Posted on 10/28/2005 7:51:24 AM PDT by scripter
CHICAGO -- High school is a time when everyone wants to fit in.
On Tuesday, NBC5's Anna Davlantes introduced viewers to two suburban teenagers who say that fitting in didn't matter when it came time to choosing the school's homecoming king and queen.
The choice that students made, however, is attracting attention and causing controversy.
Davlantes said it may not shock people that a jock and a cheerleader were chosen as homecoming king and queen at Buffalo Grove High School, but what surprises some and concerns others is what's different about the two students and what it might say about their generation.
Jen Wohlner and Ryan Cooperman are popular leaders at the school. They're also openly gay, Davlantes said.
So, some people were surprised by what happened in their high school gym a little over a week ago, when the two were chosen as homecoming king and queen.
"The entire gym was completely packed. No one knew who was going to be king or queen," Cooperman said.
Then came the announcement: "I am proud to present to you the homecoming king and queen."
"And they were, like, Ryan Cooperman ... Jen Walner. Everyone exploded. It was just amazing," said a Buffalo Grove student and friend of the royal couple.
So, how is it that a gay student and a lesbian win the biggest high school popularity contest?
"I think it shows that is our school, and maybe the generation as a whole, is just a little more progressive," Wohlner said.
Their election shatters stereotypes, Davlantes said. They are not at all the typical homecoming king and queen.
Wohlner plays sports and went to prom with another girl last year. Ryan is a cheerleader.
"I guess you could say this year it was kind of a jock and a cheerleader, but flip-flopped positions," she said.
Other students said that the anomaly doesn't bother them.
Perhaps, Davlantes said, being openly gay in Chicago's suburban high schools no longer carries the stigma it once did.
Time magazine made the subject its cover story last week, saying that students are coming out earlier and earlier.
"I came out in eighth grade," one girl told NBC5.
"I never dated a boy before," another girl said.
"I knew, personally, around sixth grade," Cooperman said.
And the number of gay clubs in high schools has exploded from 100 a few years ago to more than 3000 nationwide today.
"It's really kind of uncool to be anti-gay," said school psychologist Jennifer Zacharski.
Attitudes have shifted dramatically in one generation, Zacharski, who sponsors Buffalo Grove's Gay-Straight Alliance.
"When they saw me in the crowd (at the homecoming) they were, like, 'Ms. Zacharski, we got it,'" she recalled.
But not everyone is cheering about the school's groundbreaking choice.
"For us, it's a sad thing," said Illinois Family Institute's spokesman Pete LaBarbera said. He claims that schools are too politically correct nowadays.
"Something that was once sort of universally regarded as a sin, is now becoming sort of cool in high school," he said. "It's easy for an adult to say, 'Oh wow, I'm doing the compassionate thing by telling this teenaged boy that he's gay,' but they won't be there when the boy becomes a man and comes down with HIV or hepititis B and C."
"Like, you know what? I'm gay and if you have a problem with that, I really could care less," Cooperman said.
"I'm proud of who I am," Wohlner said. "Not just that I'm proud of being gay, but I'm proud of all that I am."
They say their popularity has sent a message -- not about being gay, but being themselves.
"What's so appealling about them is that they are themselves. They are themselves despite whatever people might think," Zacharski said.
Davlantes said that this is the first time anyone can remember two openly gay students being named homecoming king and queen, but that could soon change.
According to a Harvard University study, the average gay person comes out of the closet just before high school graduation.
Davlantes said that conservatives are lobbying to get more groups on campus that represent an alternative viewpoint.
I thought you might ignore everything science says on the subject, which you do time and time again.
I'm here to inform folks that homosexuals can leave the lifestyle. If you have any reputable evidence to the contrary please share it.
Now you say I won't read the science. You know that's a lie since I read two of your first research posts and pointed out why they were not scientific.
You have the support of some misguided people and you continue to claim to be "scientific." I have pointed out numerous times why you are not.
You won't admit a simple point, so why would we expect you to admit you're wrong on other points.
I am posting this so that other readers will know you are being disingenuous. I don't wish to rehash 2 years of your blind ambition. You and Sucks can continue your comments and remarks about me in my absence, as long as I have posted the truth about you, that's enough for me. Toodles.
Your last post is an indication of your scientific "technique." I have never said someone can't leave the "lifestyle." You're making that up to try to put down the fact that you were wrong on this thread. It is just the most recent example of your dishonest debate methods. Toodles. I'm out and disgusted that I have to post the truth because you won't.
