tagged w/ Trangender
-
A Chicago group has proposed opening a new high school that would welcome lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and sexually questioning students.
The plan comes from the people who run the Greater Lawndale Little Village High School for Social Justice. They say the new campus would be open to all students, but would especially seek to foster a violence-free atmosphere for students who are often targeted for their sexual orientation. The charter school proposal is still in the early stages. A public hearing is set for Sept. 18, and the proposal requires approval by an evaluation team and then Chicago Public Schools Chief Arne Duncan before it goes before the school board.
Conservatives say the Social Justice High School-Pride Campus would be a misuse of public funds and require administrators to take a moral stance on homosexuality, a judgment well above their pay grade. Even some gay rights advocates argue that isolating the gay and lesbian population from the mainstream would be damaging and prevent different groups of students from learning to interact.
“If we’re going to set up a separate school, let’s put the bullies in the school and not our gays kids,” said Rick Garcia, public policy director of Equality Illinois, the state’s largest gay rights group. “Kids should be able to go to school in a safe environment wherever they are.”
The importance of creating a safe environment at least partially stems from the higher risks that gay, lesbian and bisexual students face. Experts say those kids are at greater risk of dropping out of school, abusing drugs and alcohol and are two to three times more likely to attempt to commit suicide. A 2003 district survey shows that gay and lesbian youth also are three times more likely to miss school because they feel unsafe.
Do you think this proposal is a good idea or will it just result in the creation of a 'gay ghetto' that harms both the LGBT community and society at large?A Chicago group has proposed opening a new high school that would welcome lesbian,... more
-
