Mon. July 28, 2003
New York City -
The first all-gay high school in the US will open in New York City this fall. The school, named for slain San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk, will have about 100 students.
New York mayor Michael Bloomberg told a city hall news conference Monday that the high school will be a safe environment for vulnerable teens.
''I think everybody feels that it's a good idea because some of the kids who are gays and lesbians have been constantly harassed and beaten in other schools,'' Bloomberg said.
Harvey Milk High will occupy a now empty school, in the East Village and is undergoing a $3.2 million renovation. While this is the first time an entire school has been used exclusively for LGBT students, it is not the first program for gay students in New York. In 1984 a program was launched to encourage gay students who were in danger of dropping out because of the effects of homophobia. The handful of students studied in two small classrooms. Since then the program has grown to about 100 students.
The Hetrick-Martin Institute, a gay-rights youth advocacy group that has managed and financed the program since its inception, has hired William Salzman a former Wall Street executive who most recently served as assistant principal at Brooklyn's Automotive High School as principal of the new school.
In an interview with the New York Post, Salzman said that the school will be academically challenging, emphasizing English and math programs but also offer computer technology, arts and culinary arts.
The school is not without its critics.
''Is there a different way to teach homosexuals? Is there gay math? This is wrong,'' State Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long told the Post. ''There's no reason these children should be treated separately.''
by Beth Shapiro
365Gay.com Newscenter
New York Bureau
©365Gay.com® 2003
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