kinda OT :: Gay HS in NYC/ Queer Eye mention of Regis and Kelly

I just saw on Regis and Kelly that they are establishing a gay-only high school in NYC.
Regis also mentioned Queer Eye For The Straight Guy. Yay Jai Rodriguez. He and Kelly is making fun of teh straight guys and how the straighter a guy is the messier he is.
Kelly said it should be renamed Queer Eye For The Pig Guy.

Regis pissed me off though. He said "speaking of those gays" and is being kind of crass about gay men. Although he did ake many a positive comment about gay men to redeem though.

I LOVE Kelly Ripa and her speechs about gay men.

Although, Kelly says she only likes to move in to homes previously occupied be gay men becasue they tend to be better kept up.

Queer Eye = Jai Rodriguez = Rent and Zanna Don't

Promo/publicity for the show = people tune in and see the show = some people go to the show's site = some people find out about Jai being in Rent/Zanna = some people look for info about thsoe shows = publicity and people looking into NY Theatre.

Well, The Queer Eye mention came about during/because of them discussing the new school and Regis's comment, that is why I included it.

Admittedly, Jai is far from my favorite Angel in Rent -- that goes to Justin Rodriguez from the Collins (Non-Equity tour). He was by far the stand out of that cast with Krystal washington as Mimi and Ashton Holmes Mark coming in second. As far as Jai's persona;ity, I have nothing bad to say as I have never had a bad encounter with him.

Justin R. was a great Angel. He is also very nice. I got to talk to him and the rest of the cast at a local mall (my mom took me out of school!) and after the show.

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Um, just becasue you are a teenager does not mean you do not now your sexuality. I knew mine at 12 and it has never once faltered. When a person has come out of the closet, you can be sure they aren't questioning their sexuality in their mind. It is an imperfect solution, but a good one for some students who face physical violence everyday in school due to their orientation. A student can not perform to their full potential in an environment that they feel endangered in.

As for the show, REGIS made the dumb comment. Not Kelly.

As for Queer Eye, some peopel like it. Just becasue you do not, doesn not mean that it isn't a good show. It has recieved outstanding rating for the channel/time slot.

I teach in the NYC Public School System and know that there has been a gay high school in existence for many years. It's called the Harvey Milk School and it's located somwhere in the Village. What's all the brouhaha about?

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My first homosexual tendency came when I was in 1st grade so it's never too early to start showing signs. (I've got an odd feeling someone is going to reply " How the hell can you know at age 7? " and before you do, its none of your business)

I'm split about this issue of a gay school. On one hand, yes it protects them, they can date now, hold hands in school, etc.

But on the other hand, theyre also just kids getting picked on. Just like overweight people and nerds. Should there be a special school for them as well? I go to a private Catholic high school and get picked on just as a nerd would. There's really no difference. We're just part of the minority.

Updated On: 7/30/03 at 10:37 AM

Yeah because I mean, the sun will rise, and the moon will set, and you learn how to settle for what you get. It'll all go on if we're here or not so who cares? so what?

What if a Principal or Teacher is a homophobe?
What if the students get gay bashed?

I'm starting to sway to approval of a gay school after thinking about it some more.

This school IS the Harvey Milk school. It is being massivly expaned from two classrooms serving 50 students to a school serving over 100 this year and nearly two the following.

Like I said, an ideal solution where ALL students could co-exist peacefully and not be threatened but that is not the case. If it takes a school such as this for a student to feel safe from harm in the learning environment then good.

I DO take issue with certaoin conservative politicians saying how this is unfair that the Harvey Milk school will recieve tax payer dollars and that Christian private schools won't. First of all, those Christian schoolls teach christian values and have their own ciriculum serving those values and Christian students are are not the victims of attacks the wauy that gay students are. I heard Joe Scarborough say that Christian students are severely persacuted in school and that Columbine was an example of that. That statemebnt offended me using such a horrible event in a way such as he did -- lying.
This 'gay' school will be using the same ciriculum as every public school in the city and state -- NOT 'teaching' or 'promoting' homosexuality. It is no different than any other scool except that the students are gay and it is there to give them a safe environment.

TheatreBaby,
I understand your point. The thing is not about what happens AFTER school that is being addressed with this -- though that issue must be addressed her as well. The prblem is what happens DURING school hours when these students should feel safe in the learning environment. They shouldn't have to look over their shoulders in the hallway and go through the physical abuse that happens to gay students DURING school housr. Trust me -- the stufgf that the goth kids and fat kids go through IS bad, but it is very very rarely as brutal and hardly ever physical on the scale of what many gay students experience. My high school years were absolute hell.

Even the peopel suporting and developing the school have said that is an imperfect solution and they want to work to where al studentscan feel safe with all other students but that this school provides a safe enviroment for thse kids NOW while they work toward the larger goal.

I can see that in a sense these schools give those students a chance to better realize that they are not alone. That there are other gay teens out there, that suicide is an option; not an answer, and that they are smart and can be something great. I just wish (and I know that's all I can do in this imperfect society) that there was a better solution.

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I am not fully aware of the brutality issue against gay students. I attend a school of the arts, people of all kinds accept one another. We have the obese, the latinos, the gays, the lesbians, the jocks, the goths, and yet we all accept each other for who we are. We pick and choose which people we want to be friends with and leave the rest alone.

I did attend a regular public elementary and middle school, and throughout kids have been teased just the same for any reason. Then in high school, the teasing died down a bit.

Everyone can get along, we need a better system. If there is a bully that has gotten some complaints from several students, send him/her to a special school. Problem solved. Make the trouble-makers go to a special school if they cannnot get along.

EVERYONE NEEDS TO SEE THE MOVIE BASED OFF OF THE PLAY, "BANG BANG, YOU'RE DEAD" (the title is the same). Showtime will be selling this on video and DVD soon. It was nominated and won some Emmy Awards and has a GREAT message. If you think the play is good, this movie makes it look like crap. A GREAT message that needs to be shared. http://www.sho.com/bbyd/ or www.bangbangyouredead.com has information about the film.

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Updated On: 7/30/03 at 02:47 PM

Please realize that Michael Bloomberg is not going around, shepherding all the nellie, trannie, butch queers out of the public schools to go to some sort of gay educational ghetto. The studens choose to go to the Harvey Milk school. These kids are at risk...phsycially, mentally and emotionally.

Just because you do not know of any brutality toward gay kids does not mean it is nonexistant. Google the name Jamie Nazonby (sp?) and you will see just one example of the kind of violence there is out there.

Although hatred is wrong eqully across the board, you can't really compare being gay to being African American or Jewish. Jewish and black kids come from families that share the same cultural language. Often times, gay kids do not have anyone in their families that are in their corner from the get go. The isolation can be debilitating. One more point, have you ever read the play BENT? It's about a man who is sent to a concentration camp because he is a homosexual. On the way there, he does an unthinkable act so that he can wear a yellow star instead of a pink triangle. Even in the death camps there was a hierarchy where being gay was the lowest you could be.

The idea that everyone should get along and be with their peers is a wonderful concept that I fully support. But this country still is sorely lacking in the 'with liberty and justice for all' sentiment we all uttered in the morning before school started.

I agree, this high school is not the solution. But if it upsets you, then do something about it. Arm youself with knowledge and fight against what you see to be unjust. But never lose your sense of humor (as I apparently have in these rants).

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