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"Life
Views"
British Columbia Parents and Teachers for Life Website
Exposing and Opposing the Pro-Homosexuality Agenda
Table of Contents for "Opposing
the Pro-Homosexuality Agenda" Page:
US Administration Launches All-Out
International Homosexual “Rights” Offensive
President Obama Proclaims
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month
Williams Lake school district
restricts anti-homophobia events
"Queer posters demand respect"
Angry
parents plan sex-ed protest; Will Rally in Toronto May 10
Day of Silence, Day of Truth Make
Bid to Influence the Nation's Youth [in the U.S.A.]
Ugandan social workers back
anti-gay bill; Exodus opposed
School
board rallies gay activists [in Vancouver, B.C.]
Dare to Stand Out Conference a Success--According to Pro-Homosexuality Activist
Magazine
Social justice dispute heads for
full hearing
Parents
pull kids from public schools over gender teaching
How to Respond to Teachers
Pushing Pro-Gay Curriculum: Family Group Advises Parents
Parents face prosecution over 'gay' education
class protest
'Gay' pedophilia and Obama['s
Appointee]
Gay
Reversal Advocates Say School Libraries Banning Their 'Ex-Gay' Books
Boycott
of California Schools in the Making
What Same-Sex Marriage Has Done to
Massachusetts
President Obama Speaks at Gay-Activist Event
Obama Criticizes People with
"Old Attitudes" in Keynote Speech at Homosexualist Dinner
Firestorm Erupts over
Obama's Education Appointee
Parental
consent for Social Justice 12 discriminatory: teachers union
Coming Out in Middle School
A
"Safe" Place for Kids to Learn Homosexual Sex
Lawmakers:
Schoolkids must study 'sexual predator'
Backlash
against Pride funding worked.
Many Homosexual
(and Similar) Events Reported as Funded by the Canadian Conservative
Government
REAL
Women of Canada Sends a Strong Protest Against $400,000 Federal Government
Donation to Gay Pride Parade
Alberta
bill threatens lessons on gay life
Commentary: American Psychological Association
Changes Tune on Genetic Nature of Homosexuality
Today’s
Scripture, next year’s hatred
Federal Bill Would Add Pro-Gay
Policies to Public Schools [in the United States]
Students Have the Right
NOT to Remain Silent on the Day of Silence
Catholic League President Urges
Congress: Don't Let "Hate Crimes" Chill Religious Free Speech
U.K. Teaches 11-Year-Olds about
Homosexuality; San Francisco Schools Launch Pro-Gay Web Site
Want to Know How the British Columbia Teachers'
Federation Advises Teachers to Deal with Parents who Object to the
Pro-Homosexuality Program?
“Gay
and Lesbian Educators” Resource (Listed by Government for Social Justice
Twelve Course) Peddles Propaganda in the Name of Education
Kari
Simpson seeks human rights ruling against BC government, BCTF and
Murray
Corren
British Columbia Teachers' Federation
Promotes Day of Silence in BC Schools.
Parents for Democracy in Education Calls on Parents to Keep
Students Home April 17th [2009]
BCTF
‘Social Justice’ conference . . . told teachers
how to manipulate student attitudes [excerpt from a news release from
Parents for Democracy in Education regarding a conference held February 2oth and
21st, 2009]
Massachusetts
Dept. of Public Health funding homosexual / transgender movement in schools
"From tolerance to
celebration' [excerpt from an XtraWest article]
School
holds surprise 'Gay' Day for kindergartners
An Analysis of Some
Aspects of the Social Justice Twelve Course as approved by the British Columbia
Ministry of Education
"Gay couple files human-rights
complaint against school board"
Gay-friendly high school may
open here in 2010 [in Chicago]
Class surprises lesbian teacher
on "wedding" day
"Gay" Sex Kills
The "Day of Silence" in British
Columbia 2008
News
Release from the Catholic Civil Rights League
A
Critical Review of British Columbia MInistry of Education Guidelines Embodied in
the Teachers' Manual Making Space, Giving Voice
[from the Catholic Civil Rights League]
Deerfield High School Offers
Pornography to Students
Court: No Opt-out of
Homosexual Indoctrination in Class for Massachusetts Parents
An object lesson in free speech and democracy
Compassion
for Those in the Homosexual Life-Style
"Catholic
Activist 'Banned for life' from Publicly Criticising Homosexuality"
A
Time to Speak, a Time to Listen
Forced Education in Homosexuality and Evolution
Leads to Exodus of Mennonites from Quebec
A San Diego Mother Goes
Undercover Inside of A San Diego Gay Community Children's Event
Read
the Corren Settlement Agreement for Yourself
"The Gay Shibboleth"
"Pastor Who Fought For Gay
Marriage Receives Canada's Highest Honor"
Order of Canada Membership
Awarded to Homosexual Pastor Who
Promoted Same-Sex "Marriage"*
The
Corren Settlement Agreement:
How Did We Arrive at This Point and What Should Parents of Traditional
Morality and Their Supporters Do About It?
American
Psychological Association Appoints Gay Activists to Monitor
Reorientation Therapy [NARTH Press Release]
Texas
Psychiatrist Questions Sex Reassignment Surgery
NEA Teachers Help Fund Homosexual
Groups, Training
"Thousands
cheer gay parade"
Chicago Board of Ed Sued for
Teacher Allegedly Showing 'Brokeback Mountain' in Class
Students
Take a Stand for Truth [in the U.S.]
YouTube Pulls Videos Showing
Homosexual Indoctrination of Elementary School Children
The
British Columbia Teachers’ Federation is Promoting the Week Against Homophobia, May 14th-18th,
2007
What Can Parents Expect?
AFA
Warns Parents to Keep their Children Home from School on 'Gay Day' of Silence,
April 18
Connecticut High School Agrees
to Allow Day of Truth
Gay Lawmaker Pushes Bill to
Muzzle Schools
A Significant
Quote: A Pro-Homosexuality Activist's Denies Parental Opt-Out
Homosexual Activists Consider Targeting
Private Christian Schools for "Homophobia"
Gay Pressure Threatens Counseling:
Politics over Science
"Gay Student 'Weddings' Anger
California Parents"
Parent
Groups Ask Maryland to Stop Sex-Ed Classes
The Goose, the Gander, and the
Elephant
"Homophobia Spies in the
Classroom"
Egale
Leader Looks for Classroom Victories
"Schools
Withhold Sad Facts About
Homosexual Lifestyle"
"Long
Battle Over Gay Club In Georgia School Nears End”
Radical
Homosexual Groups Approved by UN with Bush [Administration] Support
Gay history month in city
schools seen part of trend
What GLSEN Doesn't What You to Know
British Columbia Ministry of Education September, 2006, Letter on the
Alternative Delivery Policy
Murray Corren on the Rights of
Parents
BC Gov’t Urged to Add Animal
Rights in Mandatory Gay-Friendly Social Justice Course
Controversial school
course planned
"Parents
Protest Gay Curriculum Review"
Rally in
Vancouver to Protest Corren Settlement
Letter
Sent by BC Parents & Teachers for Life to the BC Education Minister
Letter Responding to the
Above Letter
What Does the Ministry of
Education 's Reply [Above] Tell Us?
