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Monday, August 04, 2003
Daily Kos makes some good points about the whole "gay high school" thing--an idea which sounds stupid at first, but:

The program was supported , in large measure, by NYU. The two founders, Hetrick and Martin, had taught there and got space from the university for their program, because there was a desperate need for it.

Hetrick-Martin does outreach with gay youth and from what I was told, the kids they saw were at the end of their ropes, literally. They were saving kids from suicide, homelessness and sexual assault in their high schools. It wasn't for gay kids, but troubled kids who were gay and headed for the streets or an early grave.

The program is small, 100 kids, out of a high school population of 400,000. If it was merely a school for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered kids, they would have to have in every borough, serving anywhere from 20-40,000 kids at a minimum. Harvey Milk is not for "gay" kids, but troubled kids. Kids who face physical violence in school. Some dismiss it as bullying, but we're talking things as serious as assault with a deadly weapon to rape. Which gay and bisexual kids are far, far less likely to report. Administrators are often indifferent to these attacks. Harvey Milk exists so that these kids can get their consitutionally mandated educations safely.

Most gay kids attend New York's Public Schools with little problem. But for those facing eviction by homophobic parents, violence and sexual assault, there needs to be a place where they can continue to get their educations and become useful members of society.


So yeah--it's not for all gay kids; it's for gay / trannie kids who can't get an education otherwise.