Seperate high schools for gay teens?

Question

New York City has a special high school for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender teens - do you think this is a good idea? Should other school districts set up schools like this for their gay students? Why or why not?

Answer 1

It seems like it would be a good idea for glbt kids to have that option; to grow up dealing with other kids like themselves. But ultimately, it may make the shock of dealing with society in general all the harder; even if straight kids are going to this school, they are likely to be straight kids who already have an open and accepting mindset.

Furthermore, there is some harm done to the kids who don't go to these schools, which is that they have less experience dealing with people in sexual minorities. Additionally, consider this: integration of the school systems along racial lines is considered to be such a fundemental benefit to society that even hinting at an all-black school is generally considered repugnant. Is it really so different to have an all-gay school?

Answer 2

Wow! Considering all the crime in New York City, I would think it would be a far better use of tax dollars to open up more prisons for people who are breaking the law, or send the high school gang members and other trouble makers to a separate school instead of a group of good kids who just happen to be gay.

Answer 3

I wouldn't completely discount these schools. Yes, I agree that people should not be treated differently based on race or sexual orientation, and I agree that the best way to foster tolerance is for everyone to learn how to live and work together. However, for kids in high school who are being harassed, bullied, threatened, and even physically assaulted on a daily basis because they're gay, I would be in support of a special high school that could offer them the opportunity to get an education without fear.

Answer 4

It's a good thing since those kids chose to go there because they felt 'safe'. I've read interviews with those kids and they said they were very happy. I think it would be a good thing for there to be others since many gay kids can't concentrate on getting an education while they are afraid of where the next beating will come from. Alternative high schools are there because there is a need.

*If I recall correctly, a number of those kids said they were still getting harassed in public on a daily basis anyway so they weren't "missing out" on anything.

Answer 5

Who funded this school? It seems rather close minded to have gays/lesbians and transgendered kids segregated from the rest of the population in a special school. If the law of the day is "tolerance", how does this educational set up preserve such a law?
A Higher law states that we are to (agape) love one another. I'm not sure that separating us by sexual preference will help us to that end.

Answer 6

as a Black guy separate but equal schools just doesn't sit well with me.

I can see why someone would want to do this (both good and bad).

The good reason to do this would be that the gay, lesbian, bi and transgender students wouldn't have to worry about being picked on at school (at least because of their sexuality)

the bad because this could just be used as a way for homophobes to make sure their kids don't know any gay kids.


But honestly I think it's a bad ideal.

Answer 7

I think this question has already been answered in the supreme courts. See in the 60's and 70's blacks and whites were being segregated in school and it ended up with one of the groups having a worst education than the other. If homosexuals and heterosexuals were educated in separate facilities than through the fear integrated into heterosexual minds homosexuals would get a worst education than heterosexuals. My hometown is Topeka, Kansas. In this town a very prevelent case originally began, it is call Brown Vs. Topeka Board of Education. They said that segregation cannot take place in schools (specifically that every racial group must be integrated). I am pretty sure if you tried to segregate homosexuals from heterosexuals it would just lead to a repeat of this scenerio.

Answer 8

For those that deal with unreasonable and constant harassment, I don't see what the problem is with having one. The attendance of that school is strictly on a voluntary basis and a "private" school.
The people that go there are not "sent" there as a form of segregation, they attend classes there to be free of the harassment they receive at the other public schools.
There are several schools like this and I believe they are a good thing.

Answer 9

i don't think that just because you are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered, that you should go to a separate school. it's like society feels as though they need to separate us from others, and i think it's wrong. we all should be able to go to the same school no matter what our sexual preference is. society needs to accept us, and deal with the fact that we are not going anywhere. we have been here since the beginning of time, and we will be here until the end of time.

Answer 10

I've never heard of that before, but I think thats a really bad idea. People in America are just looking for reasons to ignore, poke fun at, or run away from gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transexuals. I think people need to learn that its other people's choices if they want to be like that, and its not something to fear or hate, they're people just like everyone else.

- - - Emily