BCPTL Sends New
Letter to the Minister of Education
Reply Dated October 18th, 2006,
from the Ministry of Education
to British Columbia Parents and Teachers for Life
Letter Dated October 5,
2006, from BC Attorney General
to BC Parents and Teachers for Life
An Assessment of the
Settlement Agreement between the Ministry of Education of British Columbia and
Murray and Peter Corren
Letter from British Columbia
Education Minister Shirley Bond to the President of the Federation of
Independent Schools, July, 2006
Gov't Agrees to Mandatory Homosexual Curriculum
British Columbia Government Agrees
to Add Homosexuality into School Curriculum
Gay and lesbian issues course
for B.C. students
"Documents Reveal
Government Signed Over Control of Education to Homosexual Activists"
Text of Message
Regarding the Corren Agreement Sent by BC Parents and Teachers for Life to Each
Member of the British Columbia Legislature
Attack on Religious Freedom
Begins in Earnest in Canada - Battleground Homosexuality
National . . .
[Pro-Homosexuality] Groups Fight Parents Over Mandatory Homosexual
Indoctrination in Mass. Schools
Philadelphia District
threatens truancy charges against parents who keep kids home
News from "MassResistance"
Shows Pro-Homosexuality Activists with Similar Agenda and Philosophy to That of
their Counterparts in British Columbia
UK
Government “postpones” gay propaganda in Kindergarten after parents object
Homosexual Activists Target UK
Faith Schools, Adoption Policies
A Call to
Action after Public Sector Employee Fired for Speaking out against Homosexuality
“Day of Truth” Counters
Gay-Sponsored Student “Day of Silence”
British
Columbia Teachers Federation Endorses "Week Against Homophobia--May 15-19,
2006"
Alberta MLAs kill conscience
bill
Sexual-orientation
questions cause stir at Port Washington high school
. . . The
coming conflict between same-sex marriage and religious liberty
Scottish Parliament Plans to
Go Ahead with Gay Adoption
Brave
New Schools: "Diversity Day Cancelled"
Brokeback:
Understanding Propaganda
Kentucky Governor Sued After
Baptist College Expels
Student for Gay Lifestyle
Canadian Broadcast Regulators: Gay Toronto Radio OK, Catholic Radio No Way
Judge sets July 10 date for
trial in homosexual activist lawsuit
Horrendous
Pro-Homosexuality School Bill in California Assembly
McGill
University Homosexual Activists Shut Down Blood Clinic
Fairy Tales Don't Come
True
Noted U.S. Psychologists Condemn Gay Activist
Influence on APA
Corren Case Moves Forward
"B.C.
Gay Couple Seeks Mandatory Homosexual School Curriculum without Parental
Opt-Out"
What
Do These Societal Symptoms Indicate?
Lexington, Mass., father of 6-year-old
arrested, spends night in jail over objections to homosexual curriculum in son's
kindergarten class.
BC Appeals Court says
Schools Must Create “Homophobia-Free” Environment
The
Closing Down of Free Speech? School
Board “Guilty” of Democratic Behaviour
What the Gay and Lesbian
Educators of British Columbia
Have Planned for Your Children
Portrait of a
"Gay-Straight Alliance"
"Partway Gay"
[Young teens copy lesbian actions.]
BC Parents and
Teachers for Life Brief Against Approval of Pro-Homosexuality Books for Use as
Teaching Materials
Vancouver
GSA Uses a Variety of Methods to Influence the School
Teacher "Tells How to Lure
Students Into Homosexual Events"
LGBT Group in Langley
[British Columbia] Looks to Help Develop Mandatory Curriculum
Ontario School Board
Proposes Thought Control on 'Heterosexism' in Schools
Does Your Son
or Daughter"s School Have a GSA?
"Hate Speech" Law [Given Initial
Approval in Sweden] Could Chill Sermons
British Columbia
Tribunal "Holds School Responsibile for Homophobic Harassment"
Comment
on the Supreme Court of Canada Order to Surrey to Approve Pro-Homosexuality
Teaching Materials
"Chamberlain vs. Surrey School Board
Supreme Court Orders Homosexual Propaganda . . . "
Surrey Book Case
Heard in the Supreme Court of Canada
"Six Who Stood" [Portland, U.S.A.
teachers opposed pro-homosexuality propaganda.]
"The Negative Effects of
Homosexuality" [reference]
CDC Reports Rise in STDs in
a Growing Number of U.S. Cities
The Homophobia Myth
We Must Continue to Oppose BCTF
Promotion of "Gay-Straight Alliances"
Recommendation 39 Passed by BCTF
What Teacher Did Not Tell Teachers
About the BCTF AGM
"Moving Beyond Silence . . ."--Comments
on a B.C. Local Teachers' Union Publication
What You Can Do to Help Stop the
Proposed Pro-Homosexuality Programs
Students Given Graphic
Instruction in Homosexual Sex
Questions That Proponents of GSAs Need to
Be Asked
Challenging Homophobia in Schools:
A Critical Review
A Brief of the BCPTL to the Surrey School Board
[presented June 3, 2003--on pro-homosexuality resources]
Never Too Young to Indoctrinate
C-FAM,
June 24, 2010:
US Administration Launches All-Out
International Homosexual “Rights” Offensive
By Terrence
McKeegan, J.D.
WASHINGTON DC, June 24th (C-FAM)
United States (US) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addressed a reception at
the State Department, proclaiming that “human rights are gay rights and gay
rights are human rights, once and for all.” The reception celebrated
“Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month,” as was officially proclaimed
by President Barack Obama for the month of June, and follows a recent incident
at the United Nations (UN) where U.S. representatives made loud demands for
immediate action on accrediting a homosexual “rights” group to the Economic
and Social Council (ECOSOC).
Secretary Clinton used her address
at the reception as an opportunity to set forth a very explicit agenda of
promoting the homosexual “rights” agenda throughout the world. “We are
elevating our human rights dialogues with other governments and conducting
public diplomacy to protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender persons,” said Clinton. “Our Bureau for Democracy, Human
Rights, and Labor produces an annual Human Rights Report that include a section
on how LGBT persons are treated in every country.” Additionally, Clinton
noted that, “The Bureau of African Affairs has taken the lead by asking every
embassy in Africa to report on the conditions of local LGBT communities. And
I’m asking every regional bureau to make this issue a priority.”
Demonstrating just how much of a priority this issue
is, Clinton offered a few examples of US diplomats actively promoting homosexual
“rights” agenda overseas. “In Albania, a young man named Klodian Cela
recently came out on a popular television program called Big Brother. Soon
after, our ambassador, John Withers, went on television to publicly express
support for this man.”
