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So in Chicago Daley changed his tune and APPROVED the gay high school, only to have the people who originally started the whole thing change THEIR minds because the idea got "watered down". And by watered down, I mean it went from being a school for gay kids to go and feel safe to a school where any child could go who felt bullied, mistreated etc. Apparently it's ok for heterosexual kids to be tormented in regular school, because unless the school can be strictly for gays, they aren't interested. The last I heard on it today is that they are going to wait a year. I'm not sure what the point is in waiting for a year, now that they finally got the approval and support they needed.

It's MY opinion that this type of "special" school should not be state funded anyway. If they want a "safe" place with "special" curriculum, I see that as being no different than a private christian school where parents send their kids to get them away from public school influences (ha ha) and for the christian based curriculum. If people and parents are so concerned, I think they should fund this privately and not use tax payer dollars.

I had not heard about this issue in Chicago. Thanks for bringing it to our attention, Michelle. I certainly agree with you about the funding. Our government should not fund such a school. If they do, they are really letting the cat out of the bag because every special interest group is going to want their own school to be paid for by the government and where do you draw the line?

Why don't they home school? Or, like you said, start their own privately funded school.

They wont do a private school because every child in this country has the right to a publically funded education. And in Illinois, GLBT persons are protected under the discrimination and hate crimes laws. There are publically funded charter schools in Chicago, there should be one for GLBT students to attend and feel protected and safe to pursue their education wihtout fear.

Ok, Jase. But where does it stop? The schools are filled with kids that are bullied and mistreated for all kinds of reasons. Should we have a special school for each group? How could we?

Surprisingly, I'm not convinced that having a separate school is the best idea. I think that we should have a federal mandate that says that any teacher or administrator who allows a child to be bullied for any reason, including the fact that they are gay or appear to be gay, will be harshly punished. Perhaps then the teachers and administrators will put a stop to the behavior rather than looking the other way because, really, who cares if faggots are bullied? It is so easy for people to target LGBT kids because few people will stand up for them. Perhaps the solution isn't separation but holding people accountable for bullying.

I am not arguing in favor of a glbta school. I am just throwing some possible reasoning in there.

Personally, I feel just like Barbara. We need consequences for schools who allow bullying to happen. I have seen it happen so much when I was in school. I was the only out student from 92-96 in my school. I was tormented, picked on, beat up, etc. It even continued in college where I had a person threaten me with over 200 death threats and violence threats. They finally attempted to do something to me (chased me down with a knife where my door swinging is the only thing to keep it from hitting me in the back as I ran away). The school slapped them on the wrist and the local DA was a pansy and did nothing. What this did was taught me to be hard. To stand up for my rights and not take no lying down. 5 years later when a professor is the one doing the harassing, I grabed the bull by the horns and pressed charges and won, all the way to the 9th cuircut federal court. There was threat of supreme court action, but the professor passed away before i was able to stand in front of the SC protesting for my rights and for her firing.

Long story short, if we remove students from the situation instead of standing up to it, what do we teach them? NOTHING! Make those in charge who do nothing and those who are the bully get in trouble

Good for you, Jase! I didn't know that. I'm proud of you! That's very difficult to do.

I think at that point, I had had enough! Normally, I wouldn't have stood up to it. But there comes a point in your life when you realize nothing is changing and its up to you to stop the sh*t.

I think, if my mom hadn't died the same month that the teacher harassed me, I wouldn't have done anything. Like I said, at some point in your life, we realize that enough is enough. ;0)

Segregation didn't work for black people, why all of a sudden will it work for gays? And from MY understanding, it's not just about protecting them, it's also about providing them with a "gay friendly" curriculum. Sounds to me like they want to put them in a safe little bubble and only teach them about other gay people and then when they graduate, what happens? They are thrust out in the world into a society they are not prepared for because they have been protected in some special school. Charter schools are not quite the same. They aren't there to "protect" certain kids. If there is such a problem within the public school, it would make more sense to address that problem rather than create MORE schools where a whole new set of problems will probably crop up. Not only that, but gay people are not the ONLY people who have to deal with bully issues. So why do they get their own special school so they can attempt to avoid bullies when other kids are forced to stay in a school that allows them to bullied. Doesn't seem fair to me, or right. Fix the problem. Keep them in school together. How are you going to teach tolerance by segregating those who are different? Sounds to me like it will just breed more division between gay people and straight people.

I am so torn on this issue.

On one hand, I can SO understand the wish of the kids and parents of wanting a place that is theirs to feel safe and belong. I think the difference between this and black segregation is that segregation was forced and that those kids had no choice - whereas this is offering kids a safe haven.

My son is not gay, he has Asperger's. But he has experienced much of the same type of bullying because he is so different. I am part of an Autism Spectrum support group for families, and those of us that have kids with Asperger's and other high functioning Autism experience the bullying A LOT. Our kids are intelligent anough to want to fit in, and try to, but can't figure out how. It is painful to watch them sometimes. And then other kids are cruel to anyone who is different. I have seen Michael get into many fights. But he is not so bad off, because he is 6 feet tall and 190 pounds of pure muscle. Kids that bully him, thinking he is going to be an easy target have just about gotten killed. I am not proud of that, it has landed him in the hospital for violent behavior, but it has assured that he does not get bullied much anymore.

But there is this tiny little girl that is my daughter's age (12), she is adorable, brilliant, and gets into fights all the time because of bullying. But because she is so much smaller, she is still a nice "target". She fights back, but it is not a deterrent. It has, however landed her in detention and in-school-suspension tons of times. The kids that hits back is the one that always gets caught.

I can so easily picture a school for our kids. A place where they are safe, where other kids understand exactly what they are going through, why their life is so difficult. A place where they feel safe and don't dread going every day - where they are not the "weird" kids.

And I imagine that is exactly how these children and parents in the gay/lesbian community must feel.



THIS is the downside. They do have to join the "real world" one day. If they are never "innoculated" against bigotry, then how will they handle it when they have to face it in their jobs and day-to-day life when their parents are not there to protect them.

On the flip side, how do we teach the rest of the community about accepting those that are different if we always separate our kids into groups? How do the kids learn that there is no difference if they are treated differently?

I don't have answers. I know for me, we decided after one year of Homeschooling to protect Michael, that he needed to be back in the public school system in order to learn how to interact with the world. (He wanted this, too.) He could learn book-stuff anywhere, he's brilliant. What he was lacking was social skills. He could not learn that if I kept him sheltered at home. But like I said, he's pretty good at protecting himself. Not everyone can.