August 1, 2003 2:38 PM BST
Evlynn--
First off, Katie isn't the brightest quarter in the roll, y'know what I'm saying?
I partially agree with Heather's statement: "Ideally, the authorities would ensure that all students have a safe environment in which to learn. The real victory for tolerance will come when this school closes or is converted to some other use because there is no longer a need for it."
However, you have also grasped the more obvious point: "In an age where school-control-folk make much ado about successfully "integrating" the deaf, the blind, the DownsSyndrome child, etc., it's appalling that children with sexual preference and gender issues, that are outside-the-cultural-box, find themselves with such a isolationist choice "for their own freedom and safety". " Goddess, if that isn't the biggest boatload of crap I have heard in months!
When I was a little girl, we all went to the same high school. We all dealt with bullies, crushes, fights, puppy loves, pop quizzes, race riots (hey--this WAS California in the early '80's) etc. There were a few kids that had special needs, but we all learned that they weren't bad...just different. We had to learn to deal with each other's differences...constructively. In a school built for a thousand kids, we had 2500 in it my senior year. We HAD to learn to get along!
Nowadays, it seems like everyone has to have a different school "for their own safety." While I dearly hope that we finally become enlightened to the point such idiocy isn't needed, I'm not gonna hold my breath waiting.
Still...if I were an open/out T-girl of that age...I might just look into that school if I lived in New York....
Luv 'n hugs,
Jayne Sakura
"Almost-Angel, T-Girl Genius, and Ultra- Flirt"