Earlier this month, at the Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGO) Committee hearings where 19 UN Member States review
applications from NGOs for accreditation with the UN, the application of the
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) provoked a fierce
debate. After the Egyptian delegate posed questions for the group including
concerns that IGLHRC position’s could threaten the rights to religious freedom
and expression of individuals, the US delegate attempted to suspend additional
review of the group by calling for an immediate vote to accredit the group.
Egypt countered by observing that its questions had not
been "answered in a straight way” by the group and asserting its right to
have a full review process. Egypt then asked for a procedural “no
action” vote to be taken on the US motion for an immediate vote. This
procedural vote was carried by a majority of the members of the committee,
leaving the US and other Western countries to issue strong condemnations of the
committee and even individual members. Despite this outcome, some
diplomats privately stated that the US and other Western countries would try to
bypass the NGO Committee and call for a vote on the IGLHRC application at the
upcoming ECOSOC meeting in July.
Finally, President Obama, in his White House proclamation
for Father’s Day this year, did not miss the opportunity to stress that
“nurturing families come[s] in many forms” including children being raised
by “two fathers.”
President Obama
Proclaims Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month
We in Canada may have largely missed the import
of the proclamation by President Obama of June, 2010, as "Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month" in the United States. The
proclamation is a very open declaration of Obama's plans to further the goals of
activists in those communities.
Here are excepts from the proclamation of May 28, 2010:
". . . This month, as we recognize the
immeasurable contributions of LGBT Americans, we renew our commitment to the
struggle for equal rights for LGBT Americans and to ending prejudice and
injustice wherever it exists. . . ."
"Much work remains to fulfill our Nation's promise of equal justice under
law for LGBT Americans. That is why we must give committed gay couples the
same rights and responsibilities afforded to any married couple, and repeal the
Defense of Marriage Act. We must protect the rights of LGBT families by
securing their adoption rights, ending employment discrimination against LGBT
Americans, and ensuring Federal employees receive equal benefits. We must
create safer schools so all our children may learn in a supportive environment.
I am also committed to ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" so patriotic
LGBT Americans can serve openly in our military, and I am working with the
Congress and our military leadership to accomplish that goal. . . . ."
"NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of
America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the
laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2010 as Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. . . . ."
Williams Lake school district
restricts anti-homophobia events
The president of the Williams Lake Gay Straight Alliance says she’ll risk
suspension later this week in protest of School District 27 canceling an
anti-homophobia event planned for this week at Columneetza Secondary School.
Lexi Saffel says she will participate in a gender bender day Friday, where
students had been invited to dress as a member of the opposite sex.
“I don’t think it’s fair at all for the school district to cancel [the
day],” Saffel says. “We’re not doing anything wrong as long as we dress in
an appropriate manner for school.”
She expects at least 50 people to participate, despite being warned that it
could lead to suspension. She says the students who plan to participate in
gender bending day can’t be suspended, even though she says she was told
otherwise.
“Technically, they’re not allowed to suspend us for wearing the opposite
gender’s clothing, as long as it is in an appropriate tasteful manner,”
Saffel says.
“There’s nothing in the dress code that says guys have to wear guys’
clothes and girls have to wear girls’ clothes.”
The gender bender day was cancelled Friday by the district, and an assembly
planned for yesterday also didn’t occur. Saffel says the assembly would have
featured herself and another student discussing their experiences with
homophobia, and a video with students discussing discrimination against gay,
bisexual, and trans-gendered people.
“I’m really disappointed — we don’t get to make as much of a
difference as I was hoping,” Saffel says.
“The original reason we heard was that we were promoting gayness. I feel
like what was behind (parent complaints) was homophobia.”
She says discrimination and homophobia are issues that need to be addressed
at Columneetza and in Williams Lake.
“Students need to have the information,” she says.
School District 27 superintendent Diane Wright says there have been no
discussions about suspensions in relation to gender bender day, which she
confirms was cancelled.
She says it was cancelled after the school principal was made aware of how
some students were planning to handle gender bending day on Friday.
“Some of the students were going to make a mockery of it,” Wright says,
adding that she met with the president of the Cariboo Chilcotin Teachers
Association, the teachers who were sponsoring the events, and the principal on
Friday and discussed the issue.
Other events, including the assembly on Monday, a rainbow day on Tuesday —
which would entail students wearing different colours — a walk Wednesday, and
face painting and free hugs Thursday, are allowed to happen, as long as they
don’t take place during class time, Wright says.
She says parents expressed concern with some events being held during class
time, especially since exams are three weeks away.
She says some parents were also concerned about not being notified in advance
of the activities that were planned at the school for anti-homophobia week.
“I can appreciate that,” Wright says.
“It’s important families have those discussions with their children and
any topic that could be deemed sensitive.” . . . .
[Read
the whole article in the Williams Lake Tribune online.]
A discrimination complaint against the Abbotsford school district
over its handling of a new social justice course, which included
information about sexual orientation and gender identity, is headed
for a full inquiry by the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal.
In a decision released this week, the tribunal rejected a bid by
the district to have the complaint quashed after it agreed in 2009
to allow students to take Social Justice 12, despite a community
controversy over the subject matter. That was a reversal from
September 2008, when it ordered W.J. Mouat secondary school to
cancel the provincial course and offer a local substitute to the 90
students who had registered.
The substitute, Global Studies and Active Citizenship, was
described by critics as a "watered-down" version of Social
Justice 12 because it was similar, but excluded mention of sexual
orientation, gender identity, homophobia or heterosexism. This year,
Mouat students may take Social Justice 12 providing they have
parental permission.
That requirement for permission was added to the discrimination
complaint, filed originally in October 2008 by Murray and Peter
Corren. Although the district argued that it was not unusual to seek
parental consent for school activities, the Correns said Social
Justice 12 is the only provincially approved elective with that
stipulation.
After reviewing the arguments, tribunal member Tonie Beharrell
issued a 19-page decision saying the district had failed to convince
her that the Correns' complaint is groundless and said the matter
can be resolved only through a full hearing that will consider all
evidence from both sides.
Beharrell did order the Correns to reduce their claim to
represent 19,000 Abbotsford students and parents, noting they had
tried to contact the 90 students who had registered for Social
Justice in 2008 but as of January had received consent from only 10.
. . . .
In an e-mail Thursday, association president Rick Guenther said
the grievance was filed after the district sent school principals a
list of conditions under which Social Justice 12 could be offered.
"As far as we could determine, no other optional Grade 12 class
in the district has ever been subject to any restrictions of that
sort," he said. "We contend that the restrictions create a
discriminatory work environment." . . . .
Murray Corren could not be reached for comment; Peter Corren died
late last year.
[Click
here to go to the full version of the above article in The
Vancouver Sun online.]
Parents
pull kids from public schools over gender teaching.
Concern
over new policy misplaced, say proponents.
