Straight from the Closet Column
Got School? A Gay Perspective on the Harvey Milk School
by Joyce Yang


To download an application to the Harvey Milk School in New York City, the first publicly funded high school to serve the needs of gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender (GLBT) youth, one only has to click a side-banner on the Hetrick-Martin Institute website, facetiously portraying a jug of milk and the now well-known dairy as slogan. For new students of the Harvey Milk High, the application may have been the easiest part of school. On opening day, September 8th, students and teachers alike were escorted into the newly renovated school in Greenwich Village through barricades that divided their allies and vociferous anti-gay-nists (the Phelps Clan).Though the Harvey Milk School has been in operation for 20 years, its recent $3.2 million renovation paid by the New York Board of Education, and the change of status from private to public high school, attracted the attention of the media and brought on at least one legal action by State Senator Ruben Diaz. Belatedly, we are in debate over the central controversial issue of segregation, which should have been sparked by the schools inception, not its expansion.

Statistics show the pressing reasons for Harvey Milk Highs existence. GLBT youths are three times as likely to attempt suicide, according to a study by the National Mental Health Association. Another study cites that 69% of GLBT youth have experienced some form of harassment or violence, and three times as many GLBT students drop out of school. Harvey Milk High is a safety net for these at-risk students. It is the halfway house to reintegrate these young men and women into an older and hopefully more tolerant society. For some students who have been shunned by their own parents when they came out, Harvey Milk High is home.

On the other hand, there are several practical reasons why not to embrace the Harvey Milk School wholeheartedly. The establishment of a dedicated school for troubled gay students may actually promote more violence against gays in public schools, since now the special kids have a place to go. The reality is that even with the recent expansion, the Harvey Milk School can only accommodate a very small percentage of all gay high school students in New York City. And if the eventual goal is for public schools to emulate the real world, how can removing people who contribute to diversity be a step towards that direction? There is no doubt that the establishment of the Harvey Milk School is damaging to the anti-segregation progress made by Brown vs. Board of Education. At best, Harvey Milk is a temporary solution.

Strides must be made to achieve safe and timely integration of gay students at public schools. That Harvey Milk High needs to exist at all is the strongest argument for some overdue changes in public education. Instituting an anti-bullying act would greatly facilitate gay student intregration. And in terms of curriculum to promote diversity, public schools could discuss gay issues at student assemblies or during sex-ed. However, both of these proposed changes have met with opposition from legislators. One possible avenue remains: what about gay educators?

At least one report compiled by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Teachers Network (GLSTN) shows that teachers have traditionally been among the most closeted of all gay people. The report continues, Teachers who remain closeted do so out of a clear sense of the traditional role professionals in the position have been expected to fill. This role is situated within the context of a society that is heterosexist, i.e., on that posits the heterosexual model as the only or proper one for all to follow.

Thus, the need of most gay students to have an accessible gay adult role model and authority figure is not realized, aside from what they might find in the fantasies of television sit-coms. Resistance to gay educators comes in the form of anxious parents and conservative school administrations. If popular myths are to be believed, unleashing a gay teacher into a public school is akin to setting loose a starved canine in a meat locker, never mind that most cases of child-molestations are perpetrated by heterosexuals.

Before we attempt to address the needs of gay students, we should look deeply at why even adult educators fear being out. The potential of job loss is the number one reason why gay educators remain in the closet. Though some gay teachers are protected by their states anti-discrimination policies, some were sill discharged for ambiguous reasons once they came out.

One example is that of George DeCarlo, who was a substitute teacher for Watchung Hills Regional High of New Jersey and filed suit for discrimination in 1996. Though New Jersey had added sexual orientation to the states anti-discrimination law in 1992, DeCarlos dismissal occurred in 1995. According to an article by Anna Farneski of Courier News, the primary reason for DeCarlos dismissal appeared to be classroom-management problems, when DeCarlo had in fact earned nothing less than job well-done from his supervisors on his evaluations. At the time of the writing of the Farneski article in March 1998, it was not clear whether DeCarlo would win his case in the Superior Court, and he still could not find a teaching position. Many more examples like DeCarlos exist. If gay teachers are themselves victims of bullying by school administrators, we can expect even less tolerance from adolescents towards their gay classmates. But are we surprised to find that most public schools barely tolerate gay teachers, when even here amongst the enlightened populace of MIT, there are less than 5 examples of out GLBT faculty and none who are tenured?

The call to arms is not sounded by bugle and drums, but by the ringing of the school bell. And this fight is not about land or coveted natural resources; its about the most basic human need of dignity. Winning this battle does not depend on advances in nanotechnology and should not require a multi-billion dollar budget. If we are to expect children to learn about diversity, we must provide ammunition in the forms of legislation, curriculum and role models, not simply the shield of a well-meant school Let us hope that all schools come out of the closet, and let us hope that it starts right here.