Obama's Pick for Education Secretary Backed Chicago Gay School

President-elect Barack Obama's choice for education secretary supported a proposal this year for a Chicago public high school that would be geared to gay students. Arne Duncan, the Chicago school superintendent, approved plans for the Pride Campus of Social Justice High School, which was ultimately pulled by organizers at the last minute before a scheduled November vote by the school board.

President-elect Barack Obama's choice for education secretary supported a proposal this year for a Chicago public high school that would be geared to gay students.

Arne Duncan, the Chicago school superintendent, approved plans for the Pride Campus of Social Justice High School, which was set to be voted on by the school board in November, only to be pulled by organizers at the last minute after controversy.

Duncan, CEO of Chicago Public Schools since 2001, was nominated by Obama for the cabinet post at a press conference Tuesday morning, CNN reports.

The 44-year-old Harvard graduate helped write the president-elect's education platform and has frequently advised him on educational matters, according to TheNew York Times.

"In June, bolstered by grim statistics, a group of Chicago teachers, administrators, and education experts presented a groundbreaking proposal to the Chicago public school board: A new Pride Campus, affiliated with the existing Social Justice High School, eventually serving 400 to 600 students, would provide a safe and accepting place for LGBT kids and their allies," Jessica Reaves writes in the current issue of The Advocate. "The public charter school would have been only the third of its kind in the country, after Milwaukee’s Alliance School and New York City’s Harvey Milk High School."

But the proposal was criticized by both conservatives and gay activists, who claimed it amounted to segregation. In response, organizers altered the school's mission to include all students who faced harassment, but then decided the change watered down the original idea. They've vowed to retool the proposal and bring it back for a vote in 2009. (Advocate.com)

Click here to follow The Advocate on Twitter. Page 1 of 1

READ COMMENTS (5) MORE \ EMAIL PRINT

RECOMMEND

Reader Comments

Back to top
Name: Adrian
Date posted: 12/18/2008 5:39:00 AM
Hometown: Northridge, CA

Comment:
I like a fair minded leader like Duncan. However, the reason of opening a special school for LGBT students is not the best moved. It does not address the real problem in the school with their homophobia. We have to focus on fighting the homophobia on every aspect and level of life. Make laws or regulations to protect LGBT students from being bullied is more make sense to me. LGBT students are not leprosy that need to be isolated in a special school. We should not run away from the problems but we need to face and solve them together.
Back to top
Name: Michael
Date posted: 12/17/2008 6:45:00 AM
Hometown: Sacramento

Comment:
Jen, how many queer kids' suicides are you willing to accept while waiting for mainstream schools to change?
Back to top
Name: Tina
Date posted: 12/17/2008 1:10:00 AM
Hometown: Milwaukee

Comment:
As the Lead Teacher at The Alliance School in Milwaukee, I have seen first-hand the difference that a safe environment can make for students. In this safe space, I have seen young people grow and achieve in ways that were never possible when they were facing abuse and hostility every day in school. I applaud Arne Duncan for his sincere concern for all of our youth and his willingness to support bold efforts to make real change.
Back to top
Name: jen
Date posted: 12/16/2008 4:42:00 PM
Hometown: tacoma

Comment:
the concept of a safe haven school for glbt kids is an excellent one, however i think it's too isolating. the point is not to segregate these kids further, but to make alternative sexualities more accepted in mainstream schools. obviously that is a more difficult task, but so was fully integrating african american kids into the nation's schools. without diminishing the pain and suffering african american kids went through decades ago (and in many cases, today), segregation of glbt students would probably be much like it was when segregation of schools by race was enforced: separate but (un)equal.
Back to top
Name: Daniel
Date posted: 12/16/2008 3:36:00 PM
Hometown: New Hope, PA

Comment:
Well at least we know that Duncan is not one of those types who denies that LGBT face problems in school above and beyond those common to all kids.

PREVIOUS 1 NEXT

More Online Only

Commentary Progress in the Midwest
A city native and strong supporter of Kalamazoo's effort to keep an anti-discrimination law reflects on a hard-won campaign.

Commentary What Marriage in Maine Meant for Me

Dana Hernandez is a straight white married mother of two young children. But in campaigning for No on 1 and reporting Election Night outcomes for Advocate.com, defeat hit her like a ton of bricks.

Marriage Equality Terri White Stages Her Leather Encore

Last year, acclaimed stage performer Terri White was homeless and living in a public park. On Sunday, she and her partner held a leather-themed commitment ceremony onstage following her triumphant Broadway turn in Finian’s Rainbow.

Music Ghost Story

Out singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile discusses working with her childhood mentor, coming out publicly, and joining next year's Lilith Fair.

News View From Washington: GOP Upheaval

Now that the only pro-marriage equality candidate in New York's 23rd Congressional district, Republican Dede Scozzafava, has dropped out of the race, Tuesday's election holds any number of political lessons for both the GOP and the LGBT community.

Books Hot Sheet: Ditto Knocking 'Em Dead

This week might not bring anything to the screen other than a Boondock Saints sequel, but there are plenty of reasons to sit at home on the couch or head to your local concert venue.

News Features Sailor Speaks Out
Sailor Joseph Rocha endured years of hazing until he spoke out — then he was discharged for revealing his homosexuality. Nonetheless, the 23-year-old is itching to suit back up.

Music Rainbow High

Busy Broadway heartthrob, gay rights activist, and former Advocate coverboy Cheyenne Jackson chats about his Finian’s Rainbow revival, his politically charged cabaret CD, and laying around in his underpants (pic on page five).

Marriage Equality For Maine, The Time is Now
Money is on their side and the polls look optimistic, but volunteers fighting to preserve marriage equality in Maine are prepared for a fight to the finish.

Television Another Tough Broad

After being outed by a Nazi and locking lips with a hook-up three times in one episode, Christine Woods's tough-talking FBI agent Janis Hawk on ABC's FlashForward might just be prime time's best gay offering — who isn't in Glee club, that is.

Books In Sickness and in Health

Mary Cappello’s memoir Called Back takes readers on a white-knuckle journey through the experience of cancer treatment in America — especially disorienting to navigate as a woman and a lesbian.

Books An American Crime

Best-selling novelist Patricia Cornwell made headlines last week when she filed suit against a New York investment firm for losing $40 million of her money. But she'd much rather talk about her new book, hate-crimes legislation, and Angelina Jolie.

Comedy Gilded Lily

After conquering Broadway, movies, and television, out funny lady Lily Tomlin prepares for the final frontier — Las Vegas.

Entertainment News Ricky Martin, No Shirt and a Baby
Ricky Martin knows how to get the camera's attention. Take a look at the many pictures of Ricky uploaded to his Twitter account in the past three months, always shirtless, frequently carrying one (or both) of his babies.

Television Fresh Blood
With True Blood a bona-fide cultural phenomenon, producer Alan Ball offers tantalizing hints about what to expect on season 3.