to see that we’re ACTUALLY HUMAN.
Whoever thought of this clearly has no regard for how far the LGBT community has come. Instead of proposing this nuts idea try funding things such as youth centers and counseling centers for LGBT youth to come to if they are having trouble at a non-divided school.