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Gifts for all occasions in the Galleria! Add your comments on this week's "What is the Deal?" column at Uncle Hiram's Bulletin Board. August 3, 2003 What is the Deal with a Gay High School? By Jan A. Larson This fall, the city of New York will open the Harvey Milk High School, the nation's first public school for gay, lesbian and transgender students. The cash-starved city is spending over $3 million to renovate the building that will house the school. The school will open in September with 100 students with a plan to increase enrollment to 170 in the fall of 2004. New York mayor Michael Bloomberg endorsed the idea of a gay and lesbian high school stating, "I think everybody feels it's a good idea because some of the kids who are gay and lesbians have been constantly harassed and beaten in other schools." Sorry, Mr. Mayor, but "everybody" doesn't think this is a good idea. I wonder if anybody would think it would be a good idea had the mayor said instead, "I think everybody feels it's a good idea because some of the kids who are black have been constantly harassed and beaten in other schools." There are a couple of hundred high schools in the New York City public school system. Surely there must be more than 100 or 200 openly gay or lesbian students (not that it is really necessary for anyone to be openly gay, straight or asexual while in high school, but that discussion is for another time). What do the city and school administrators propose to do about the gay and lesbian students remaining at other public schools that will continue to suffer the harassment and beatings that apparently so deeply concern Mayor Bloomberg? Just how does segregating gay students away from others prepare those students for the real world where they will be forced to interact with the same people from whom they now seek to escape? School administrators have lofty expectations for Harvey Milk graduates, estimating that 95% will attend college. If the school is ultimately successful in achieving that goal, it is only a matter of time before parents of straight students decide they want to provide their children with the same opportunities afforded the gay and lesbian students at Harvey Milk High School. I wonder if Mayor Bloomberg is ready to send in the National Guard to ensure those students are given access. The Harvey Milk High School merely puts a Band-Aid(r) brand adhesive bandage on a gaping head wound. There is a serious lack of discipline in the New York City public schools when harassment and beatings are the norm. The city is merely choosing to ignore the real problem by implementing school segregation. No student, whether they are gay, lesbian, black, white, fat, or dumb should be subjected to harassment or beatings in the public school system. The Supreme Court recently ruled that the state (particularly Michigan) has a compelling interest in maintaining a diverse student population (at least at the university level). Does it not follow that the city of New York should also have a compelling interest in maintaining a diverse student population at the high school level? Segregating one group of students is certainly not consistent with the notion of diversity. The solution to a safety and discipline problem is not segregation. The solution is to beef up school security, implement real discipline and deal with troublemakers appropriately. -- Send feedback to the author. The "What is the Deal?" column will appears weekly on the Pie of Knowledge website. Guest submissions are welcome and encouraged. To submit an article to "What is the Deal?" click here. To subscribe to the "What is the Deal?" mailing list and receive early notification when a new column is available, click here. The Pie of Knowledge will never, ever divulge email addresses to any third party for any reason unless so ordered by a court of law. Contributions to the Pie of Knowledge are greatly appreciated. 
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