Comments on: Gay community divided on LGBT high school

By: Southernhemisphere

Southernhemisphere — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:13:59 +0000

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?

By: marcus

marcus — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:23:31 +0000

i love to go to the school

By: quasi

quasi — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:35:28 +0000

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!

By: Quasi

Quasi — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:31:53 +0000

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.

By: jibii

jibii — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:17:58 +0000

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.

By: Adam Loor

Adam Loor — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 11:51:50 +0000

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.

By: Matt Hicks

Matt Hicks — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 02:29:29 +0000

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?

By: Gwychooch

Gwychooch — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 22:01:02 +0000

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.

By: Wes Tattinger

Wes Tattinger — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 19:16:22 +0000

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.

By: Jennifer L. Johnson

Jennifer L. Johnson — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 16:58:54 +0000

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.