Gay High Schools

[Logain]

Is this a step forward or a step back?
http://www.cnn.com/2003/EDUCATION/07/28/gay.school.ap/index.html

They've announced the first public high school for gays, bisexuals and trans-sexuals. But is it really a good thing? In the short term, it will help gays, etc. get fair treatment at a school where they are isolated from prejudice, but what about the problems of being isolated in the long term?

Is this a step back for equality among sexual preferences? It's almost like saying they are different enough to be separated. Then there's the problem of equal treatment and funding. What if gay schools don't get the financial support others do...or what if it's the opposite and anyone in their school gets better funding?

Any thoughts?

[Dragon Phoenix]

There's a thread on this here.

[Quailman]

See VSN thread 847.

[Dragon Phoenix]

I win.

[Logain]

What's VSN? Who still goes there?

[Quailman]

[Quailman]

[Logain]

Hey, come on..stay On Topic here...wait a minute. What's this forum again? I think we have an oxymoron here.

[Pablo]

I wonder when the first heterosexual will file a discrimination suit for being banned.

I wonder if they'll have a wrestling team and if they'll have trouble finding opponents.

I wonder what the school Nickname will be. I suggest the "Duds". The "Milk Duds".

[Neo]

Homosexual highschools are going to be considered 100% okay.

But heterosexual only highschools will get met with hundreds of lawsuits.

[Pablo]

Milk all night
Milk all day
Fight fight fight,
That's the Milk-y way!

[Hitchhiker]

What about transgendered persons who prefer partners of the opposite sex to the body they currently inhabit? What school do they go to?

[Samadhi]

Pablo, the obvious name for their teams would be either the Pirates or the Packers.

Well, maybe the Dolphins or Browns too I suppose.

[groza528]

If it's a public school, they can't limit the students to gays. How are they going to avoid it becoming the same as any other high school? Notoriety? "No, no! Please don't send me to the gay school!"

[Pablo]

[MatthewV]

I wonder if there will be a high suicide rate.

[extropalopakettle]

I didn't get that one.

[Buzzsaw]

he he heh

[JediSoop]

done with good intentions...but potentially harmful for the future of gay rights. exposure leads to acceptance and how will they ever be accepted if they're squirreled away in their own schools?

and
~face of shock in Pablo's direction~

[Beartalon]

Segregation only enforces differences, and reduces the ability to function in a heterogeneous society. It doesn't matter what the dividing line is, or how blurred it can be.

I enjoy being different from other people, but I certainly wouldn't want to be labelled, forced or otherwise separated into some group and thought of ONLY by that measure of "differentness".

Why would they want to do this?

[The Ktulu]

I have to agree with Beartalon.

Probably the only thing I have against homosexuals is acts like these. I accept them. It's when they try to get me to accept them when I change my mind.

[Beartalon]

That's the entire problem with a lot of these equal rights. There's a difference between being equal and wanting equal rights.

Many groups want their group which is distinct and different and maybe somehow "oppressed" to have the same rights and freedoms as everyone else. However, at the same time, they still want to maintain their entire differentness because it defines them somehow. So, since they have equal rights, they want to exercise their right by separating themselves again? It makes no sense.

Equality = Integration, for any subculture.

[Homosexuals]

It's because you won't accept us that we're leaving your school. Happy now?

[Hitchhiker]

I don't agree that Equality=Integration in all cases...sometimes separation is desirable.

Pablo: if it was a single-sex gay school, their team could be the Milk Men.

[Beartalon]

Hitchhiker, yes that was a broad brush, and I know it won't work everwhere. However:

Directed at the "Homosexuals" poster.

It's NOT just OUR school.

That's the whole point. You think the government waves a magic wand and some people's prejudices or intolerances disappear immediately? Work at changing it. Don't run away from the freedom you've won the right to exercise. Just because you fought and won your equality on paper doesn't mean you have it in practical terms.

Withdrawing from the society you wanted to be equal in does not make sense. It would be an empty victory.



[This message has been edited by Beartalon (edited 07-30-2003 12:48 AM).]

[Lepton]

I think that this move is designed to appeal to many parties:

The homophobic

This move is also designed to improve the learning conditions of many parties, including:

The children of the homophobic

Most importantly, this type of action will raise the awareness of minority groups in the community by:

Moving them out of the community

[The Ktulu]

Imagine what a parent thinks when their supposedly-straight child says, "I wanna go to Harvey Milk School!"

[Hitchhiker]

Maybe "signing up for Harvey Milk" will be the new euphemism for "coming out of the closet."

[Samadhi]

[Buzzsaw]

Some hetero kid should fake it and attend Harvey Milks. Then they could say they were the first hetero to attend an all gay school. They could write a book and appear on all the talk shows. Later there would be a 'made for tv' movie.

hmm.....~thinks~

[Samadhi]

Go for it man.

[Oxymoron]

[Samadhi]

[MatthewV]

now a school for introverts...that would be kinda interesting. after all, introverts are the most oppressed and misunderstood group of people in america.

[The Ktulu]

It makes more sense than the gay school.

[Hitchhiker]

I wonder what the clubs would be like at the introvert school.

[HyToFry]

I think it's a serious step backward.

I wonder if they'll have a straight club.

[This message has been edited by HyToFry (edited 07-30-2003 01:46 PM).]

[The Ktulu]

"Here's your list of extra-curricular activies and clubs. Sign-up is in the office."I want my mommy.

• One-person Club A
  
• One-person Club B
  
• One-person Club C
  
• One-person Club D
  ...
  
• Always-The-Last-Picked Basketball
  
• Always-The-Last-Picked Volleyball
  
• Always-The-Last-Picked Kickball
  ...
  
• Sit-and-Stare Club
  
• Shift-Uneasily Club
  

[pikachamp]

what's an introvert?

[The Ktulu]

The first part of a pervert.