Walt Whitman Private High School

The first LGBT school, Walt Whitman Private High School, opened in Dallas, Texas. This school was opened by two teachers that were fed up with the discrimination against the LGBT community in the private school where they were previously working. This school was the first in the country for gay and lesbian students dealing with issues in other institutions. One of the teachers, Becky Thompson, a lesbian, joined forces with Pamala Stone, a straight, who were fed up with the way gay students were treated. They both wanted something different.

They started talking about the idea of opening a school were students can feel safe about expressing their homosexuality without being attacked. They began in May and by July they announced that classes would start in the fall. Although they did this in an effort to aid students immediately, they later understood that this was not a good idea because they were not able to get all the funds they needed.

"If I had that to do over again, I'd do that very differently," Thompson said. She and Stone could have spent the summer looking for grants and other funding, Thompson said.

There was a major issue, they were charging a tuition of $7,000 per semester, and although they knew some parents could not afford that, they knew some parents could, and those who didn't could find outside sources to help them. 

"I don't think we assumed this was an easy thing, but I don't think we went into this as business people," Thompson said.

The number of students increased as time passed and by the end of the first semester the student count reached fourteen. But not all the students pay full tuition, many students did not even have the support of their parents. But other sources donated money, books, and other school materials. Cathedral of Hope, the largest gay and lesbian church in the world, provides the center to the school everyday for free. Because of the donations and the free rent the school is surviving. There are only two other schools in the country, one in Los Angeles and the other in New York- publicly funded also.