I'm talking about scholarships, for those bright students who are going to be our future, our year 2001 in law, politics, the media, medical research, social work, history, etc. As a commissioner of education in the Los Angeles Unified School District, and as a speaker who travels the country, I have seen the danger signs among the kids that I know. More and more, I am seeing the bright LGBT students from low-income families, or families who have thrown them out, who are going into debt for large amounts of financial aid. Working your way through school is a good American tradition. Many of us older folks did it.
Many more kids come out in high school.
I've already seen the students who dye their hair back to normal, get rid of their lip bead, cover their tattoo, and act super straight so they can pass at McDonald's or a computer-training program. Today's job training isn't always free, and companies are selective about who they pick. The economic load can be just as crushing as those bigoted attitudes at school. The arithmetic is simple and brutal. Or try it another way.