(ABC World News Sunday)
KEVIN NEWMAN: The right of young people to be openly gay is being challenged
at a growing number of places across the country. One is at a high
school in Newton, Massachusetts, where, as ABC's Willow Bay reports,
it's become a matter of equality and safety. (Demonstrators Chant)
WILLOW BAY, ABC News: (voice-over) They're a new breed of political
activists, fighting what they consider to be the civil rights battle
of their generation. KEVIN JENNINGS, Gay, Lesbian, Straight, Education
Network: Going to school is literally dangerous for most gay teenagers.
On average, 26 times a day they will hear anti- gay epithets, 53
percent of them will hear their own teachers say words like "faggot."
One in six of them will be attacked and physically injured. WILLOW
BAY: (voice-over) But now students are fighting back. Gay rights
advocates have formed more than 300 school-based groups in 31 states
across the country, 100 of them in Massachusetts alone. These kids
are members of the Gay- Straight Alliance at a Boston suburban high
school. 1st FEMALE TEEN: What we do is we fight homophobia, and anyone
who wants to join can. It doesn't matter if you're gay or straight.
WILLOW BAY: (interviewing) What's the toughest thing about being
a gay teen? 1st MALE TEEN: I think it's safety, you worry about being
beat up, but you also worry about whether people are going to rag
on you and insult you. WILLOW BAY: (on camera) What these groups
offer gay students is the support of their straight friends. What
they offer all students is a safe place to share their feelings.
(voice-over) And while some of these students say at first their parents
were uncomfortable with the idea of a gay- straight alliance, school
officials say now most parents are supportive. BOB PARLIN, Newton
South High School: We had a hard time getting started because so many
people were afraid that we would somehow be recruiting kids to be
gay. And when they realized that didn't happen, that kids were just
finding a safe place, that allowed us to be a lot more accepted.
KEVIN JENNINGS: Nobody says you have to like gay people. But whether
you like gay people or Jews or black people or any other group of
people -- in this school system, everybody gets treated equally.
No one is going to be victimized. WILLOW BAY: (voice-over) And these
students say they won't stop fighting until their school is safe for
all kids. Willow Bay, ABC News, Boston. KEVIN NEWMAN: When we come
back, you'll meet some business students who have decided to put their
long-term plans on ice. (Commercial Break)
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WILLOW BAY, KEVIN NEWMAN, OPENLY
GAY TEENS -- A MATTER OF EQUALITY, SAFETY. , ABC World News Sunday, 02-15-1998.