NYC opens first all gay High School

This message is board is not real life - only for losers to mistake it for real social connections and interpersonal interactions.

I didn't come here looking for friends. I came here to post my thoughts/opinions/feelings on the topics at hand.

While there are a few people on his worth having conversations with, the people who tend to react/reply to my posts are of the variety I would not want to spend time being 'friends' with so there's no love loss going into this little exercise.

You seem much more bothered by my presence and my posts and my opinions than I am by yours. So be it. You can always choose not to read my posts, not to reply to them and not to react to them. Personal choice.
I choose to post when I post, what I post and how I post. So be it.

No, you're not the cleverest of people. That's been made abundantly clear, repeatedly and blatantly.

i'm guessing the homophobic label is being branded on me by the sounds of it?

as i said i don;t have a problem with gays, i just don;t like them feel the need to show off that they're gay which an all gay school and gay marches are to me.

i feel the exact same way about religious schools and marches and alot of other things. doesn't make me anti religion.

I think the phrase "showing off" is what's problematic. They are proud of who they are doesn't mean they're showing off. That's your interpretation of it. They're not doing it to get your attention. They're celebrating who they are. Quite frankly, I doubt they care much about what you (and I don't mean you personally, I mean the generic you as in the greater public) think other than 'this is us, we're proud to be who we are, live and let live."

And if you read through my post you'll see there are some legitimate (if fiscally questionable) reasonings as to why this type of school might be a good idea. It's not about showing off. I see what you're trying to say but using the words "showing off" implies the wrong thing.

i'm proud to be white straight and British, but send me out in the street to march for these reasons and i'll be branded a racist homophobe and quite possibly jailed.

This school isn't a good way for them to get accepted in society or the real world, for that matter. The world is hard and if they get treated as something special, they won't hack it. You can't segregate a group just over sexual preference, just as it shouldn't happen for religion and race. No one will ever accept anyone if we keep separating everyone, that is not the way to get a tolerant society.

Tash

totally agree.

So Dezza, if this board is so unimportant in your life.. why do you keep coming back??

And I quote

Derek,

Do you have any idea how the school is legally justified? I can understand a school for gifted kids, deaf kids, blind kids, or emotionally disturbed kids because they're all special education categories that in their extremes can justify alternative placements. But where does sexual orientation fit in with justification of alternative placement? With federal funds set aside for public education, I wonder what kind of program they can fall under to get a separate school? If it were a privately funded school, I understand they could set up any charter they want, but this article clearly states that it's a public school. Do you know if there a different loophole in the NY system?

Becky

Not sure what the background is on why it is or isn't legal. The presumption that it was illegal and discriminatory was premature by some on this board.

I don't think it is exclusive to students are are not homosexual. There are magnet schools within the NYC schools I believe. Though I don't believe declaring oneself as a homosexual qualifies you for special education, it is something that would fall under a civil rights issue. I don't believe the agenda or curriculum supports anything different than a regular NYC school would (again, a small-minded presumption among some of the less serious on this board.)

I think this is a well-intentioned solution to a perrsistent problem in the schools where homosexual students are being harassed to the point of physical and emotional damage severe enough to interfere with their right to a free, public education. Take that to it's natural progression, and you see lawsuits claiming the child's civil rights were denied and the school system failed to provide the child with the basic right to free education in a safe environment. That said, there are lots of other kids who have a tough go of it as well - that's the nature of schools. The homophobic problem seems to be worse however.

I'm not sure of the legal or the budgetary reasoning on it, honestly.

to TASHJBJ and RichieW2001: Your reasoning is like saying the girl who got raped "asked for it" because she wore a lowcut blouse. No one is asking to be treated as someone special. Face it: society is not tolerant at the moment, certainly not in high school. These kids are trying to get their education without being unduly harassed. Are you saying its OK that they get harassed, humiliated, abused and beaten because they're gay because that's what the real world is like anyway so suck it up? I don't think anyone there is expecting to live in a bubble and not be expected to face the real world for what it is. They know it all too well. This is not a perfect solution however, it gets them a solid education without worrying about having the crap beat out of them or being abused by fellow students because of their sexuality. High school is not the real world anyway, no more than this message board is. There will be time enough for them to deal with the real world after high school. This just provides a safe environment in which to learn.

Mongoose- because it makes you this unhappy and you just can't leave my posts alone. So, for the moment, I will be back at this site. When I find your stupidity and crassness overbearing, I'll retreat. Don't worry. Based on what I've seen, it will surface soon enough.

A load of hogwash Derek, you are comparing apples and pears. How can a rape be the same as this type of school? It is terrible when kids get bullied or beaten up, but it happens - I'm NOT agreeing with it!! Will it really work for those kids to take them out of a school and put them in one that is sympathetic to them? How about empowering them and getting them to deal with the blows they get and stand up and fight for what they believe and what they stand for? The same goes for the girl who is raped. A woman never deserves that and I'm appalled that you would imply that I meant the same. Rape happens, as terrible as it is. We will never stop it, so instead of locking all women up and getting them to wear full body suits, you empower them. You make sure that they come forward to file a rapport, you give self defence classes and such. Derek, with this school we are thinking in problems and not in solutions. We are saying that it is okay to bully someone for being different, because they will go to people of their own kind and then society won't have to deal with them. Instead of teaching our children to be tolerant and to embrace difference. You're right, society isn't tolerant yet, but it has to start somewhere and it is a matter of education. If you teach that being homosexual is different in a wrong sense, something this school will do, you will never get a tolerant society. And where will it end? Now it's a school, will it end up in an area where homosexuals live?? Like I said the world is a tough place and you won't get ahead if you are lulled into a false sense of security that you'll always be safe. We all need to fight for our place in this world, unfortunately some more than others.

Tash