Are pupils at the worlds first “gay” state school victims of segregation or symbols of progressive thinking?
The majority of pupils at Harvey Milk High School in New York are gay and were bullied at their previous school for their sexuality. Harvey Milk refuses to be classified as a “gay school” even though that is the general perception of it from opponents and supporters alike. But it says its unique brand of segregated education fully deserves its public funding. It says it provides for a small population of victimised and bullied pupils who are made to feel so freakish in mainstream high schools that they are falling behind in lessons, too scared to go to school and missing out on a proper education. Not everyone thinks this is a valid cause. “If we need a special school for homosexuals, maybe we need a special school for little short fat kids, because they get picked on too” is the view of Mike Long, chairman of the Conservative Party in New York. ‘Pregnant’ school He feels making Harvey Milk an official, state-funded High School has been done behind tax-payers’ backs – “on the sneak”, a
