Posted on 08/15/2003 1:19:46 PM PDT by Bob J
"Sex and the City"
by JDM
That he joined the GOP to sneak into office notwithstanding, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg has an apparent knack for stating the obvious. Such was the case last week when he noted, in support of the forthcoming Harvey Milk High School for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning -- or LGBTQ -- students, that "gays and lesbians have been constantly harassed and beaten in other schools."
He's right, you know. Gays and lesbians do get picked on. But that's no reason to remove them from mainstream schools. The fact that said schools are failing, on the other hand -- now that's a good reason. But because they get pushed around? Nice try, but no.
You know who else gets picked on in high school? Everybody.
Dweebs, geeks, and weirdoes. Short kids. Fat kids. You name it and they've been picked on. High school is an awful place to be for anyone with the audacity to live and breathe. Don't wear the wrong clothes there, or drive the wrong car, or talk to the wrong people. Don't make the mistake of waiting for your mom outside after school hours, either. These things are punishable by severe beatings in some high schools, no matter who -- or what -- you are. That doesn't make it right, of course, but that's the way it is.
People sometimes refer to Matthew Shepard as proof that gays need extra protection. Shepard, you may remember, was beaten and left on a fence to die back in '98 because he was gay. His murder was undoubtedly senseless, and we can only hope that the bastardly animals who killed him are finding prison as uncomfortable as it was for Tim Robbins in the Shawshank Redemption. But without meaning to tread on Shepard's memory, isn't homicide wrong no matter the circumstances? Because I've known perfectly straight guys whose heads were bashed in with metal baseball bats for walking down the halls funny.
And the way I figure, motivations are mere details. Excuses. Official particulars. The fact that a victim is different from his assailant isn't the problem. The fact that his assailant's a waste of flesh is.
Separating gays from the general population on the grounds that they get pushed around discriminates against all the other kids whose educations are publicly-subsidized journeys through Hell. Most students graduate with battle scars, and that's a legitimate issue. But it's also a common denominator. We should tackle it through teamwork by people of all shapes, sizes, and brands.
It's not like the separate-but-equal approach fixes inequalities, anyway. It doesn't. It defines folks by differences instead of similarities, embittering those on all sides.
We went over this decades ago, remember?
And I don't know about you, but I recall a time when segregation was wrong. I call this time last December. That's when Trent Lott stepped down from his Senate leadership role for making a bad joke at Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday. So, if we all agreed it was wrong just months ago, why change our minds now?
Which brings me to a more troubling point: This episode of institutional prejudice is essentially being brought to you by the letters I, R, and S.
That's right. Taxpayers are paying for this Harvey Milk thing.
According to ABC News, the school building is currently under renovation to the tune of $3.2 million. So here Michael Bloomberg's been raising taxes left and right -- and Left again -- with an eye on the wallets of New York's commuter workforce, and he's got the nerve to support this multimillion dollar scheme? Maybe it's just me, but isn't this a strange way of saying thanks to all those suburbanites who help keep his city strong?
But, of course, this guy's got a habit of penalizing people for behaviors he doesn't approve of. It's all right if he sips his wine in the park, I mean, but don't you dare drink beer on his beaches -- Mayor Mike doesn't like that.
Oh, and don't smoke, either. Anywhere. Ever. Smokers are but whipping boys for Bloomberg's big government views. Not only has this guy sent cigarette prices through the roof with his tyrannical taxation policies, but he's also banished smokers from city restaurants and bars. (Talk about segregation.)
Perhaps it won't be long before we see nicotine addicts heading off cigarette shipments and throwing the cartons in New York Harbor. Barring this Boston Tea Party type of reprisal, however, smokers ought to be asking the mayor one thing: Why is it all right to condemn and tax one controversial behavior while condoning and funding another?
Yes, I understand smoking and being gay aren't exactly the same, but who's to say where the line is drawn?
Prevailing wisdom nowadays dictates that being gay is in one's genes, and that may well be true. Personally, I've neither the experience nor the know-how to say for certain, and I'm not sure I care either way. Gay people deserve to be treated like people, but so, too, do smokers -- who, according to lawyers, also "can't help" what they do.
And how about taxpayers who think homosexuality is behavioral based on religious beliefs? You can be a hard-working, God-fearing, two-packs-a-day kind of New Yorker, and City Hall will slice your paycheck in half to pay for the Harvey Milk High School whether you like it or not. You can't light up between courses at TGI Friday's, mind you, and your kids can't pray in public school or attend a private one -- with a voucher -- where they can. But you'll pay to send LGBTQ kids to a segregated school and there's nothing your God can do about it.
The First Amendment guarantees us "no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," but I guess that clause is void where prohibited -- up to and including New York.
Of course, our Founding Fathers also told us that all men are created equal, but what did they know? It's not like they're allowed in the classroom anymore, anyway.
Look, although I outlined my case against segregation up top, if someone comes along and wants to privately fund a gay high school -- or a black college, or a Catholic little league -- fine. Enjoy. It's a free country, as long as they pay their own bills.
Vicious prejudices existed in this country a hundred years ago, but we've come a long way since then. Further progress cannot and will not come from retro-segregated classrooms, social engineering, Orwellian "hate crimes," or politically correct texts that depict history incorrectly. It'll come on subways and street corners -- not through the pointing of fingers but the shaking of hands.
©2003 JDM All rights reserved.
It will be an interesting debate when the fairies realize they've been cut off from clean fresh meat and try to argue that they are being educationally deprived by not being in classes with normal people.
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