This week, I am relinquishing my column to Linda Harvey, president
of the Columbus, Ohio-based Mission America. I recently read this
important story and immediately determined that this message needed to
be shared with the WorldNetDaily audience.
This article is highly controversial, but I believe it necessarily
discredits the vast amounts of misinformation that are frequently
promoted as fact in our nation's public schools. Our public schools are
being flooded by homosexual propaganda and false dogmas while the truth
remains conspicuously obscured. I urge the WorldNetDaily community to
read this article in order to understand the radical social
experimentation now happening in our nation's schools.
By Linda P. Harvey
Choice4Truth
Let's say you're a high school principal in Anytown, USA, and some
students have come to you asking to form a "gay" club. Since more than
600 such clubs have been formed in the past seven years in American high
schools, it's certainly not revolutionary, they tell you. You start to
think, yes, this might be a workable idea. After all, these are
students who are more prone to being discriminated against, and this
would raise their self-esteem. ...
But wait. This administrator needs to slow way down, and
think. We are talking here about homosexuality -- not the
debate team. Most or all the students who want to form this group have
homosexual desires and are willing to participate in the behaviors
involved in homosexuality, behaviors commonly associated with serious
diseases like AIDS. In fact, in the weirdest of ironies, there is a high
probability that currently at Anytown High, there is money being spent
to fund a health education program warning about the dangers of HIV --
and the associated behaviors. And now you may sponsor a club that will
find those behaviors acceptable?
Those at highest risk of HIV are males who engage in anal sex. It's a
practice engaged in by roughly three-fourths of homosexual males.
So how in the world can any high school justify a club that considers
homosexual behavior a respectable option? That brings
homosexually-inclined teens together, as well as older advisers, for
social activities? That allows teens to reinforce one another in their
inclinations -- inclinations that may result in early death? And why
aren't more school administrators seeing the hypocrisy -- no,
lunacy -- of indulging these groups?
A smoking club would make more sense.
But the issue goes way beyond health. In today's climate, a school
not only encourages risky, unhealthy behavior by allowing a
homosexuality club, but also fosters a climate of tension and division.
This is because of what gay clubs -- or "gay/straight alliances," as
they are often called -- will spend their time exploring. Here's what
goes on in such groups, and some of the ramifications:
- Misinformation about homosexuality will be learned. Uniformly
supportive, it will reinforce the homosexual desires of vulnerable
teens, without any authentic exploration of what has prompted these
desires. Genetic origins will be firmly claimed without a scintilla of
supporting scientific evidence (since there is none). This dangerous
brainwashing of at-risk teens -- some of whom are there simply as
"questioners"-- is to have the aegis of school support. Liability issues
are just lurking to be discovered. - Their "rights" to "be who they are" -- i.e., to participate in
homosexual behavior -- will be constantly reinforced. These "rights"
will increasingly be defined as they want -- until adults put on
the brakes. Up until then, what happens in the school environment to
the rights of others to practice freedom of religion and freedom of
speech (not including, of course, genuine harassment or threats)? What
about privacy rights -- like, the right of straight students not to be
openly ogled in the shower after gym class? - The group will dwell on what they believe constitutes harassment
or discrimination by other students or teachers. So, having sealed
their decisions to "be who they are," and being immature adolescents
anyway, this group's interpretation of harassment can range from extreme
sensitivity about natural and commonplace disapproval by other teens, to
rage when a "straight" teen swiftly and angrily rejects homosexual
advances. And, depending on the limits set by the school, what this
group feels is harassment may be the standard adopted. - Activist training will have a fertile field. Regional
conferences will be attended by the club members and adult advisors. A
slight can become a potential lawsuit, because these teens, and often
their sympathetic parents, will know about the resources at their
disposal through Lambda Legal Defense Fund, GLSEN, and other national,
well-funded groups. Suspicion and a victim mentality are developed in
already emotionally-challenged teens, and an explosive and costly
situation will be in the making. - Traditional religions that disapprove of homosexuality will be
regularly and soundly trashed. The intolerance coming out of the adult
pro-homosexual lobby is implanted here, and a mindset of animosity is
created. "Gay" clubs, by perpetuating myths, help to fuel division, not
eliminate it. These kids are told that "homophobia" must be
"eliminated." Eliminated? These kids will be taught that, way
beyond actual violence, they have the moral right to silence
ordinary disapproval. Think of the many people who have well-founded
objections to homosexuality. Is such a gay club's attack-dog hostility
something you want unleashed in your school? - Gay clubs will embrace the idea that cross-dressing is a
defensible activity. Transgendered rights are going to include -- get
ready, school boards -- the right to define one's own gender; to use
whichever bathroom or shower one wants; or attend whichever gym class or
be on whatever sports team one wishes. To not see reality as these
individuals see it will be, again, "discrimination." - Social activities will be planned for homosexual teens -- and
their adult advisers. So their defense will be that the prom is a dating
activity for heterosexuals -- why not something for homosexuals? But
homosexuality is high risk. Vastly higher percentages of kids die early
from the practices associated with it. Fifty percent of all
newly-reported HIV infections are found in people under 25. If the
school or your state has an abstinence education policy, that is all the
more ammunition. Take a look at just a few of the recommended reading
selections by P-FLAG or GLSEN -- often filled with graphic sex between
teens -- and it will be easy to prove how abstinence is hardly being
encouraged or promoted by these groups.
