Middle School Intended for ‘LGBTQ+ Youth’ to Open in Phoenix
A nonprofit in Phoenix, Arizona is set to open a middle school specifically designed for LGBTQ+ youth.
The LGBTQ+ youth non-profit One-n-Ten is preparing to open a middle school that will serve as a “safe space” for students that identify as a member of the LGBT-identifying community. The school, Queer Blended Learning Center, is intended to provide an alternative form of education for LGBTQ youth.
According to its website, One-n-Ten has a mission to “serve LGBTQ youth and young adults ages 11-24” and to “enhance their lives by providing empowering social and service programs that promote self‐expression, self‐acceptance, leadership development, and healthy life choices.“
The school’s curriculum will include basic learning classes like math, science, and English. However, it will also include LGBTQ-centric history classes.
Parents who enroll their children in Queer Blended Learning Center will be able to do so with tax-payer dollars. Last year, Arizona passed a massive school voucher program across the state that allows parents to use tax-payer dollars to fund the school of their choice.
Nate Rhoton, the school’s founder, explained that the school was established to counter the “anti-LGBTQ” legislation that the state of Arizona has recently passed. Rhoton claimed that LGBT youth are under attack and that this sort of legislation is “deadly” to children.
“We’re seeing nationally that LGBTQ youth are, frankly, under attack legislatively,” Rhoton explained. “It’s deadly to the youth that we serve.”
Among the Arizona bills being characterized as “anti-LGBTQ,” is a bill that would have prevented schools from using the preferred names and pronouns of transgender-identifying students without parental consent. This bill was vetoed by Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs.
“We just had this population of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders that could really benefit from a safe space to be able to really have exceptional education while also having education that pertains to their own identity,” Rhoton said.
