By KAREN KELLER
HERALD NEWS

With gay resources a click away on the Internet and society more accepting of gays than ever before, high school students are coming out of the closet in record numbers, experts say. In Passaic County within the last two years, at least three high schools have formed clubs to discuss and promote gay issues. New Jersey's Department of Education has joined the gay-awareness front by creating a progressive anti-bullying policy shared by just four other states.

But while the majority of straight students now support their gay peers, work still has to be done to dispel harassment and negative comments about gays in school corridors and classrooms -- especially when they target males, said students, teachers and experts. And the death of one suburban middle-class junior high-school student in California last month has revealed that no community is immune to gay hate crimes.

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