[Vision2020] NYC Hispanics: Gay High School=segregation

[Tim Lohrmann]

Hispanic Ministers: Gay High School is Segregation
By IKIMULISA LIVINGSTON and STEPHANIE GASKELL 
New York Post

August 1, 2003 -- Amid praise yesterday from the City
Council for the nation's first gay high school, a
group of Hispanic ministers threatened to sue over it,
calling the campus a new kind of "segregation." 
City Council Speaker Gifford Miller yesterday
commended the city Department of Education for
planning to open the school next month with 100
students, which was first reported in The Post on
Monday. 

"Every child in New York City has the right to be
educated in an environment that is safe and
supportive," Miller said. "That right has been denied
to far too many kids who face anti-gay harassment and
abuse." 

The Harvey Milk HS, at 2 Astor Place, will open for
gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students. 

It was established to prevent physical and mental
abuse that many of the gay students experience in the
regular school setting. 

Bronx minister and state Sen. Ruben Diaz yesterday
questioned the need for the school and threatened
legal action, as did state Conservative Party boss
Mike Long. 

"The issue is whether taxpayers' money should go
toward segregated schools and promoting the gay
lifestyle," Long said. 
 
Diaz said that instead of separating homosexual
students, schools should teach tolerance. 

"They should teach them to love each other and not be
segregated," Diaz said. 

"People with special needs — handicapped, blind or
[those] with other physical handicaps — need special
schools," Diaz said. "Normal people should compete in
the same schools." 

Diaz was one of a dozen or so Hispanic clergy members
who opposed the school and are analyzing whether it's
legal. 

If they believe the school is unconstitutional, the
ministers will file suit to block the September
opening. 



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