Burnt Orange Report

Winning the Culture War

By Byron LaMasters

The other day, I blogged on the new gay high school in New York. Contrary to what you might think, I felt uneasy about it, particularly for two reasons. First, I think that a publicly funded gay high school can help create a slippery slope arguement in favor of private school vouchers (which I strongly oppose). Secondly, I think that a gay high school is the wrong priority. Just like vouchers, a gay high school is helpful to a small minority of students, but doesn't do a damn thing for the majority of students, other than divert tax dollars away from them. Gay rights advocates ought ot work instead to help protect all gay and lesbian high school students by enacting anti-harassment laws, and strongly enforcing them in all high schools. Public money should be spent on ensuring the education and safety of all children and students in all high schools, rather than establishing a slippery slope arguement for private school vouchers. As I've read more in the past couple of days, I've developed more concerns over a public gay high school.

Via Courtney, John Cole makes a good point:

This is the worst idea I have heard in a long time. You know, it is very difficult to push for things like gay marriage, and to argue that the gay rights movement doesn't want special rights, just the same protection of their rights that heterosexuals enjoy, and then you see crap like this being peddled. How about all heterosexual schools? Or all caucasian schools? Or schools just for people with lisps?

All this does is vindicate loser assholes like Pat Robertson and their ilk- they have claimed for years that the homosexual lobby wants special rights- and every time they have, leftists and people such as myself have beaten them down and called them homophobic and bigoted.

Please don't tell me they were right.

I do worry about the image of the gay community on this issue. I've argued time and time again that gays and lesbians fight for equal rights not special rights. Issues like these are examples of the occasional excesses of liberalism. Are some gay students helped by gay schools? Sure. But are the vast majority of gay students helped by them? No. I think that it some situations, gay schools are the best option - but the students who need them most usually come from districts where harrassment and abuse go unstopped, and where the school district would spend money on bibles, ten commandment plaques, and teaching "creation science" before they would lift a finger to protect their gay and lesbian students. Just as ordinary private schools ought to be funded by the private sector, so should private gay schools (which I highly support).

Finally, how do gays and lesbians win the culture war? Not by self-segregating ourselves into our own schools, our own communities and our own lives. We win the culture war by integrating in society. The fact that I came out my senior year in high school to several dozen of my classmates did much more to advance gay rights, than sending me to a gay high school would have done. People who know a gay person, have a gay friend, have a gay co-worker or a gay mailman, for that matter are more likely to be supportive of gay rights. The response from Europe has been similar to my comments:

An American decision to publicly fund a high school for homosexual students in New York is a misguided exercise in political correctness which risks isolating the gay community, Europeans said Wednesday.

Activists, students and officials across the continent agreed gay schools would never catch on in Europe.

Even the British -- culturally closer to the Americans than any other Europeans -- were skeptical.

"Special schools may serve as shelter for vulnerable and bullied students but in the long term they won't solve the problem of living in a homophobic society," said Carlie Harter-Penman, spokeswoman for the National Union of Students' lesbian, gay and bisexual campaign.

"We want gay students to be able to attend school without thinking of their sexuality as an issue."

Gay British student Richard Hyde, from the London College of Printing, said the U.S. initiative at least promoted awareness of gay rights but could have other negative consequences.

"It might create a biased attitude among gay students because the environment in which they would be educated isn't diverse enough," he said.

New York authorities said Monday that the Harvey Milk School in the city's Greenwich Village would reopen as the first publicly-run high school in the United States for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students.

Named after a gay San Francisco politician assassinated in 1978, it has already been open for 20 years but the city is to spend $3.2 million to expand the school to take 100 students.

Few could imagine such a scenario in Europe.

"This is inconceivable in France. It runs contrary to the principles of the Republic ... There can be no discrimination of any sort," said a French Education Ministry spokeswoman. "I can't imagine anything like that in Germany," said Detlef Muecke, a spokesman for gay teachers from the country's GEW teachers union. "Our aim is to work for acceptance and diversity in the school system, so that young people don't suffer discrimination if they come out as gay or lesbian."

In traditionally liberal Amsterdam, sentiment was similar.

"The Harvey Milk school is a solution to a worldwide problem that gay and lesbian kids feel isolated," said Henk Beerten, chairman of the Federation of Dutch Associations for the Integration of Homosexuality. "But a special school won't appeal in the Netherlands because of the way it singles out people and creates a ghetto-like situation."

In Sweden, which according to a study published Tuesday is the second most tolerant nation toward homosexuality after the Netherlands, gay leaders warned that the move might lead to the marginalisation of gay students.

"I don't think we need a school with special students," said Magnus Ask, organizer of the Stockholm Pride gay festival.

"We don't have separate schools for black people. Why should we have them for gays?" agreed Enrico Oliari, chairman of GayLib, a liberal and center-left Italian group.

"This is very much linked to the social context of the United States and I strongly doubt whether we will see similar schools in Europe over the next few years," added Gert Hekma, head of Gay and Lesbian Studies at the University of Amsterdam.

Why can't we be more like Europe?