Nearly 90% of high school seniors witness Harassment of gays and lesbians at their school

http://www.zogby.com ^ | August 27, 2001 | ZOGBY

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

Nearly 90% of high school seniors witness
Harassment of gays and lesbians at their school
Hamilton College/MTV poll reveals
Comments such as "that's so gay," "faggot,"
"homo," and "dyke" are ever-present
In American high schools

MTV's fight for your rights episode of flipped examining homophobia to premiere at 10:30 pm on monday, september 3^rd in conjunction with poll release

August 27, 2001 (New York, NY) - A survey of 1000 high school seniors, released today by hamilton college and mtv and conducted by zogby international, found a hostile environment for gays and lesbians in american high schools.  88% of seniors say the phrase "that's so gay" is used by students at their school to talk about something they don't like, and half have seen classmates insult gay students by calling them "faggot, homo, dyke"; or a similar name.

"Even though high school seniors tend to hold liberal, pro-gay opinions on many issues, gays still face a hostile environment in school," said Hamilton College Professor of Sociology Dennis Gilbert, who developed the poll with his students.

The poll ties in to the September 3^rd premiere at 10:30 pm of a Fight For Your Rights:  take a stand against discrimination episode of Flipped, MTV's newest reality-based series.  in the show, a homophobic teen is asked by MTV to be a reporter and cover the gay community.  He joins a meeting for a gay teen support group and learns just how harmful using words such as "that's so gay" and "faggot" (both of which are highlighted in the survey) can actually be.  He is also shocked and horrified when a new found friend is killed in a gay-bashing incident.

The poll had several other key findings in addition to the ones listed above.  It found that young people are accepting of gays and much more liberal than adults on gay issues.  Over 85% of graduates say that gays and lesbians "should be accepted by society" and 88% favor laws to protect gays against hate crimes.  The poll also revealed, however, that there are few resources currently in place to deal with the often difficult issues young gays and lesbians face.  87% of students said that their high school lacks an organization to support homosexual students, and a majority said that issues concerning homosexuality or gay rights have never been discussed in their high school classes. 

 Summary of key poll findings

• 88% report they have heard classmates use the phrase "that's so gay" and half have heard gay students called "faggot," "homo," "dyke," or a similar name
• Over 85% say that gays and lesbians "should be accepted by society" and over 77% agree that "gay people contribute in unique and positive ways to society."
• 88% favor laws to protect gays against hate crimes and 79% favor laws to protect gays against job discrimination.
• 66% say marriages between homosexuals should be recognized by law as valid with the same rights as traditional marriage, while only one-third of adults hold this position.

Comments about gays from high school seniors

Quotes from seniors interviewed by Hamilton student poll researchers:

• "Who they are as a person is more important than who they sleep with or love. It shouldn't be a big deal."
• "Flaming homosexuals are just weird and gross. But if they don't flash it there's nothing wrong with it."
• "I don't like fags. I want to beat their queer asses."
• "God made them that way. Let them be."

The Hamilton College/MTV gay issues poll is a national survey of 1000 high school seniors, covering their attitudes toward gays and gay political issues.  the survey, conducted March 16-20, 2001, measures tolerance of gays, comfort in the presence of gays, and opinions on political and policy issues. The poll was designed by Hamilton Professor Dennis Gilbert and his students, financed by Hamilton College's Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center, and conducted by Zogby International.

The complete hamilton/mtv gay issues poll is available at the following url: www.hamilton.edu/news/gayissuespoll/gay-issues.html

Contact: Sharon Rippey, Hamilton College Media Relations, 315-859-4680 or Allison Bennett, MTV Communications, 212-846-8655.

[Cleburne]

Unless humans can gain the unusual practice persent in some species of flies of being able to lay unfertilized eggs and they hatch, nope, I kinda doubt homosexuality will ever become human instinct...

I find it interesting that such biologicaly deviant behavior exists in humans: shouldn't evolution have long ago weeded it out? Sinful humans seem to me to be a much more plausible answer.

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

Today's open sexuality is something schoolkids shouldn't have to deal with.

I agree i dont think school kids should be subject to any of it period but how do we stop them from teaching it to them ?

[BoneHead]

What you identified in the procreative ability of the homosexual community is an extinction proclivity as opposed to a speciation event....

[Dead Dog]

What ever happened to fun playground games like "Smeer The Queer". Those were great!