Well look, y'all..........Keep telling kids that homosexuality is "cool" and "perfectly acceptable", if not downright hip, and they're going to embrace it willingly and openly.
Damn you to Hell, Hollywood.
If she really needs a jock, she should get an endorsement deal with Snap On tools.
Your comment was a red herring.
Now you say I won't read the science. You know that's a lie since I read two of your first research posts and pointed out why they were not scientific.
Sigh. You're always referring to vague references. To what two articles are you referring?
You have the support of some misguided people and you continue to claim to be "scientific." I have pointed out numerous times why you are not.
No, you haven't.
You won't admit a simple point, so why would we expect you to admit you're wrong on other points.
I have no problem admitting when I'm wrong so feel free to point out some specifics.
For anybody who wants to know more of bigsigh and from where he's coming, read his old profile as breakem.
You're really good at misrepresenting what others say. And here you appear proud of misrepresenting me.
I have never said someone can't leave the "lifestyle."
That's what I'm hear to tell folks. If homosexuals can leave the lifestyle then obviously they are confused about their sexuality in the first place. Why you refuse to put the two together is just weird.
Exactly. Apparently for some activists, that's one of their main goals. If kids are going to know about homosexuality they need to know about the severe health hazards and that they can leave the lifestyle.
For a look at what's coming from today's youth, checkout 'The New Gay Teenager'.
BTW, I saw your earlier thread. Happy birthday!
You keep referring to specifics but you won't provide them, and you apparently refuse to acknowledge the obvious.
If somebody lives life as a homosexual and then leaves the homosexual lifestyle, they were confused about their sexuality in the first place.
Science is quite hostile to proponents of the born-that-way theory. In other words, there is no such thing as a gay gene. For an excellent overview of what science says, checkout:
Born or Bred? Science Does Not Support the Claim that Homosexuality is Genetic.You can also read the following:
New Genetics Study Undermines Gay Gene TheoryIn regards to homosexuals leaving the lifestyle:
The Importance of Twin Studies
The Gay Gene?
Homosexual Researchers Debunk ‘Born Gay’ Urban Legend
People Can ChangeWhen we listen to former homosexuals, we see a very common thread in their lives, and that is, they were confused about their sexuality.
More Than One Way Out
I Do Exist
Homosexuality and the Possibility of Change: Introductory Pages
HELLO. I never said people didn;t change or convert or whatever, as you may someday. I said not all homosexuals will or want to convert. This exchange is typical of what's wrong with your thought process. I am out, again, but off this thread. I can't show pictures to a blind man.
Whoops. It looks like I put a comment in italics that should not have been in italics. The comment: "You might want to stop the personal attacks" was mine and should not have been italicized.
I read the article, but missed the part about them being confused.And now you're saying:
I never said people didn't change or convert
I think you're confused again. I never said you denied homosexuals can change.
You might be referring to post 86. Here's what I said:
That's because you apparently refuse to read what science says about homosexuality. There is no gay gene and the number of former homosexuals continue to grow. That tells us something about sexuality, and that is, it can be fluid in some who are confused about their identity.Science tells us:
Re: the deletion of 110. All of my comments on this thread are personal attacks upon scripter, his zealotry, methods, and illogic. If that's wrong, I suggest you delete all of my comments on this thread. Why let some go and others stand? I also request you reconsider what a personal attack is when someone is clearly lying and uses bad logic.
"Cigarettes were all the rage when I went to high school. "Cool" kids smoked. It ruined the health and lives of a lot of people. But, as these phases do, it passed and the nation is now working together to limit the influence of cigarettes in society. So be it also with homosexuality ... and may it be so before too many more lose their health or life."
You couldn't be more wrong. Demonizing cigarettes is part of an agenda to make us think that they really "care." (And let's not forget all the money derived from tobacco for the government.)
Elevating homosexuality to a "normal" status is part of an agenda to destroy Western society, and so you will see more and more of it, and it will never go away.
Healthy disagreement is a good thing. I would greatly appreciate you keeping it healthy.
Thank you for continuing to post the truth, complete with links and evidence, that homosexuality is not normal or natural, and no one HAS to be "gay"!
There is a way out, and people can indeed change.
And thank you for your consistent respectful and gentlemanly tone, the very essence of the best of FR.
I expect folks to disagree with me, I just wish they would keep it healthy and refrain from the personal attacks.
You say I'm clearly lying but what you're apparently saying is you don't understand anything I've said, and you're not helping by misrepresenting my position. As for bad logic, please provide specifics.
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