From
MountainNews.com
By Gord Bowes, News
Staff
News
Mar
04, 2010
Tricia Cooper says she removed her two children from the public school
system because she could see increasing infringement on her parental rights.
As a family with strong religious beliefs, Cooper wanted to take her
daughters out of an environment she feels teaches her something contrary to
what she believes.
“My child should not be taught in junior kindergarten that a woman can
love a woman or a woman can be a man,” the Hamilton resident told the Mountain
News. “It’s really up to me in my home to provide that kind of
information.”
. . . .
Ontario school boards are required to implement equity and inclusive
education policies, covering everything from ethnicity and race, to classism
and gender, by September.
Cooper, who enrolled her children in a Catholic school this year, said
she and many other parents are concerned about the gender equity and sexual
orientation portion of the Hamilton public school board’s policy, which
they feel will permeate the entire curriculum.
Concern about the policy picked up steam last month when Hamilton Community
News managing editor Mark Cripps wrote a column about a Hamilton public
school board information sheet for teachers which some believe shows the
board believes it can trump parental rights when it comes to teaching about
sexual orientation.
The gender equity policy is still in draft form.
. . . .
[Read the whole article in MountainNews.com
.
How
to Respond to Teachers Pushing Pro-Gay Curriculum: Family Group Advises
Parents
By Patrick B. Craine
February 19, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com)
- The B.C.-based pro-family group Parents for Democracy in Education (PDE)
have released a set
of answers that parents can provide to teachers who ignore their
complaints about the spread of homosexualist “propaganda” through the
curricula of Canada's schools.
The new document offers responses to a controversial new sheet that has
been distributed to Canadian teachers, entitled “Objections to
Anti-Homophobia Curriculum in Schools?” The sheet offers “quick
responses” to common objections given by parents who object to the treatment
of homosexuality in their child’s school curriculum.
This “quick response” sheet for teachers was published by the
Hamilton Mountain News last week after it were leaked to a reporter with
the paper by teachers in the Hamilton public school board. The same sheet was
also distributed by the British Columbia Teacher's Federation, which led PDE
to issue their response.
The teacher sheet advises teachers to tell parents who complain about
pro-gay classes that they “do not condone children being removed from our
classes when we teach about Aboriginal People, people of color, people with
disabilities or gays and lesbians.”
In response, PDE suggests parents state, in part: “It’s really not
relevant what you condone. These are not your children. We are their
parents.” “Your teaching should be consistent with and supportive of
family principles, not undermining those principles,” they add.
Further, they point out that the teacher should be told: “You're mixing
unlike categories when you compare homosexuals to Aboriginals, people of
colour, or disabled people.” “Race is not a behaviour,” they
write. “Homosexuality is. Race is not injurious to the person’s own
health and well-being; homosexuality is.”
The teachers' quick response sheet also advises teachers to tell
parents: “You can teach your child your own values at home. Public schools
teach everyone about respecting diversity and valuing everyone.”
In this case, PDE suggests parents remind teachers that they “cannot and
must not use their authority to tell children their parents are wrong.”
“That’s an abuse of authority that deserves dismissal,” they continue.
“We agree children should be taught to respect diversity and value everyone
— but that can surely be achieved without teaching that sexual perversions
are meritorious and praiseworthy.”
Another response for teachers reads: “All children, including yours, have
a right to an education free from discrimination.” PDE points out that
in this response, “we have a logical error caused by propagandistic
thinking.” “To learn to discriminate between what is right and what
is wrong is an essential part of education,” they write.
Further, to teachers who argue that they have a duty to provide “accurate
information,” PDE responds that the schools' “pro-‘gay’ propaganda is
full of mis-information. It does not inform students of the very real
and serious physical and mental health risks associated with homosexual
behaviour.”
The full document, with end notes and supporting documentation, can be
found here.
Feb 15, 2010 by Candi [from the Citizen
blog Drive Thru]
President Obama Plans to
Increase Controversial “Safe Schools Czar’s” Budget
President Obama and his administration have continued to ignore the loud
outcry over the appointment of a radical
gay activist, Kevin Jennings, to head up the nation’s “safe schools”
office.
Not only have they remained deaf to these concerns, but now they plan to
give Jennings significantly more of our money to spend! President Obama’s
proposed 2011 budget would allocate $410 million for programs overseen by
Jennings. That’s an increase of $45 million.
So want does Jennings intend to do with this money?
For starters, he says he’s going to make “school climate” measurement
a top priority—and, in fact, he’d love for “school climate” to
eventually be made part of the “Common Core” national standards movement!
He plans to begin with “a new grant program coming out of this department
where we’ll be providing possibly as much as $70 million for investments in
school climate projects.” (He revealed all this and much more in this
month’s Phi
Delta Kappan magazine. Scroll down to the “Safe at School”
title.)
So at this point, you might be wondering, What on earth does
“school climate” really mean? I think it’s best to take that definition
from Kevin Jennings–based on his record as the longtime founder and
leader of GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network).
Under Jennings’ leadership, GLSEN has provided students with a “school
climate” continuum measurement tool. This tool reveals a lot about
Jennings’ true goals: A positively rated “inclusive school,” for
instance, is defined as one where “LGBT themes are fully
integrated into curricula across a variety of subject areas and grade
levels.” . . . .
By contrast, a “hostile school,” is one where “Curricula are devoid
of LGBT themes” and homosexuality is “characterized” as “sin.” . . .
.
Is this how Kevin Jennings will use taxpayer-funded money to measure our
schools and force changes?
It remains to be seen, since his plans are still in the baby stages—but
parents should stay on the alert.
[Abridged from the Citizen Blog Drive
Thru]
From Times Online
March 7, 2009
Parents
face prosecution over 'gay' education class protest
PARENTS who took their children out of school to prevent them being
taught about lesbian, gay and transgender relationships are facing
prosecution.
Around 30 pupils from an east London primary school were absent from a
week of special lessons to highlight non-heterosexual partnerships.
To mark the event some students watched a special adaptation of
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet retitled Romeo and Julian.
Stories covered in the lessons at George Tomlinson School included a
fairytale about a prince who turns down three princesses before falling in
love with one of their brothers and the tale of Roy and Silo - two male
penguins who fall in love.
The protesting parents said the content was more appropriate for
secondary school pupils and now they face possible court action.
Some of the parents said they informed the Leytonstone school they were
removing their children for the week.
Pervez Latif, whose children Saleh, ten, and Abdur-Rahim, nine, attend
the school, said both Christian and Muslim parents objected to the theme
linked to Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender History Month.
[Read
the whole Times online story.]
Gay Reversal Advocates Say School Libraries Banning Their
'Ex-Gay' Books
Thursday,
October 22, 2009

By Diane Macedo
Visit most public school libraries and you'll find
an array of books that address the subject of homosexuality. Many include
sexually explicit content, and some even include graphic images.
But if you're looking for a book that refers to the possibility that
homosexuality can be "reversed," a Chicago-based group says your best
bet is the banned books list.
Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX) says there's an entire
community of people across the world who say that their sexual orientation
changed from gay to straight. But they're not getting their message out, the
group says, because libraries across the country refuse to carry literature that
describes these experiences or any studies that support them.
So a book like "My Genes Made Me Do It!: A Scientific Look at Sexual
Orientation" — which argues that sexuality is shaped by a variety of
factors, not just biological — can't get a spot on the school library shelf.
Neither can "You Don't Have to Be Gay," which describes author
Jeff Konrad's struggle to overcome his unwanted same-sex attractions.
But "Baby Be-Bop," the coming-out story of a gay teen, which
includes descriptions of his sexual encounters in bathroom stalls with men he
never talks to, makes the stacks
[Click
here to read the whole of the article immediately above.]
Monday, October 20, 2008
'Gay' pedophilia and Obama['s
Appointee]
Linda Harvey asks if senator agrees with his GLBT
supporters
[This article from October of 2008 has gained additional significance
since the appointment of Jennings to head up "safe schoools" efforts
for the U.S. federal Department of Education.]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'd been wondering what Kevin Jennings was doing these
days. Jennings is the founder and long-time head of the radical homosexual group
GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. GLSEN's mission has been
to plant "gay" clubs and training programs in as many schools as
possible. GLSEN now claims 4,000 "gay-straight alliances" exist,
although this number is doubtful.
Certainly, there are way too many. The group's target has been to place
these clubs in all U.S. schools, K through 12. If you think a kindergartener
signing up for a "gay" club is ludicrous, you are not alone.
But Jennings has moved on to better things. He's now the Obama campaign
fundraising co-chair for the "LGBT" community – that's
"lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered." You can listen to Jennings
lay out the rights-oriented rhetoric in two interviews with Joe Solmonese of the
Human Rights Campaign, on the website "LGBT for Obama."
Their conversation, reviewing Jennings' record, dwells
on preventing bullying of "gay" kids. Jennings constructed this Trojan
horse for access to schools despite the ability of every community to punish
school bullying without accommodating the "gay" agenda. This
smokescreen hides the pornographic reality of GLSEN's "support" for
kids under Jennings' leadership.
Remember the book "Queering Elementary
Education," with the gushing blurb on the back from Obama's radical
"social justice" colleague Bill Ayers? Well, the same book has a
foreword written by Jennings. In researching GLSEN over the years, I've found
horrific elements of what can only be called child sexual corruption. The more
closely one reads the GLSEN material, the worse it gets.
Just about every type of sexual practice imaginable is apparently
acceptable and even worthy of "celebration" by any age student or
teacher as far as GLSEN is concerned. GLSEN also supports gender-distortion
through cross-dressing, even for elementary school children.
Is this the kind of "school reform" Obama has
in mind?
Some of GLSEN's recommended reading material implicitly
condones criminal sexual contact between adults with minors. Many such incidents
are described in erotic and nostalgic passages. I've yet to see
"warnings" about the episodes in these books, which surely mislead
thousands of vulnerable kids. I wrote in detail about what I will share below in
2002, yet the books in question, and many more just as objectionable, are still
offered by GLSEN for sale on its site.
The problem starts with Jennings' own writings in books like "One
Teacher In 10." Jennings' dream world is one where openly "gay"
teachers serve as role models who influence students' sexual conduct. In the
first edition of this book, Jennings, a former teacher, relates his encounter
with a homosexually inclined male student:
"Toward the end of my first year, during the spring of 1988, Brewster
appeared in my office in the tow of one of my advisees ... to whom I had been
"out" for a long time. "Brewster has something he needs to talk
with you about," she intoned ominously. ... On a hunch, I suddenly asked,
"What's his name?" Brewster's eyes widened briefly, and then out
spilled a story about his involvement with an older man he had met in Boston. I
listened, sympathized, offered advice. He left my office with a smile on his
face. ... "("One Teacher in 10: Gay and Lesbian Educators tell their
Stories," Alyson Publications, 1994.)
What did Jennings recommend to Brewster that brought a
smile to his face? It sounds like he affirmed this teen/adult homosexual
relationship, instead of contacting the boy's parents or the authorities. Is
this just the kind of wisdom we hope Obama consultants use in formulating
education policy? Child predators as implementers of "social justice,"
perhaps?
The book "Growing Up Gay/Growing Up Lesbian," recommended on the
GLSEN website for kids in grades seven to 12, describes two 10-year-old boys in
a very graphic sexual encounter (pp.99-100). In the same book, an adult man
named Eliot reflects on his youth:
"My
first experience was with a much older man, a friend of Derek's [his father].
... When I was 15, he must have been 29, 30 ... I seduced him. ... It was a wild
night. We did everything."
This is the dearest fantasy of pedophiles and pederasts – the pretense
that the youth seduces them.
Another GLSEN recommended book, "Rainbow
Boys," features an episode of homosexual sex between one of the main
characters, a 17-year-old boy, and a 29-year-old man he has just met via the
Internet ( p. 148). Again, a great influence for kids.
Fluid sexual activity and homosexual experimentation is
another common theme in GLSEN-recommended books. "My sexuality is as fluid,
infinite, undefinable, and ever-changing as the north-flowing river. ...
Sexuality is not black or white ... it is gray. ... I know that defining myself
is not so simple. ..." writes a 16-year-old in "Revolutionary Voices :
A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology" (p.167). . . . .
I could go on and on, unfortunately. The GLSEN "Book Link"
introduction states that the selections are recommended to "... empower our
mission to ensure safe schools for all LGBT students."
So finally, then, this is what is meant by "safe schools": lots
of weird, early sex by kids, some of it with adults.
Obama needs to remove Kevin Jennings immediately from this position. And
voters need some answers to the following questions:
Does Obama believe children are "born gay" and should be able to
declare this identity in grade school and join a "gay" club? Kevin
Jennings does.
Does Obama believe consensual relationships between
15-year-olds and 29-nine-year-olds are OK? Jennings thinks so. (Some think
Planned Parenthood does, too – another question for Obama.)
Does Obama believe a "safe" school is one
where no one can criticize homosexual behavior? Jennings does.
Does Obama believe that, with the CDC reporting HIV
rates rising around 12 percent per year for 13 to 24-year-old males who have sex
with males (MSM), we still cannot tell our boys to abstain from homosexual
behavior? Will he appoint clueless federal health officials? Kevin Jennings
would approve.
Does Obama believe kids can decide at age 9 or 10 that
they were born in the wrong body, want to switch genders and have schools
support this disorder? Jennings does.
Does Obama believe [that] the Christian moral standard that homosexuality is
wrong needs to be suppressed and depicted as "hateful" in the public
square, including schools? Jennings does.
Does Obama believe that if same-sex "marriage" is legalized, this new
"law" should be shoved down the throats of all children and their
parents via social engineering in public schools? Jennings does.
