Gay High School

[Khartoun2004]

ok here is something for all of you to think about...

When I was 8 years old I was ganged up on by about 18 kids at my school everyday because it was leaked that my father is an out and proud gay man. Also in addition to that torment there is the fact that my teacher stood by and watched as the kids circled around me on the playground. And when the principle was informed of the harassment and abuse by my mother, she did nothing either. First of all I don't think I need to go into the psychological damage that was done to me. I had what you would call a mental break after a year of bottled up emotions. Then there are the physical scars I have from getting my ass kicked.

Not all areas of the US are bad places to live. i.e. Massachusetts which has legislation against hate crimes targeted at homosexuals. However legislation doesn't help prevent the harassment from happening. And it's even worse in some parts of this country where there aren't laws protecting our rights. Hate crimes, harassment, murder, rape etc. are problems that need solution right now, not just future plans. You are all bringing up segregations. look at how long it took the African Americans to get their rights after the Emancipatiion Proclamation... 100 years. Are we to wait 100 years before LGBTQ students have a safe learning environment so that they can become well adjusted adults ready to comtribute to society? I say Hell NO! Your all focusing on the future, but we need to focus on the present. What can be done now to help the situation? Bulid more publicly funded gay high schools.

I'm with Darje and other people for the gay high school because of my experiances and the experiances of my friends. I can't in good conscious say no to a resource that could help so many of the friends and their friends. Being a student is hard enough without having to worry about your sexual orientation interfering with your education.

[Charles]

Originally posted by rylettia

Racism is a physical, superficial hatred. ... I'm guessing hate based on belief is stronger than hate based on aestetics.

I can't let that go unchallenged. Racism is a very deeply rooted hate indeed. Racism is about belief, not just aesthetics. I see very little difference between what happened to Matthew Shepard and to some blacks in the 50s and 60s.

Understand, please, I'm not trying to say hating gays isn't bad. It is that bad, and so is rasicm.

[parrish122]

Charles, you bring up a good point. It's always saddened me (not to mention puzzled me) when I've seen gays be racist and vice versa. Both groups have been victims of the same type of hatred. Interestingly enough, the Bible has been used to support slavery *and* to support hating homosexuals...which only proves that people will twist *anything* to support what they believe.

Kartoun, thank you for sharing what happened to you with us. I know that couldn't have been easy for you to tell. And I am *very* sorry that happened. But I think your telling that story makes people more aware of what goes on in our schools, and what needs to be changed. Plus anyone who has gone through that sort of thing will know that they aren't alone, when they read what you've written.

I think that we need to *really* focus on educating people. If you don't already write your Sen and Rep (assuming you are in the US), then do so. Learn about what human rights issues are coming up and let your elected officals know where you stand. <Smile> I even used to send letters to Jesse Helms, when he was still my Sen., and I *knew* I'd never change *his* mind.

But he knew where I stood. And you never know when you might influence someone, if you don't try.

Parrish

[smilie faces]

Well.. being lazy as I have become recently, i haven't read all the posts, but mostly,
today my mum came home talking about this "gay highschool" at New York for gay kids, she resumed to me that it was so these children could be safe from abuse and she also said that some where already condemning it ... i answered "well, good for them , there they'll be safe from shitheads who would wan't to harm them.." my mum was kind of satissfied by my remark, then my stepdad said somethin I can't recall but I wasn't happy with it.. the thing is.. I tought I agreed totally to it.. and then i come here and read the other side to it.. if these kids are taken away... then.. the gay community would be provoking their own "apartheid" that's not the way to deal with it.. but.. i still lean more on the thought that they're gonna be safer .. and given the opportunity to focus on their studies, instead of thinking if they're gonne be beaten up or not, and growing up more confident in themselves..
of course .. an whole gay school might be an easy target for untolerant groups..
it's a difficult decision actually..

[Kappa]

*sighs* That is the point. You people have a gay high school (and god knows how many more of those all around the country), but in third-assed countries like mine, things like that will never happen.

We have to live through either denial or physical pain just for heterosexual people to get tired about beating us, killing us and taking away our dignity as equals of them? NOT ALL OF THEM are bad, I am conscious of that, but as rylettia said, prolonged contact with us will not liven up the situation: it is the gay kid that suffers in this situation, not the bully.

[karxwp]

what is weird to me is that this school is located in NY and not in SF pretty funny...anyway I still think it's not a good idea...it could become the target of many groups...specially homophobics...

and still I don't think it's a good idea to segregate from the society

[Lux]

grouping people together based on orientation is just the same as doing so with ppl of color back in the days of north vs. south. its a horrible idea. you want to create diversity by integrating everyone of different backgrounds, etc. in a world where gay ppl are a minority, grouping them together in a school puts more emphasis on the fact that they ARE a minority. the minority should be right alongside the majority, interacting, and learning about each other.

