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Phoenix opens school for LGBT children

The school, which will have up to 12 students, will allow students to pay for their tuition with public funds.

Clase en Estados Unidos.

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Published by
Santiago Ospital

A school for LGBT children will open in Phoenix, Arizona in early August. The Queer Blended Learning Center will combine traditional content, such as math and language arts, with "LGBTQ+ history and social studies," according to Pink News.

The micro-school aims to have a maximum of 12 students who will be able to finance their tuition with the state school voucher, which allocates public funding to cover the cost of attendance at some private schools.

Administrators at the school, which will be housed in the headquarters of the One∙N∙Ten organization, explained that they will use a curriculum created by the New York Department of Education to teach LGBTQ history. Students will study "individuals who questioned and broke the normed expectations of gender and/or sexuality" and definitions of terms such as "sexual orientation":

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual are all terms of sexual orientation, sexual identity, or sexuality. A person’s sexual orientation typically refers to their pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions to men, women, or multiple sexes. Sexual orientation also refers to a person’s sense of identity based on those attractions, and their feeling of connection to a culture and community of other folks who share those attractions. Not everyone who feels same-sex attractions or even engages in same-sex intimacy identifies as LGBTQ+ or sees themselves as part of that community.

Nate Rhoton, CEO of One∙n∙ten told Azcentral, "We’re seeing nationally that LGBTQ youth are, frankly, under attack legislatively. It's deadly to the youth that we serve."

Rhoton also argued that "sixth, seventh and eighth graders" could benefit from a "safe space" where they could receive an education "that pertains to their own identity."

There are at least two other similar schools in the country. One is Resilient Community ALC, which is located in Atlanta. On the school's website, it identifies itself as "a queer-centered self-directed micro-school for students between the ages of 6 and 17." Another school that's about to open is The Village Academy in Las Vegas, which offers "an accepting and affirming school culture, and a safe space for students to grow and learn."

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