In recent months, Americans have cast their eyes on the queer guy and found themselves grappling with issues of sexuality, from the Supreme Court decision overturning the sodomy laws, to the new wave of gay-themed television and the increased funding of the Harvey Milk School in New York, the nation's first and only school chartered as a safe place for queer youth and their families. Originally opened in 1984, the Harvey Milk School is a public school under the domain of the New York City Department of Education. Named after an openly homosexual member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors who was assassinated in 1978, the school's mission according to their Web site is to "provide a space for youth who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning giving them the same chance, not a special chance, to obtain their education."

The school hopes to stem the harassment and homophobia which have often been identified as key obstacles found in many public high schools. With the $3.2 million budget line from the New York City Board of Education to expand the school from 50 to 170 students, many concerns have been raised about removing homosexual teenagers from the mainstream classrooms.

It is reported that 69 percent of queer youths have experienced some form of harassment or violence, 40 percent of believe they have experienced prejudice in school because of their sexual orientation, and about 36 percent reported hearing homophobic remarks from faculty or school staff, according to statistics published by Harvey Milk's parent organization, the Hetrick- Martin Institute.

Brandeis University Psychology Professor Aurora Sherman said that "being threatened or experiencing violence certainly affects anyone's ability to learn ... all children learn better free from violence -- any type of violence."

Most students who elect to apply to and subsequently attend the Harvey Milk School have been persecuted in their own schools and may not continue their education without the ability to attend a school like Harvey Milk. Admission is granted through an extensive application and interviewing process.

According to Aaron Schwid '05, a member of Triskelion, "the Harvey Milk School highlights the failures of the school system...and reminds us that acceptance is one step after tolerance."

Sherman built upon Schwid's concerns, saying, "the more convincing thing to look at is that there is an interest in going to this school, if people didn't perceive a need for this school then they wouldn't go and the school wouldn't be around 18 years later."

According to Sherman, there are two possible effects of exposure to anything, in this case homosexuals. Over time, exposure can either make someone "more comfortable and therefore less prone to commit a hate crime," or exposure can alternately "solidify a persons views whatever they might be."

What the effect of the Harvey Milk School will be still remains to be seen. Advocates of the school say that the arguments against it recall those opposed to the integration of black students into public high schools and the separation of male and female students. Sherman stated the arguments from these cases have yielded "evidence that members of some minority groups that have experienced some persecution from majority culture might benefit from something like a separate but equal environment."

The same theories of exposure can be applied to the rise in gay television shows such a "Will and Grace," "Queer as Folk," "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," and "Boy Meets Boy."

When the psychological theories of exposure were argued in regard to black students and the segregation of men and women in public schools, there was also a constitutional challenge brought before the U.S. Supreme Court, Brown vs. the Board of Education.

New York State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr., along with others are trying to follow a similar legal path challenging the legality of the Harvey Milk School by filing a suit in the New York Supreme Court. Whether this legal challenge will be successful remains to be seen.

However, according to Professor Peter Woll (POL), "Brown has to do with the 14th Amendment legal protection clause and it has to do with racial classifications. The Harvey Milk School is not a racial classification; it's not a gender classification ... and a sexual orientation classification is very questionable."

Furthermore, Woll said "the case of Harvey Milk, unlike affirmative action, is not discriminating against persons on the basis of sexual orientation."

No students are denied entry to Harvey Milk based on their sexual orientations, because although the Harvey Milk School was chartered as a place for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning students, there are heterosexual students enrolled in the school as well.

Professor Woll said "the idea is rather extraordinary" that special- interest high schools can be formed and receive funding and "sets a rather bizarre precedent".

In fact, other special interest schools are being opened throughout the world. In France, the first all-Muslim High School was opened this year. According to an article in the New York Times, "France has no social issue more pressing ... than the integration of the country's Muslims into fabric of French society." As France works to integrate Muslims into their society, Schwid said he urges to integrate homosexuals into our society by "embracing and supporting all queer students.