Does Obama believe that "social justice" and "school reform"
require students to not just tolerate, but approve of homosexuality and gender
change? That the "yuck" factor simply will not be allowed, because it
reflects bigotry? Jennings does. . . .
[You can read the whole of
the above article online on WorldnetDaily.]
-------------------------------------
Linda Harvey is president of Mission America and author of the new book
"Not My Child: Contemporary Paganism and the New Spirituality" (AMG
Publishers).
Boycott
of California Schools in the Making
Charlie
Butts - OneNewsNow - Oct. 21, 2009
SaveCalifornia.com has
launched a new drive to protest a pro-homosexual bill recently signed into law.
Randy
Thomasson, president of SaveCalifornia.com, tells OneNewsNow he is calling for a
boycott over a law designed to force students to honor a deceased homosexual
activist. . ..
"With Harvey Milk Gay
Day now the law for California government schools, and a handful of sexual
indoctrination laws already existing that are in effect throughout the entire
school year, parents have to at least boycott Harvey Milk Day or days or
week," Thomasson urges.
The boycott, he says, needs to be established by parents to protect their
children, but also to drive home a point that they do not want their children
indoctrinated with a pro-homosexual philosophy. Thomasson feels that taking
students out of the government school system is the only way to accomplish this
protection. He adds that parents also need to be aware of the quality of
education their children are receiving in California.
Thomasson reports that "on the academic chart, California is among the
lowest academically in the country. On the sexual indoctrination chart,
California leads the pack with Massachusetts following."
Given these statistics, the West Coast pro-family, pro-child organization hopes
that the boycott will convey the message that time in the classroom should not
be used in a way that might risk losing average daily attendance funds. In
addition, Thomasson believes California parents need to be concerned enough
about the welfare of their children to begin homeschooling or sending them to
private or religious schools.
What Same-Sex
"Marriage" Has Done to Massachusetts
After the law giving the
governmental stamp of approval to same-sex "marriages" was
passed by the Canadian parliament, some who had fought against the measure
thought it was time to move on. But the introduction of that measure has
profound consequences, particularly for the children and youth of our
land. MassReisistance.org has put out a listing of consequences which they
have seen for the American state of Massachusetts. A number of these
consequences have already come to pass in British Columbia, either before or
after the introduction of same-sex marriage by federal law. Other
consequences are ones we may expect
--ones the citizens of tis province should be concerned about. The
document referred to is at:
http://www.massresistance.org/docs/marriage/effects_of_ssm.pdf
.
President Obama Speaks at Gay-Activist
Event
[ From
CitizenLink at: http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000011196.cfm
--Oct. 12, 2009 ]
by Steve
Jordahl, senior correspondent
Address renews
the administration's vow to promote homosexual agenda.
President Barack Obama spoke
Saturday at the annual fundraiser for the gay-activist Human Rights Campaign
(HRC).
The president told the crowd he
supports the gay activist agenda.
"When you look back on
these years," he said, "you will see a time in which we as a nation
finally recognized relationships between two men or two women as just as real
and admirable as relationships between a man and a woman."
Obama promised that he would end
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the Clinton-era policy that allows gay men
and women to serve in the armed forces as long as they don't reveal their sexual
orientation.
Robert Knight, senior writer for
Coral Ridge Ministries, said the president is simply trying to please a powerful
and vocal constituency.
"Homosexual activists
learned long ago that if they scream loudly and often, they get more of what
they want," he said. "So even if they get 95 percent of
something, they say, 'What have you done for us lately'?"
The president also promised to
pass hate-crimes legislation and repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
He said those who uphold
marriage between one man and one woman, "hold fast to outworn arguments and
old attitudes."
"That would be the
Bible," said Knight. "All people who think it's normal and
natural for marriage to be between a man and a woman, the president of the
United States
is saying that's old and outworn."
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Watch
President Obama's entire speech to the Human Rights Campaign.
. . . .
Obama
Criticizes People with "Old Attitudes" in Keynote Speech at
Homosexualist Dinner
Promises to repeal the "so-called Defense of Marriage Act"
By Kathleen Gilbert
WASHINGTON, D.C., October 13, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com)
- In his speech
to the homosexualist Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Saturday evening, President
Obama again professed loyalty to the homosexual agenda and criticized people who
hold to "old attitudes" about homosexuality. The President also vowed
to repeal the "so-called Defense of Marriage Act" and praised the U.S.
House's approval of homosexual hate crimes legislation on Thursday.
Obama began his speech, which was interrupted numerous times by applause, by
thanking the HRC for the invitation and "for the work you do every day in
pursuit of equality on behalf of the millions of people in this country who work
hard in their jobs and care deeply about their families -- and who are gay,
lesbian, bisexual, or transgender."
"Despite the real gains that we've made, there's still laws to change
and there's still hearts to open," Obama told the cheering crowd.
"There are still fellow citizens, perhaps neighbors, even loved ones --
good and decent people -- who hold fast to outworn arguments and old attitudes;
who fail to see your families like their families; who would deny you the rights
most Americans take for granted. And that's painful and it's
heartbreaking."
The President's remarks reflect his statements while
campaigning for the presidency last year, when, despite asserting that he
believed marriage was "between a man and a woman," he simultaneously
supported various aspects of the homosexual agenda. Similarly, in his
speech Saturday, President Obama expressed warm support for granting homosexuals
"the same rights and responsibilities afforded to any married couple in
this country," while not specifically mentioning whether such couples
should be granted the title of marriage.
On Saturday, President Obama called the movement's quest to normalize
homosexuality on various fronts a quest for "basic equality."
"I'm here with a simple message: I'm here with you in that fight,"
he said.
Obama also praised the passage of homosexual hate crimes legislation in a
House defense policy bill on Thursday, and said he was preparing to sign the law
after it passes Congress.
In the course of the speech, Obama vowed to repeal the prohibition against
open homosexuals in the military, and to support an "affirmative
action" bill against employer discrimination in hiring homosexuals.
Addressing the lobby's concern over Obama's perceived lack of zeal in
dismantling federal marriage laws and other such issues, Obama said Saturday:
"I also appreciate that many of you don't believe progress has come fast
enough. I want to be honest about that, because it's important to be honest
among friends."
He assured the group that "my commitment to you is unwavering," and
pointed out that he has called on Congress to "repeal the so-called Defense
of Marriage Act."
The homosexual lobby was critical of the administration in May when the White
House website removed all references to Obama's campaign promise to repeal the
Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the 1996 law that says that for federal law
purposes marriage can only be considered as between a man and a woman.
Obama says that he now favors dismantling DOMA by the legislative process rather
than by executive fiat.
The President expressed broad support for HRC's mission to drastically
alter America's cultural perception of marriage and the family.
"My expectation is that when you look back on these years, you will see
... a time in which we as a nation finally recognize relationships between two
men or two women as just as real and admirable as relationships between a man
and a woman," said Obama.