[XSpex]

Honestly I don't want people been abused at school just because they are different. But segregation from society is not a soluction to intolerance.
What is what I do? I respect people and treat everyone as my equal.

Originally posted by parrish122
A better solution would be, I think, to somehow make the schools care about the welfare of *all* their students. It seems to me that we *are* moving towards more acceptance. Much more so than when I was in high school.

I'm totally agree with this.

[Kappa]

karxwp, believe it or not, San Francisco is a gay mecca but it is not the capital of the gay world. And this school is not the first gay one, but it is in a highly populated city with more academical importance than SF so it's obvious that it gets more attention.

Honestly I don't want people been abused at school just because they are different. But segregation from society is not a soluction to intolerance.
What is what I do? I respect people and treat everyone as my equal.

That is the point. You, no offense meant, are a minory, a minory that doesn't have to be taught how to respect and tolerate. While the big majority that still abuses us doesn't learn to be tolerant, it is better to "segregate" as you call it, because its only goal is not to alienate gay youth from society but to prepare them safely for it.

[karxwp]

darje, I know it a gay mecca would be Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand or now the newest addition Canada...

Anyway I still don't think its a good idea, the reason? to me it sounds as crazy as making a school in the states just for latinos or for black people. It makes the difference bigger instead of trying to co-exist in the same environment...that's the great thing of my new university....a loooot of gays here and there and no one says a thing...pretty civilizated...

[Kappa]

¬¬ There's a lot of gays in your new school and no one says a thing because no one is out of the closet in there. That's the key of convivence between all sectors of society: secretiveness? Yeugh.

Admit it: latinos and black people are not in the same kind of segregation gay people are. For god's aches, latin-segregated people are the MOST VIOLENT people I have EVER met (and suddenly I remember that I am latin myself). Black people face, day by day, even less segregation: to hit a black student in a school is like you hit any other student, black or white, penalized with temporal expulsion or something of the matter. But in a shitload of states, to hit a gay student is a rightful way to "straighten" him up. The segregation is NOT the same, not the same case, not the same kind. This is against romantic interests, not racial matters!

To wrap the case up, at least on my side, I'd rather go to a school where my ass is protected, so that I can study in peace and be more prepared for the adult world that awaits me, than to be in a school where no one will care if I am beat or not and where teachers will use my sexuality as an excuse to give me low grades.

[karxwp]

¬¬ There's a lot of gays in your new school and no one says a thing because no one is out of the closet in there. That's the key of convivence between all sectors of society: secretiveness? Yeugh.

HAHAHAHAHAHHA In the closet??? yeah right...specially on the sexuality weekend...with a big condom balloon and a rainbow VW and a biiiiig flag and some flyers about gay safe sex....you can walk anyday of the week and see couples being affective so I don't think they are in the closet...unless being in the closet means to show the whole school your affection towards someone of your same sex of course the gay population is minimum but something is better than none at all...

What happened in my classroom is a different matter.

Also doing a school for gay people sounds ridiculous to me...it's like starting what homophobes said "I don't hate them but sent all of them to an island..."

[QueenBee]

The whole thing of thinking about ever coming out in my school scares me. No, I'm not gay myself, but if there is someone in my school, and they let others know, bad things will happen *ooo*. Probably 90% of the people in my school think being gay is disgusting and they think that gay people are stupid and stupid people are gay... I could be very much wrong though, but that is the impression I get especially when someone screws up and is called "GAAAY!"...

Once one of the substitutes in my school said she had kissed girls etc. and my friend went "Eeew did you hear that? But she's not gay, she has a boyfriend thank god! It's so disgusting!" -_- When will people learn?! Gah.

[karxwp]

queenbee, pretty true...when will people learn? Once in a class we had this argument of "homosexual people: sick or pervert" most said it was a sickness...because the teacher said so...anyway after the topic was brought again now without teacher most are gay friendly they just agreed with the teacher because she is a bitch and it was easier to save problems :P Most of them have gay friends so it's not a problem...also I was pretty happy when I saw a couple o boys holding hands it seems that the bigotry only last the first semesters of school...

[QueenBee]

My teachers are those who think everyone should be accepted etc etc. And seriously, two of my male teachers are together I swear! They smile at eachother all the time and sometimes they take trips on their bikes together... I swear!!! The whole holding hands-thing, I don't know, alot of guys in my school hug eachother and stuff so yeah. :S But when the gay-topic comes up suddenly guys who hug eachother are disgusting... Yeah well they can kiss me somewhere!