But This is 'Who We Are!'
Throughout the debate will rage a continual cry that this is an
identity issue, not a sexual practices issue. When that claim is
raised, tell them you will seriously consider their claim if they can
bring you even one article that shows conclusive evidence for a
biological origin for homosexuality. Ask for the location of the nearest
genetic testing site for homosexuality. We are not being flip -- just
trying to show the quicksand of a pro-homosexual defense. If you stand
your ground, you will find that they will not be able to produce such
evidence -- and some eyes and minds may be opened in the process.
Without that underlying claim, "discrimination" on the basis of
"sexual orientation" falls apart as public policy, at the national,
state and school board level. It really comes down to just allowing
certain sexual practices, or not. Like sodomy laws. This is why they
were in place to begin with, because historic evidence has shown that
homosexuals are not different humans. They are heterosexually
constructed like everyone else. Homosexual desire violates something
foundational in humans, and the truth about its origins is something
that these kids really need and deserve to hear.
Common Rationale for 'Gay' Clubs
When students present a club proposal, they usually have support and
advice from an adult organization. Check out the Lambda Legal Defense
Fund's website and you'll find all their
best arguments for gay clubs. These arguments are, however, founded on
myths, misinformation and/or the desire for political clout.
We aren't going to address all of the misleading claims here, but
here is a brief sample.
For instance: some of the most frequently-cited reasons given for
forming a "gay" club is that homosexual teens are at higher risk of
suicide; have higher levels of depression; have more trouble in school
and greater problems with drug and alcohol. And once our hearts are
saddened, then the solution proposed is that these kids receive more
social support. Because it is society's homophobia that causes all
these problems, say the homosexual advocates.
This is where we need to object. Multiple sex partners in a year --
society's fault? Ask for facts about every claim, and ask them to cite
sources.
The presumption of homophobia as the underlying issue needs to
be challenged, because it takes one down a road that has no end to
demands. It's also demonstrably untrue and prevents kids from getting
real help to understand their feelings. When teens have homosexual
desire, it is a symptom, not an identity. The desire
stems from emotional issues, and these same factors are also responsible
for the school problems, the substance abuse, the feelings of
self-destruction, and so on. These issues remain unresolved by those
who enter the gay lifestyle. Only this explanation accounts for:
- The anonymous sexual encounters characteristic of homosexuals,
the high-risk sex practices, the numerous partners and the substances
needed to cope with it all; - The suicidal tendencies that don't diminish in communities of
acceptance, nor with age and "well-adjustment" within the homosexual
community; - The millions of dollars spent on pointless education about
condoms and safe sex don't seem to change the behaviors of most
homosexuals; - High rates of domestic violence characteristic of homosexual
live-in relationships.
Drawing kids into a gay club, for all these reasons, is the last
thing these kids need. They need family and individual counseling, and
they need to be told in no uncertain terms the course they are on if
they don't reject the idea that they are "gay." No one is born
homosexual. These desires are created -- not inborn.
There is hope, because many people have overcome homosexual desire.
See Stonewallrevisted.com and
Exodus International.
Standing Firm
The wise high school principal is one who will know that a gay club
involves health decisions, as well as decisions about competing rights.
Ultimately, it is a moral decision. A stand will have to be taken. A
gay club is not a position of neutrality, but a slap in the face
to health, to morality and, really, to the kids.
Affirming homosexuality, in a club or elsewhere, will result in the
rapid demoralization of the school. The most educationally-supportive
parents will flee with their families. No sane parent wants their kids
to be subjected to increasingly empowered gay students in the classroom,
the gym, or in a dark hallway. Remaining will be left-wing ideologues
willing to subject their children to social experiments, and parents who
are indifferent, to school levies as well as other involvement. Neither
makes for a stable yet growing school system.