"Our common ideals are a force far stronger than any division that some
might sow," he concluded. "Day by day, law by law, changing mind
by mind, that is the promise we are fulfilling."
Conservative leaders expressed dismay at the President's speech.
Family Research Council president Tony Perkins said that "the radical
cultural changes that the President promised to this audience" were
"shocking."
"What the President neglected to mention was that all of this will be
forced on the American people who in the last election gave the President a
mandate to fix the economy - not enact radical social policy changes such as
allowing homosexuals to serve in the military," said Perkins.
"President Obama tried to hide his pro-homosexual agenda during the
presidential campaign. With the election behind him and a liberal Congress
beside him, he is now positioned to move forward an agenda with the ultimate
goal of redefining marriage at the expense of religious liberty."
Though Obama appeared to throw his weight squarely behind the group's agenda,
however, some homosexual commentators expressed dissatisfaction with the speech,
saying that the President should have set a timetable for his proposed
legislative maneuvers.
Andrew Sullivan, blogger for the Atlantic, wrote of the speech: "There
were no meaningful commitments within a time certain, not even a commitment to
fulfilling them in his first term; just meaningless, feel-good commitments that
we have no way of holding him to. Once the dust settles, ask yourself. What did
he promise to achieve in the next year? Or two years? Or four years? The answer
is: nothing."
(Read Obama's complete speech here)
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
President Obama Declares June 2009 'LGBT Pride Month'
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jun/09060208.html
Obama Administration Announces Radical Homosexualist Agenda on White House
Website
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jan/09012109.html
From CitizenLink, October 5, 2009:
Firestorm Erupts over
Obama's Education Appointee
by Kim Trobee, editor
'Parents should be most concerned about the harmful and
radical policies he could enact today that would negatively impact public
schoolchildren.'
Yet another controversial presidential appointee is in the national spotlight.
Safe Schools czar Kevin Jennings has been accused of inappropriate statements
and actions, including the failure to report evidence of sexual activity
between a teenager and an adult.
Candi Cushman, education analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said you
don't have to look back 20 years to be concerned about Jennings.
"Parents should be most concerned about the harmful and radical policies
he could enact today that would negatively impact public schoolchildren,"
she said.
The best evidence is Jennings' 13-year track record as leader of the
largest homosexual advocacy group in the nation, devoted entirely to promoting
homosexuality to kids: GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education
Network.
Under the quise of "safe schools," GLSEN promotes classroom
activities that not only give biased portrayals of Christian and socially
conservative viewpoints, but also turn students into lobbyists for its extreme
left causes.
[Click
here to read the whole CitizenLink article online.]
From the homosexual periodical XtraWest online, September 10, 2009:
Parental
consent for Social Justice 12 discriminatory: teachers union
EDUCATION / About 50 schools across province
offering SJ 12 this year
Natasha Barsotti / Vancouver / Thursday, September
10, 2009
Requiring Grade 12 students to seek parental
consent to take a gay-friendly elective course contravenes the BC Human
Rights Code, the Abbotsford teachers union contends.
The union recently filed a grievance with the Abbotsford school board
challenging the parental consent requirement to take Social Justice 12.
"I filed a grievance with the board claiming
that this kind of action is contrary to the non-discrimination aspects of
the Human Rights Code,"
Abbotsford District Teachers' Association (ADTA)
president Rick Guenther told Xtra West Sep 3.
Guenther, who filed the grievance at the end of the last school year, says
there have since been discussions with district staff but the matter has
yet to be resolved.
"We never see trustees in any of these matters. We always work
with the district staff," Guenther notes when asked if there was any
communication from the board itself.
Last fall, the Abbotsford school board angered
students at WJ Mouat Secondary School who had signed up for Social Justice
12 only to be told they could not take the class.
About 90 students had signed up for the course, which introduces
concepts such as homophobia, heterosexism and cultural imperialism. It was
developed as part of a settlement reached three years ago between BC's
Attorney General and Murray and Peter Corren, who had filed a human rights
complaint against the province alleging the omission of gay realities from
the classroom was discriminatory.
The board eventually reinstated the course after a
student-led protest last September, followed by a hundreds-strong social
justice rally in December.
But in reinstating the course, the board developed
a series of guidelines to govern its offering. Among the guidelines sent
to administrators in a memo dated Apr 16 is a requirement that the
district superintendent or designate must "annually inform
administrators of the requirement for obtaining informed, active, and
written consent from parents of any students under the age of 19 enrolling
[in] the course."
The memo also states that school principals must ensure that written
parental consent is obtained prior to any student attending the first
class of Social Justice 12; that the school timetable be developed in such
a way that no student is programmed into the elective "by default,
i.e. because no other elective is available;" and that a copy of the
Intended Learning Outcomes be made available either electronically or in
print form to the parents of any student who selects the course.
Guenther says as far as he's aware requiring Grade
12 students to have signed permission from parents in order to take the
course is unique to the Social Justice 12 course.
"No other optional Grade 12 course has that requirement,"
he says. "So in some sense, it's still receiving some discriminatory
or preferential treatment depending on your point of view."
Guenther says a copy of the grievance is now lodged with the BC
Teachers Federation (BCTF). "The BCTF lawyers will actually decide
which of the guidelines are the ones that will be taken to an arbitration,
if it gets that far," he adds.
The Abbotsford school board's media liaison, Dave Stephen, confirms that
the board did receive "something in late spring, early summer"
when asked if a grievance had been filed with the board.
"It is in due process and we would have no further comment on
that at this point," Stephen told Xtra West Sep 3.
Asked why students had to get parental consent for
this particular course, Stephen says the board's feeling was that
"they would like that course to move ahead with parental
permission" and that that was "their prerogative."
He says the board had heard "a variety of
viewpoints" and "felt that was the appropriate process to move
forward with the course here."
Stephen says only two schools in the district - WJ Mouat and Bakerview
Centre for Learning, a continuing education facility - are now offering
Social Justice 12. "It's open to any school to run," he adds.
BCTF vice-president Susan Lambert says it's
"quite an interesting and ridiculous situation that children who have
access to all the information the television provides are then forced to
ask their parents for permission to attend a school course that seeks to
give them the skills to critically analyze what they see in the mainstream
media."
Lambert told Xtra West that at least 30 new schools across the province
are offering Social Justice 12 this year. That's in addition to the 20
that offered it last year, she notes.
"I'm told that six out of 10 Richmond district high schools are
offering Social Justice 12 this year," she says.
"We found that the ban in Abbotsford was actually helpful in the long
run because it drew attention to the course offering and actually resulted
in a lot of interest," Lambert adds.
Meanwhile, the BCTF filed its own grievance with its employer, the BC
Public School Employers' Association (BCPSEA), in December asking that it
ensure all school boards enforce a 2007 ministerial order that all school
districts and their schools develop codes of conduct.
The ministerial order was handed down following
spring 2007 legislation that mandated school boards to make sure school
codes of conduct referenced the BC Human Rights Code, which includes
sexual orientation as a category protected from discrimination.
