Handling LGBT High School Students' Needs: Catching Up With The Here and Now.
Thompson's quote argues "the moral order has to catch up with the moral necessities of actual life in time, here and now." While morals create boundaries that are often necessary at the time, such temporary ethical mores can become firmly entrenched in the social imaginary and then resistant to necessary change. This is particularly true with regards to any ethical shift in the notoriously ponderous public school system. Despite the United States demonstrating an increasing acceptance of LGBT rights, with gay marriage legislation making inroads in states as conservative as Utah, pop culture icons publicizing their LGBT identity and teens coming out as early as middle school, teens lamentably continue to face torment, rejection, and dismissal of this important aspect of their identity in school, the one place above all others where they should be able to thrive as their unique selves. Thompson's quote speaks to the plight of teens stuck in a school system unreceptive to their needs and insensitive to the wider social trend toward acceptance of LGBT identity. .
Openly claiming an LGBT identity poses a serious problem for students moving through the hallways of their schools - and often not just because of their immature peers' hostility, but owing to their schools' ineptitude at fostering acceptance as the times necessitate. Queer youth across the United States find themselves locked into public school systems with ignorant administration and outdated rules that prevent them from flourishing. Feeling voiceless, powerless and rejected, such young people often choose suicide as their way out, as evidenced by the multitudinous LGBT teen suicides making headlines across the United States. Change must happen in the way the school system handles LGBT teens, but first, these young people must have their stories told.