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...Or early, depending on how you look at it...
Lots has happened here. Thank you so much guys to those of you that sent me a word or fifteen or even more the other day, I really appreciate it! I wish I could reply more in-depth right now or read all the wonderful posts people have made, but I'm not ready to come back just yet. I'm making this little post to show that I haven't really gone either...
"NYC to open public high school for gays", MSN reports, except the link to the news story itself is broken.  Try it anyway if you like, maybe they will fix it or something... http://g.msn.com/0US!s8.559_6217/20.b40/2??cm=TodayOnMSN Or is it too controversial to even report something like this? Let's hope not!
Also, curious people might want to click here: http://www.gaydar.co.uk/lennyvalentin 
Hugs for everyone:
-L
"But he that hath the steerage of my course,
direct my sail."
-William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act One, Scene IV
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Guest
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On fire! |
Registered: March 2012
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I read the article and i think is a great idea to have a school for gays and lesbians, maybe there they would be able to live a normal life like a normal student; not being afraid somebody is going to beat them up just because of their sexual orientation.
Now something was written on the article that really, but i mean really bothered me. I hated this part ( “Is there a different way to teach homosexuals? Is there gay math? This is wrong,” . C'mon how can people be like that? I'm amaze there is people with this type of thinking. It only shows their ignorance, their narrow minds, i don't know so many words to describe this type of people. You know what would i ask this guy. I would ask him Is there a math for man? women? Is there a math for whites? blacks? any race at all? Is there a different way to teach somebody who is tall? short? If all this questions are right then this whole method of education is wrong. We should be teaching everybody differently since that is why we are "different", no i have even a better word "unique" that sounds better. We all should not be treated differently just because we have a different sexual orientation than everyone else.
To what has humanity come to? I don't even like think that there is people like this guy from the article but the reality is there many like him. We have to educate people like him that we are no different than anyone else. I bet i'm smarter and better than that guy and i'm only 16. You know why? Because i don't have that kind child mentality. I'm a person with enough knowledge to not judge people just because they are different than me. I'm serious, when i read that part i felt so much anger i just felt i needed to let it out.
I'm going to stop here, although i feel better now i don't want to think about this anymore. This is me, this how i feel and if you noticed this is the first time i open up to you guys. I never really had the guts to express my opinion. This should give an idea of how i think and feel inside. If you read this far thank you for doing so , i would like to hear your opinion.
P.S Sorry about the English as it is not my first language. I have only live in the US for five years.
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Guest
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Registered: March 2012
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I think i over reacted and if you read the article you might know why. But what i say is still true because there is people with that type of mentality.
Sorry... not my intention
* note to self, don't click the post button until you are sure of what you wrote
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
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I love the gaydar link.
Lenny, if the right guy doesn't answer he WILL find you. Do replace the front pic whenyou can - always look as you are, never with parts you say are different.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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Guest
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On fire! |
Registered: March 2012
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Hey, Lenny! I'd answer that ad if I weren't already otherwise attached! Good advert, hope it gets loads of responses.
M, I like the way you think. It didn't seem like an over-reaction to me. So keep posting, ok?
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saben
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On fire! |
Registered: May 2003
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Tolerance is not taught by segregation, it is taught by exposure, if we as the gay teens of today have to suffer by being publically out in order to get people to see us and realise that we are just normal people, then that's a price I'm willing to pay! If gay schools are started then that gives straight students less exposure to REAL gay people, the only exposure they get will be through the media, word of mouth and other unreliable, stereotypical sources which will be a breed of gay people they are easily able to hate, as there are no faces attatched. In some ways it would be beneficial, but the cons far outweight the pros in my opinion.
As for the comment on gay math, well yeah, as you realise, M, you misread it, it was a rhetorical question with a hint of sarcasm that was basically said to be a lie, but you realise that now! I definately agree with what you said, should people actually think an education system needs to be different for gay kids. I guess Sex Ed would probably need to be a little different though *giggles*
Look at this tree. I cannot make it blossom when it suits me nor make it bear fruit before its time [...] No matter what you do, that seed will grow to be a peach tree. You may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach.
Master Oogway
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smith
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Registered: January 1970
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I reread the article and it said that this school is an expansion of a 2 classroom public school program that started in 1984. I bet that was real special Can you imagine being shoved into special classes because you're gay? We already treat kids with learning disabilities as if they have leprosy. They are put in the "Special Room" that kids lovingly refer to as the "Hole".
So, say you are bashed or outed at your school....will they transfer you to Gay High? Will that be the way to "fix" the problem and make it disappear? Will that make the people who hate you, hate you less; the people who are afraid of you be less frightened of what they don't understand? How can you be accepting and come to terms with something if it's whisked away and put in a special place where you never have to deal with it? Shem is so right....the only way to deal with what you don't understand is to look at it squarely and begin to realize that it can't hurt you. I can't hurt anyone being gay anymore than if I was dyslexic.
