High School Gays Get A Harsh Lesson

[shawmut]

High school gays get a harsh lesson

By Dahleen Glanton Tribune national correspondent



Kerry Pacer was used to the whispering behind her back, the name-calling and the snickering when she walked down the hall. But when almost the entire student body at White County High School booed as she accepted a rose from a female friend during a Valentine's Day (news - web sites) program last month, she knew it was time to do something.

Pacer, who said she has never tried to hide the fact that she is a lesbian, did what other gay students in schools across the country have been doing for more than a decade. The 16-year-old junior began trying to organize a chapter of the Gay-Straight Alliance, which promotes tolerance and acceptance of homosexuals.

But in White County, a hub of Christian conservatism in the north Georgia mountains, the idea of a school-based group backing homosexuality caused an uproar and thrust this quiet haven, where Cabbage Patch dolls originated, into the national gay-rights debate.

"There has always been a lot of bullying at school, and there was never anyone to stand up for me," said Pacer, explaining that she and other gay students felt a Gay-Straight Alliance club would promote understanding. "I knew there would be people who disagreed with it, but I had no idea it would grow this big."




http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/chitribts/20050313/ts_chicagotrib/highschoolgaysgetaharshlesson

[ashmanonar]

1. wow.

just wow.

so this is how ugly americans can be.

[loro mi dicevano]

2. I'm a highschooler and a lesbian - I don't go to school dances anymore.

It's NOT worth it. I've never hidden my sexual orientation, but for these people, saying you're gay is a whole lot different from actually showing up somewhere with your same-sex date. The half that consider themselves "tolerant" of gays and lesbians can't handle that, and the other half has already condemned you for being gay... yeah, it's bad.

[Warpy]

3. I wish I could say I was surprised

but I went to high school in NC, also the buckle of the babble belt. I had gay friends in high school. People started coming out to me when I was 13. I think they all realized I was straight, but I was so damned weird they took a chance on coming out. I have no idea how any of them got through it without drugs or suicide.

[dsc]

4. Many do turn to those things

I am currently close to five years sober and am still dealing with some of the effects of my drinking. I am currently a teacher in NC and things have gotten a little better.

[xchrom]

5. in america, we don't use the state to impose order

we use the mob.
pretty ain't it?

[Langley85]

6. Land of the free?

This country can call itself the land of the free all it wants, but as long as law-abiding Americans are discriminated against for their sexual orientation, those words will ring hollow.