"We're not running a program in sex education …They can go to public school and learn to put a condom over a banana," The Boston Globe quoted Silber as saying last Friday.
Kevin Carleton, a spokesman for the University, told the Chronicle for Higher Education that, while the above quote was "more or less accurate," Silber believes that a support group for gay and lesbian students is both unnecessary and inappropriate for the Boston University Academy, which includes eighth through 12th grades and is located on the University's campus.
Carleton also told the Chronicle that the academy was designed to foster a supportive environment for students who may have felt out of place at other schools. This general support, he said, makes the support group superfluous.
"If we are successful as we intend at the academy, there should be no reason for an isolated safe haven" for gay and lesbian students, Carleton continued. "The entire academy should provide it."
A support group, Carleton added, could provide "endorsement and encouragement of the exploration of sexuality in a way that we feel is inappropriate in a secondary school that includes children as young as 13."
Cheryl Jacques, a Massachusetts state senator who is also an advocate for gay and lesbian civil rights, condemned Silber's decision. "Gay-straight alliances are important organizations that help teach tolerance and prevent tragedies," the senator told the Globe.