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

I find it interesting that such biologicaly deviant behavior exists in humans: shouldn't evolution have long ago weeded it out? Sinful humans seem to me to be a much more plausible answer.

so you think with the absence of god in their lives makes them choose homosexuality?.... but this cant be how would you explain homosexual christians?

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

What ever happened to fun playground games like "Smeer The Queer". Those were great!

hey i played that 1 football fifty kids wow if you got the ball YOU BETTER KNOW HOW TO RUN ...... lmao

[Amelia]

I find it interesting that such biologicaly deviant behavior exists in humans: shouldn't evolution have long ago weeded it out?

I read a scientific article a couple of years ago that argued exactly that; the authors were of the opinion that there might be a viral trigger for homosexuality. Part of their evidence included ulcers, once thought to be caused by stress but now shown to be caused by a bacteria, and certain cancers that have been shown to have a viral trigger.

Don't know how much study has been done on the hypothesis, but I thought it was interesting.

[ValerieUSA]

Why are high school students witnessing homosexuality and any of the reactions? I didn't witness it in high school. This article is proof that homosexual behavior does not belong in school.

[rightofrush]

The other 10% are those being harassed?

No, 10% slackers.

[Tacis]

This is just another example of semantic self-abuse. While fairies are free to refer to themselves with whatever words they choose, when some non-faggot uses the same word, it becomes, by definition, harassment. "Gay" is a euphemism used by lefties, liberals, and fairies, in place of the less positive sounding, "homesexual." It is all right for them to describe their pattern of behavior in whatever other terms they select, but when a less positive description of that same patterm of behavior is used, it becomes harassment. Fagitude is a perversion, an unacceptable pattern of behavior, much like smoking, or canabalism, or rooting for the New York Yankees, and so on. YOU can do it so long as it doesn't impnge upon me or mine, but you and your leftie thugs shouldn't be forcing me to change my beliefs to conform to your behavior. Belittle fairies at every turn, maybe we can help even one to see the error of his ways and turn straight. After all, if the transgendered can face the fact that God made a mistake with their body parts, maybe a fairy can face the fact that God made a mistake with his choice of sexual partner.

[breakem]

I think we should stamp out all harmful and adolescent behavior in schools. Let's have those who support this pay taxes to put thought and speech police in every hallway on every campus. Also, I support microphones and tape recorders in the bath rooms and the parking lot. Then we can expand to the fast food places around each school and then have the kids report comments parents make.

[rightofrush]

What ever happened to fun playground games like "Smeer The Queer". Those were great!

hey i played that 1 football fifty kids wow if you got the ball YOU BETTER KNOW HOW TO RUN ...... lmao

At my school, we called it "blood & guts". I do remember that the worst insult was to call someone "queer bait." I had no idea at the time what that meant.
I also thought that "bastard" was fish excrement.

[ValerieUSA]

I take it you're a tolerance freak. Tolerant of deviance, but not of common sense and freedom of speech by people who react with natural aversion to unnatural sexual behavior. Tell the truth - you pretend to be supporting liberty, but you aren't. You would be the first to convict a kid who is recorded muttering, "freaking queer" while you would defend the behavior of a boy wearing a dress and make-up to the prom.

[Demosthenes]

Well, of course, it isn't what you say, but how the listener interprets what you said. If they hear "homo" and believe you to be using it in a derogatory fashion, well...I sure don't want to be you at the next GLAD or GHOST rally...

[Demosthenes]

Dude, how can you say that? That was so gay...

[537 Votes]

The poll ties in to the September 3rd premiere at 10:30 pm of a Fight For Your Rights: take a stand against discrimination episode of Flipped, MTV's newest reality-based series. in the show, a homophobic teen is asked by MTV to be a reporter and cover the gay community. He joins a meeting for a gay teen support group and learns just how harmful using words such as "that's so gay" and "faggot" (both of which are highlighted in the survey) can actually be. He is also shocked and horrified when a new found friend is killed in a gay-bashing incident.

Isn't this kind of bashing gay-bashers? It's implying that there's a one-to-one direct relationship between people who say, "That's so gay," and murderers.

Gay bashers are merely exercising their First Amendment rights in a provocative form of self-expression. Isn't that what we usually say when people are verbally offensive?

[Sir Gawain]

close your fonts fag

[HennepinPrisoner]

LOL!

[Storm Orphan]

GOOD! we used to call them queers, and it was considered the lowest form of human existance,........(the stigma kept some of us from debasing ourselves during adolescence)

So social stigma, instead of personal preference, is why you didn't engage in homosexuality.

Interesting. (Don't stare at my package.)