School said to be safe for gays

The Boston Globe ^ | 05 June 2002 | Esther M. Bauer

[Hemingway's Ghost]

DALLAS - Christian Pannek was threatened by his classmates in East Dallas. The 18-year-old's car was vandalized, and his parents' home was egged. He tried to commit suicide twice because of the harassment. He wears nail polish, says that he's gay, and that he wants to be an actor or a lawyer, or maybe both. But he could not cope at his public school any longer.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

I applaud these people for finding a "free market" solution to adress their needs, rather than doing the typical liberal/socialist thing like ramming PC rubbish down everyone's throat and insisting government must "solve" their "problem." But at the same time, come on: this school is funny. Tennis I can understand, but physical education is "bowling" or "taking a walk in the park?" What happened to dodge ball?

. . . I don't even want to know what goes on in the locker rooms . . . !

[Dialup Llama]

>The Mohawk she wears is dyed blue. She has tattoos and wears 38 pieces of jewelry - 35 piercing her mouth, nostrils, and ears.

Why is she getting hassled? She'd fit right in most schools.

[Dialup Llama]

Maybe the student at Walt Whitman, the students at Oscar Wilde and the students at Gore Vidal could all have one fo those bike ride things they like so much to 'raise awareness.'

[anniegetyourgun]

It's a world gone mad.....

[Hemingway's Ghost]

You should see the picture of her in the print version of the Globe. It's a black and white. Her mouth looks like she's wearing a goaltender's cage around it, and her mohawk is just like Joe Strummer's. What's next? Is she going to start singing "I Want Candy?"

[Hemingway's Ghost]

It's a world gone mad.....

Too bad Walt Whitman doesn't have enough students to field a football team.

The Big Lavender?
The Walt Whitman Wrist-droppers?
The Walt Whitman Fightin' Fairies?

[uncbob]

What's next?

A bone through her nose

[Hemingway's Ghost]

A bone through her nose

Trust me, that's the only place on her a bone's gonna go... </ rim shot>

[Texas Mom]

Angel Collie's classmates at the public school in North Carolina used to use a hot-glue gun to glue the petite 16-year-old to her chair. The Mohawk she wears is dyed blue. She has tattoos and wears 38 pieces of jewelry - 35 piercing her mouth, nostrils, and ears. The studs on her tongue slur her words as she explains that she hates her body and wants to become a boy.

Wonder why they used hot glue. All they needed was a large magnet.

I'm sorry, this just hit me kind of funny.

[Pete]

After reading the description of her attire, I am guessing that the reason for her harassment was not because she was gay. Everybody eventually learns that if you walk outside the lines, people are going to react. I am not trying to justify the harassment. I am simply pointing out a fact of life.

The saddest part of this story is her own self image. She is obviously in some kind of self destruct mode. A spiral has been created where she reacts to harassment by rebelling which begets more harassment.

Once again, the question must be asked. Where are the parents? Not only that, where have they been for the last 18 years?

[anniegetyourgun]

The whole thing is sad. A school for dysfunctional, anti-social, emotionally needy kids is, no doubt, a result of parents with the same problems. Each one of these kids is crying out for attention and getting it only by being bizarre and acting out. They aren't "homosexuals" in need of a safe place, they are kids making bad choices in need of corrective action and boundaries. Sadly, society decides instead to tell them they're okay.

[ffrancone]

but physical education is "bowling" or "taking a walk in the park?

Actually a perennial P.E. favorite there is taking out all of your piercings in under 3 minutes. Angel's self esteem has gone way up since she hit 3:35!

Boy, I can hardly wait to enroll my son there!

[Kermit]

This article is so PC, it's laughable: transgendered students. Name one. What parent or what doctor would operate on a teenager for the purpose of sex-change? There isn't one in the country and if the kid has money for that, they certainly can afford some type of education.

[Dimensio]

What parent or what doctor would operate on a teenager for the purpose of sex-change?

A bad one.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

Everybody eventually learns that if you walk outside the lines, people are going to react. I am not trying to justify the harassment. I am simply pointing out a fact of life.

No shit. It's really not that difficult: act like a freak, get treated like a freak. The vast majority of the time, the young people acting like freaks are screaming for attention. And then they get all miffed when others give it to them.

Duh 101.

I was a suburbo punk in HS, and yet I was always put off by my dopey punk peers who got upset when people looked at them differently. That's what you wanted, you damn bozos.

[anniegetyourgun]

Good catch.

[EdReform]

BTTT

[steve-b]

he wants to be an actor or a lawyer, or maybe both

If the tongue stud won't fit, you must acquit.

[Britton J Wingfield]

just like Joe Strummer's. What's next? Is she going to start singing "I Want Candy?"

Hey, you sound like you have decent taste in music :)

The chick who sang I Want Candy looked damn fine with that 'hawk on her head. Strummer's hair looks a lot better now that he's adopted the greaser look.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

The chick who sang I Want Candy looked damn fine with that 'hawk on her head. Strummer's hair looks a lot better now that he's adopted the greaser look.

For a chick with a 'hawk "up north," I'd agree with you.

Strummer still rocks, though nothing will compare to his work with the Clash. From the "Nothing New Under The Sun" files, the other day I'm driving to work and I pass by a ute with an EXPLOITED-style 1983 mohawk. I thought I had hit a time warp or something.