New York City is $3.5 billion in debt and the education budget is being cut by $450 million, but somehow the city found the money to start the nation's first all-gay public high school -- the Harvey Milk High School. The doors are set to open in September.

New York Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long is upset about the move.

"Here in New York City, they just raised taxes across the board," Long said. "Now we find out that they're spending $3.2 million on reconstructing a school for 100 kids."

He added that building the school sends a mixed message: "Everyone talks about diversity, everyone talks about mainstreaming people, now we are building a wall around this special community."

The school, which calls itself "the nation's first accredited public high school designed to meet the needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth," actually started in 1984 as an alternative program within the New York City Public School system. The program has now been chartered as a full-fledged high school. Administrators are hoping to turn the new Harvey Milk High School into a model for the rest of the country. Their task is made easier because of the influence the gay lobby holds over the education community, according to Peter LaBarbera, an analyst at the Culture and Family Institute.

"The idea of the homosexuals as a special minority like other minorities is gaining, and it's gaining in the education world because the education world is so 'politically correct,' " LaBarbera said.

The school did not return repeated phone calls for this story, but its Web site states that it is seeking "a safe and supportive environment for gay students in New York City."

LaBarbera added: "I think it's kind of sad that New York City schools can't protect all kids without creating separate schools that validate dangerous homosexual behavior."

The school hopes to have an enrollment of 170.

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