GAY ONLINE SCHOOL SET TO LAUNCH

An online school specifically targeting LGBT students is set to launch in January 2010. The US-based school will form a part of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning.

The GLBTQ Online High School says that it aims to “provide a safe and welcoming educational community that provides a high quality… online high school experience for students who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or questioning their sexual orientation or gender.”

A 2007 US study found that nearly nine out of ten LGBT students experienced some kind of harassment at school.

The school will be open and accepting of applicants from different academic backgrounds. The school’s founder, David Glick, said: “We also recognise that some students might have poor academic or behavioural histories. We see that as a natural part that have led to many things.”

Glick hopes that the online school will provide a “safe” forum for “academic discussions about things that most schools would run away from”.

In 1985, New York’s Harvey Milk High School, named after the civil rights campaigner, was founded to provide a safe space for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) young people.