[Mossopp]

Originally posted by queenbee
The whole thing of thinking about ever coming out in my school scares me. No, I'm not gay myself, but if there is someone in my school, and they let others know, bad things will happen *ooo*. Probably 90% of the people in my school think being gay is disgusting and they think that gay people are stupid and stupid people are gay...

I would never have even dreamed of coming out when I was still in school. The abuse I got from people because they just assumed I was gay was bad enough. If they'd known for sure I would have had the sh#t well-and-truly kicked out of me!
Including myself, there were 5 people in my year-group at school who are gay and all of us waited untill we had left school and established ourselves in 'the real world' before we came out. At the time I had guessed that some of them were gay - although one in particular came as a bit of a shock to me - but it was a silent understanding between all of us that we weren't to speak about it, simply for the sake of each other's safety.
My point is that even though I come from a small, retarded little town and went to a school where practically all the students were straight, there were still other people who shared what I was going through. I think that situation made me stronger. I don't feel like I'd still have the same confidence about my sexuality if I had gone to a school that was purely meant for gay teenagers. If anything, I think I would be even more scared for my safety had I gone to an all-gay school cos I'd be waiting for a bomb to go off at any moment, or for some homophobic b#st#rd to run into the classrooms with a gun and mow us all down!
It sounds wierd to be saying this cos my school days were anything but safe, but I really do believe I was better off in the school that I went to.

[QueenBee]

Mossopp, I can understand that. Just like racists attack mosques (where muslims pray... spelling?), homophobics might attack gay schools. I don't know if it has ever happened but it could. I can picture it in my mind already

[PowerPuff Grrl]

Originally posted by darje
Admit it: latinos and black people are not in the same kind of segregation gay people are. For god's aches, latin-segregated people are the MOST VIOLENT people I have EVER met (and suddenly I remember that I am latin myself). Black people face, day by day, even less segregation: to hit a black student in a school is like you hit any other student, black or white, penalized with temporal expulsion or something of the matter. But in a shitload of states, to hit a gay student is a rightful way to "straighten" him up. The segregation is NOT the same, not the same case, not the same kind. This is against romantic interests, not racial matters!

What you are seeing now was the end product of years of forced integration during the 50s and 60s. In that time, many African-American students had to endured acts of hatred, but if it wasn't for that we wouldn't be able to have the diversity in schools and and workplaces we have now.

The question is this, really:
Would you rather have segregation now for GLBTs and have them live easy lives in schools and such while living in a world that actively discriminates homosexuals?

Or

Would you rather fight for equal rights while enduring gruelling acts of homophobia for x amount of years but have it end up in the world learning to tolerate homosexuality?

[Charles]

Originally posted by darje
Black people face, day by day, even less segregation: to hit a black student in a school is like you hit any other student, black or white, penalized with temporal expulsion or something of the matter. But in a shitload of states, to hit a gay student is a rightful way to "straighten" him up. The segregation is NOT the same, not the same case, not the same kind. This is against romantic interests, not racial matters!

You're absolutely correct. Blacks face less segregeation today than they did before. Why? Because they, and others have fought for the last 50 years to change society. Change that can only happen on a generational scale (some people can't change, you just have to wait for them to die). Beating a black student in the 1950s wouldn't "straighten him up," but it would put him back in his place, or keep him from ketting thoughts above his station.

For two years in high school, I pretended to date a girl so she could actually date a black student. When her parents finally found out, you best believe all hell broke loose.

The Nazis killed Jews, gays, and gypsies in their camps. Different reasons why (religion, sexuality, and ethnicity respectively), but it was all the same hate.

I sincerely hope equal rights, and treatment in society, for the LGBT community happens sooner than 50 years.

[QueenBee]

So the answer is to wait? The world is growing every day in every single way. There is more understanding than it was before, but there is still alot of hate, and as new things come there comes the hate towards these things aswell. Don't know if you know what I mean, but I always told myself the world is getting worse and worse for every day that passes. We destroy nature and ourselves, as stated in the other thread Bush doesn't believe in gay marriages, now gay people need their own schools so that they won't be beaten up and things like that. The wars make people hate eachother and revenge and so the situation gets worse. I don't know how many people are trying to make the world a better place but so far it doesn't seem to be working. Maybe in a hundered years people will be more understanding, 'cause I sure hope today's youth is being taught good things so that they can change the world step by step... But from what I've seen some kids are learning how to handle guns and weapons while wasting their lives on the streets stealing and smoking. GAH what's wrong with this messed up world?!