These young people restore a little hope in this old (OK, 48) lesbian. When I was a student at Los Altos High School, we didn't dare be true to ourselves, or with anyone else, about who we were. One of the scariest moments I ever experienced as a Los Altos High student in the mid-1970s was coming to school one morning and finding "LEZ" etched deep into the paint on my girlfriend's locker. We were sure no one knew. We were terrified. I stayed out of the girls' restrooms for a long time after that, afraid that I was going to be jumped and beaten, or worse -- by whom, I didn't know.

How things have changed. And thank goodness for that.

I certainly hope these youths can pull it together as my generation, and the generation before mine, has not -- especially in the wake of Prop 8, which has left many of us exhausted and still reeling with disbelief that fully half our "neighbors" could be so blind, bigoted, and downright cruel.

Yes, "resistance" is the standing order in Los Altos (and cowardice; my wife's No On 8 bumper sticker was stolen off her car again this week; if our "enemies" had any guts, they would confront us directly -- they certainly know where we live -- but bullies are generally cowards).

Witness the circus surrounding the LAHS GSA's attempt several years ago to have a Pride Day proclamation issued by the Los Altos City Council. The Council went as far as toying with a violation of the Brown Act to prevent the students from even _requesting_ the proclamation. (The ACLU had to step in. And still, the students never got their proclamation.)

In short, it's been an uphill climb here ever since the nouveau riche moved in and turned this once liberal, once mostly first-generation immigrant town into an island of bigotry in the Bay Area. There are a few LGBTs still here and still fighting the machine, but the smart ones left long ago -- at least by the time the Prop 22 yard signs started popping up.

Best wishes to you, Mountain View youth. Keep fighting, and never be silent. And don't _ever_ let Mountain View turn into Los Altos.

Joyce, I am your opponent in this, but not your enemy. In my opinion, the objective of parenting is to form girls into good, strong women, and to form boys into good, strong men. Sexual intimacy between two females, or between two males, is not wholesome; it is a perversion.

Does society have the right to define perversion and then suppress it? I think so. The right of the community to define and suppress the spread of perversion trumps the right of the individual to openly practice his or her perversion, especially in venues such as grade schools.

In Mountain View, we need to have a frank and open conversation about what is, and what is not, sexual perversion. Then we need to have a conversation about keeping perversion out of the schools, so that the children can form properly into good, strong men and women.

Lest you take offense at me calling you a pervert, I will add that by my own definition I am also a pervert, as are most everyone. My definition of wholesome sexuality rules out everything except natural male-female coupling. It even rules out all forms of birth control other than the rythm method.

So, from one pervert to another, leave those kids alone! And come, eat with us!

Looks like the idea farm is growing weeds. I give a standing ovation to these students for being proud of who they are and standing up for equal rights. No government should ever be able to dictate who is allowed to fall in love with whom. I am not a member of the LGBT community but I support them 100%. I think its time all fair minded people support this community and help them push our government into obeying its own Constitution.

Now I understand what the 'idea farm' really stands for - blind prejudice and lack of ideas. 'Bravo' to the gay students for their strength of character.

These kids are brave and engaged with society in a productive way. This is a very good thing. That "idea farm" guy might want to put a picture of Anita Bryant on his rolling billboard just to let everybody know where he really stands.

I am all for equal rights and I commend these kids' courage in going out and making a statement like this. But I would rather see these kids focus more on education and other social issues that our society faces like poverty,war,etc...

Posted by kanank, a resident of the Shoreline West neighborhood, 34 minutes ago

I am all for equal rights and I commend these kids' courage in going out and making a statement like this. But I would rather see these kids focus more on education and other social issues that our society faces like poverty,war,etc...

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kanank, please rest assured that yes indeed these kids are focused on education. One of the students quoted in the article had a 4.0 throughout middle school, was valedictorian, and is now taking honors classes at MVHS. I have no idea what her activities are in the areas of poverty and war but am sure she has well-thought out opinions about those concerns as well.

Not to jump in your face, kanank, just a gentle reminder to please not assume that the featured students are focused on LGBTQQ issues to the exclusion of everything else. There are countless worthwhile social causes to choose from! I admire any teenager who can endure the bombardment of bad news about about global warming, unemployment, contaminated foods, flu pandemic, "etc etc etc"....yet still have hope for their future and a belief that they can have a positive impact on even one of the many challenges in the world.

I look forward to more stories in the Voice about people who act on their beliefs and strive to make the world a better place for everyone.

The plan to define and suppress perversion in grade school had better start with the kinky things Ken and Barbie dolls are doing to each other.

This topic contains two distinct issues.

(1) CIVIL RIGHTS: Liberty and Justice as applied to minors. In our society, minors enjoy less liberty than adults; they are subject to control by their parents and by the community. This reflects the basic fact of life that they are forming into adults, and that formation is determined by the ideas and activities that they are exposed to.

(1) THOUGHT STEERING: We are programmable creatures, and minors are essentially in the process of "being programmed" by the ideas and activities that they are exposed to. Do the adults of a community have the right to control that programming process? Which ideas and activities, if any, should be censored so that the minors can form properly as good, strong men and women?

IMO, the notion that some people are born queer is an ounce of truth wrapped in a pound of predatory intent. It is true that hormonal differences exist and that, rarely, even chromosomal differences exist. (Some individuals are neither male nor female.) But the more important truth is that every male is capable of developing a sexual interest in other males and losing sexual interest in females. How the juvenile male develops is determined by his exposure to ideas and activities much more than by his hormonal balance. Masculinity is more a product of socialization than of hormonal balance.

So let's raise our children to be good, strong men and women, by presenting male-male sexual interest as a perversion, not as a "choice".

Finally someone with an actual argument. Well said.

This is getting old. "Wo'O", just take your hateful [word removed] to another town already. It's not welcome here.

Mr. Ideafarm, would it be hard for you to envision yourself being gay?