So, this is inverse intergration....make special schools for special people. I am assuming that the kids enrolling are happy and feeling safe. Sort of a "Fame" for gay/bi/tran kids. But, I don't want to feel any different from anyone else. No, I don't like hiding who I am, not one bit but I don't want to go to a special school either. Dang! It freezes me to KNOW that when people who love me find out who I really am, I will somehow become different, alien, mutant. I'll be exactly the same smith but somehow........less.
JJ
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Guest
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Yes eaxctly i misread it. Just look at the time from the first to the second post and that is how fast it took my to realize that. When i read it, my mind just focus on those few words. After i wrote the first post, i closed the page and right after a thought came to my mind and decided to reread the article. It was then when i realized what it was saying. Like i say i over reacted.
Did i break a record? The fastest time it took to realize my mistake. I probably didn't. Well i'm usually very open minded and i like to think of different options for a solution. What smith and saben are saying is very true, i agree with it. We don't learn to ride a bicycle just by looking at it, do we? We actually ride it and practice. In the same way, how are we suppose to tolerate gay people if we don't spend time with them and actually learn about them. Just a thought.
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I too agree with smith and Saben. Segregation will only serve to ostracise those "lucky" ones even more. What is needed is education and acceptance not treating them as a race apart but it is going to be a long uphill struggle gay bishops not withstanding!
Friendship is the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts or measure words
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Guest
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Registered: March 2012
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I have a slightly different viewpoint on this school. I worked part-time at the Institute that founded the smaller Harvey Milk High School back in 1984. It was the first city-funded place of it's kind in the country. It's brief was specifically to serve at risk kids, many of whom were on the streets or had been expelled from main-stream schools. It was a place of safety for them.
I'm not sure what the acceptance criteria are for the expanded school. But speciality places have always run the risk of been seen as too exclusive or marginalizing the target populations, or becoming guilty of reverse discrimination.
It's a bit like affirmative action, maybe. When does trying to assure equal opportunity turn into discrimination against the majority? That's a really tough question, and one being actively debated in US Courts now. There are good points to be made on both sides of that discussion, I think.
I think I'd have to find out more about the entrance criteria for the new expanded school before I could form an opinion about it either way.
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Guest
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Registered: March 2012
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Here's a link to the Institute in new York City that runs the school( along with the Board of Education, of course...) it remains an alternative High School, which is not one of the mainstream public high schools. Terrific organization, huge listing of programs for LBGT youth, all free by the way.
http://www.hmi.org/Youth/HarveyMilkSchool/default.aspx
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smith
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On fire! |
Registered: January 1970
Messages: 1095
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It asks whether you are:
Gay
Lesbian
Bisexual
Straight
Questioning
I find this intrusive and demeaning. I would check 'Questioning' because I question the right of anyone to make it seem such a distinction. I am simply a boy.
I think we will just have to agree to disagree on this one
smith
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saben
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On fire! |
Registered: May 2003
Messages: 1537
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Is the section that requires a parent to attend/ approve your enrollment at the school, I mean, geez, half the problems caused with gay youth come from their own family, if it is possible for them to attend the school without the direct support of their families then they should be allowed to... I think the intentions are noble enough, but I really don't agree with it...
Look at this tree. I cannot make it blossom when it suits me nor make it bear fruit before its time [...] No matter what you do, that seed will grow to be a peach tree. You may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach.
Master Oogway
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13796
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in the UK such a form would be illegal
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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smith
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On fire! |
Registered: January 1970
Messages: 1095
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Living Arrangements:
Permanent
Temporary
Homeless
With family
Alone
Foster home
Group home
With others
And a 14-16 year old is gonna say they are homeless or alone? I don't think so. The police may say it. I think we need to know more about this concept. It doesn't seem to be at all usual. No one has ever asked my sexual preference or my home situation. Is this school for sexual orientation, dire straits kids or what? To hype it as GayHigh seems misleading after you get into the questions and requirements.
They want your GPA and if you are living in a box, it would be um...........0.0 Maybe the lead headline that it is a school for Gay/Lesbian/Transgender is incorrect. Maybe it is a school for lost kids.
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Guest
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On fire! |
Registered: March 2012
Messages: 2344
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care, foster care, etc. Lots of homeless street kids aresexual min iruty youth. I sent an email to one of my best friends, who is a teacher in the NY City public school system. He says the school is needed for students who are harrassed or threatened in the mainstream schools they are in, and that the NYC schools haven't often been able to protect the safety of gay kids. So it looks like the ones acceptewd will be there for their own safety, much like the original school.
By the way, the 2 rooms they talked about in the first set-up were in a big old under-utilized church which donated the space for the classrooms.
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13796
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No Message Body
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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Guest
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On fire! |
Registered: March 2012
Messages: 2344
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And New York City has a myriad of other speciality schools, such as the High School of the Perfforming Arts, Automotive High School, and on and on. I think this is a protective move, not a ghetto-iziation. I could be wrong, of course...
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It's really late, but I just wanted to say a few things... 
Hey M :> 
Lenny :> 
I've been thinking about this all morning .... 
Re: I agree with smith 
