SO FAR, Chancellor George Osborne, former Education Minister Tim Laughton, The Bishop of Manchester, Manchester Teacher’s Association and the Manchester City Council have all weighed in on recent news that Manchester could soon offer a tax-funded educational facility for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT) teenagers. 

In the main, there's been a resounding lack of support for what has been dubbed 'Britain's first gay school'.

A petition has been drafted against the proposed plans as I type. 

It's a sad reality to think a gay school would be needed in today's society - especially here in Manchester, a city with anchored roots in LGBT rights.

"We [need to] get rid of the bullying rather than feeling we have to take kids out of our schools and teach them somewhere else. That would be the best approach," said Osborne.

Others have branded the idea as 'ghettoised schooling' and fear it would cause 'alienation', 'segregation' and 'foster division'. The term 'heterophobic' has, somewhat recklessly, been thrown around. 

For LGBT Youth North West, the organisation at the centre of the discussion, it appears the majority of public opinion would like to see the idea scrapped before it grows wings.

The group received £63,000 grant to conduct a 'feasibility study' for development of The Joyce Layland LGBT Centre in Manchester - a dedicated space for LGBT community groups for 26 years.

A full-time LGBT school for 40 vulnerable teenagers was just one of a number ideas put forward to make use of the redeveloped space.

"It wouldn’t be a gay school," said Amelia Lee, LGBT NW's Strategic Director. "We would be an alternative educational provision to support children with emotional needs."

Joyce Layland CentreJoyce Layland Centre

“With many community programmes suffering from budget cuts we wanted to ensure that the Joyce Layland Centre continued to be financially viable," she explained.

It was the success of 2003 established Harvey Milk School in New York where the LGBT NW first found inspiration. 100 LGBT students are currently receiving schooling within a state-funded facility and it has been praised for its innovation.

"It’s young people telling us that this is what they want"

Still, the Harvey Milk School has seen its fair share of protesters including gross verbal bullying and religious opposition lined-up outside the school gates.

According to NYMag, it nearly faced losing its $3.2m of tax-funded money on the grounds that it 'is a waste of city money and illegal under New York’s sexual-bias laws'. Children once alienated in school were experiencing a much greater level of fear and bullying than they had previously.

Harvey MilkHarvey Milk Foundation

We'd hope LGBT NW would not see a similar amount of moral opposition here in Britain, yet recent reports show communities aren't willing for doors to open at a gay school. The petition launched by transgendered woman Tara Hewitt on 21 January is now nearing 100 signitures. 

Tara Hewitt - who launched the anti-petition - believes the answer to these challenges 'is not to create a segregated space for LGBT people to be hidden away at the expense of the tax payer and funding taken away from other mainstream schools, but for more effort to be put into making our entire education system inclusive'.

As history has showed us, segregation never really solved anything.

It's a sad reality to think that a gay school would be needed in today's society - especially here in Manchester, a city with anchored roots in LGBT rights. No matter how this alternative school is dressed, removing teens from their peers will feel like they're being bundled back into a closet of secrecy and shame.

Surely, it's the bullies that need to be turfed out instead?

"It’s young people telling us that this is what they want," said Lee.

"The teens we talk to have already left school, or had trouble with truanting. These young people are faced with a number of problems – from difficult home lives, to being rejected from families because of faith and so on."

Lee wants 'saving lives' of the young LGBT teens in Britain to be at the forefront of this national discussion. 

It was 14-year-old Lizzie Lowe's tragic suicide, after struggling with fears about her sexuality, that further prompted discussion for this alternative school. As charity the Trevor Project detail, suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people, with LGBT youths four times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers.

Joyce-Layland-Lgbt-Group-Meeting-640X478Joyce Layland LGBT Group Meeting

For LGBT NW it's not about segregating students and more about identifying the 'at risk' teenagers and providing them with additional support. 

Homophobic bullying is not simply a case of 'kids will be kids', it is driving some teens away from school - it is hoped the LGBT school could be a safe-haven. 

Lee said: "In mainstream schools they can feel quite anonymous. There’s a mixed picture when it comes to mainstream schooling; some are fit-for-purpose and brilliant with dealing with homophobia, where others need more work.

"The facility would complement what is already happening in local schools and local schemes and it would be inclusive, much like hospital schools and specialist centres supporting pregnant teenagers throughout their education – we'd provide extra support."

LGBT youths are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers.

If the LGBT school were to go ahead it would need much more funding for it to be the state-funded all-inclusive facility LGBT NW hopes. 

Manchester City Council's Councillor Sheila Newman, Executive Member for Children’s Services, revealed that while the council "fully support initiatives to support LGBT young people and to tackle homophobia in schools and wider society", the Council "don’t support - and haven’t supported – the setting up of a separate school for LGBT young people."

“Schools should be inclusive supportive places for all pupils regardless of their sexuality,” says Newman.

A council officer added:

"We supported LGBT Youth NW in their bid for funding - this wasn't Council funding - to expand their premises and develop the good work they already do across the city and have been doing for some time now to support LGBT young people, but that's all. 

"We've not had any discussions with them about setting up a school. They have had a very recent conversation with us about how they might be able to extend the education work they already do with schools and for young people, but we have not discussed plans with them to open a dedicated school for LGBT young people."

Pride parade on DeansgatePride parade on Deansgate

Of course, specialist schools aren't a new idea in Britain - from learning aids to rehabillitating truanting students (much like the Hideaway Youth Project in Hulme) - they're fairly common, but nearly all of these projects are designed to integrate children back into mainstream schooling, not remove them.

There's no argument that LGBT NW's intentions, and its current work with LGBT groups and in mainstream schools, is admirable. Right now the group are stirring a conversation that will encourage schools to put disenfranchised LGBT students needs at the forefront of its school policys and care. That could prove to be the debate's greatest win.

Still, shielding our LGBT young people from taunts in a city-centre enclave feels counter-productive. Solving school-yard homophobia shouldn't lie with the victims, but with identifying and tackling the mindset of those with problematic views. 

Now more than ever, LGBT students should be more visible, more vocal and more integrated in their schools.

Find out more about LGBT North West and The Joyce Layland Centre on the websites.

Follow @LOreal_B on Twitter