Lambert says the BCPSEA was given until the end of June to advise boards
to get into compliance.
"We believe that time is up. We'll go to the next step:
arbitration," she says.
BCPSEA media liaison Deborah Stewart confirms that the Teachers
Federation filed a grievance in December but the matter was in abeyance
until Jun 30.
"We have not heard back from [the BCTF] as of yet, so unfortunately
we don't have a lot to say," Stewart says.
However, the BCPSEA does not view the codes as an employment issue, she
says. "We advised the [BCTF] that should the matter proceed to
arbitration, we would bring a preliminary objection that the matter is not
grievable or arbitrable." Meanwhile
an education ministry spokesperson says "as far as the ministry
understands, every single school district has a code of conduct in place
that they believe meets the ministerial order."
Our thanks to Mission America for sending us the
following regarding a New York Times article:
Coming Out in
Middle School
NY Times Features Casual Article about Child
Corruption
Here's how the horrific article in the September 27 NY
Times magazine, written by an openly-gay author, starts:
"Austin didn’t know what to wear to his first gay dance last
spring. It was bad enough that the gangly 13-year-old from Sand Springs,
Okla., had to go without his boyfriend at the time, a 14-year-old star
athlete at another middle school... But his boyfriend couldn’t find
anyone to give him a ride nor, Austin explained, could his
boyfriend ask his father for one. 'His dad would give him up for adoption
if he knew he was gay,' Austin told me. 'I’m serious. He has the
strictest, scariest dad ever'..."
The article ends with a dad taking his middle school son to a 'gay' pride
parade, where the son ogles men in Speedos. This is the New York Times'
version of enlightened journalism.
ARTICLE continues HERE.
A
"Safe" Place for Kids to Learn Homosexual Sex
[from missionamerica.com--downloaded
Sept. 6, 2009--title slightly changed]
The real story about community ‘GLBT’ youth centers
By Linda Harvey
***There's no required parental notification or consent, but kids
are assured of “confidentiality.”***
---------------------------
It’s Friday at 5:00 p.m. Do you know where your kids are?
Your sixth grader, Nick, stayed after school with his new buddy, Joel.
They’ll be home soon on their bikes, because they had a last-minute
homework assignment in the library. Or so they told you.
There’s one place in the neighborhood most parents might never think
their kids would end up. It’s the local community center for homosexual
kids. That’s right—for kids. And your sixth grader would be welcomed
there by adult volunteers and staff, and allowed to socialize with high
school and college age ‘gay’ youth, without your permission or
knowledge. All he or she has to do is show up, and many are located
conveniently on bus lines, for kids under driving age.
“No parents” plus homosexual approval is the reason these centers
call themselves “safe” places. There is a homosexual youth center now
in virtually every medium or large city in the U.S. Many are funded by
private foundations or connected to a local adult center for “GLBT”
(“gay, lesbian bisexual and transgendered”) people. Some are even
funded by United Way. . . . . [Click
here to read the whole article.]
|
CALIFORNIA SCHEMIN'
Lawmakers: Schoolkids must study 'sexual
predator'
.
. . .
September 04, 2009
By Bob Unruh
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
Lawmakers in California have voted to pressure all
schoolchildren in the state to study and "honor" the life and values
of homosexual activist Harvey Milk, whose biography tells of sexual escapades,
including relationships with young boys.
In addition, it was Milk who publicly advocated for the
late Jim Jones, the leader of the massacred hundreds in Jonestown, Guyana, in
1978. Jones led the "Peoples Temple Agricultural Project," and in an
audiotape of the deaths, described the 918 fatalities – mostly from drinking
cyanide-laced flavored drink – as a "revolutionary suicide."
The California State Assembly now has passed a bill
calling on all California public schools to hold an annual "day of
significance" honoring the life and values of Milk. SB572 was approved on a
45 (all Democrats) to 27 (all Republicans) vote yesterday. . . . .
The bill now returns to the Democrat-controlled state Senate, which approved
the plan in May, and ultimately will be sent to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who
did veto the measure a year ago. . . . .
[Click
here to read the whole of the above WorldNetDaily article.]
[The following excerpts from an
article in the mainstream press tell only part of the story of the effect of
reactions to the $400,000 Canadian federal government's contribution to
"Toronto Pride.}
Backlash
against Pride funding worked
[From The ChronicleHerald.ca]
STEPHEN MAHER LETTER FROM OTTAWA
Sat. Jul 25 - 4:46 AM
ON JUNE 15, Diane Ablonczy, the federal minister of state for tourism, was
photographed with a group of drag queens as she presented $400,000 to Toronto
Pride, a gay and lesbian festival . . . .
This angered evangelist preacher and activist Charles McVety, a longtime
crusader against same-sex marriage, abortion and homosexuality. Mr. McVety
launched a campaign on the Institute for Canadian Values website, under the
headline Conservatives Announce New Program to Fund Sex Parades. . .
The campaign worked.
On July 6, Saskatchewan Tory MP Brad Trost told lifesitenews.com that Ms.
Ablonczy had lost control of the tourism program after Conservative MPs objected
to the grant to the Pride parade.
"The pro-life and the pro-family community should know and understand
that the tourism funding money that went to the gay pride parade in Toronto was
not government policy, was not supported by — I think it’s safe to say by a
large majority — of the MPs. This was a very isolated decision."
Many
Homosexual (and Similar) Events Reported
as Funded by the Canadian Conservative Government
David Akin: The Harper
Government's
long history of funding gay and lesbian activities
[From National Post online, July 09, 2009, 10:45 AM by NP
Editor]
. . . . a little birdie helpfully provides the following list
of gay and lesbian (and bisexual, etc.) events funded by the Harper
government
- Recipient: Canadian Lesbian
and Gay Archives
Minister: Hon. James Moore
Funding received - $175,000.00
Purpose: Arts in Communities
Date: 2009-03-26
- Recipient: Vancouver Out on
Screen Film and Video Society, Vancouver, British Colombia
Minister: Hon. Josée Verner
Funding received: $32,000.00
Purpose: Project: 20th Anniversary Vancouver Queer Film Festival,
Programming
Date: 2008-2009, March 4, 2008
- Recipient: Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, Transsexual, Transgender Pride Toronto
Funding received: $21,000.00
Date: ** Last modified, 2008-02-19
- Recipient: Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, Transsexual, and Transgenderal Pride Toronto, Toronto, Ontario,
Canada
Minister: Hon. Josée Verner
Funding received: $35,000.00
Purpose: Arts in Community
Date: 2007-04-23
- Recipient: Inside Out Lesbian
& Gay Film Festival Inc. Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Funding received: $20,000.00
Purpose: Project: Toronto Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival,
Programming
Date: 2008-2009
- Recipient: Winnipeg Gay &
Lesbian Film Society Inc, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Funding received: 4,000.00
Purpose: Project: Reel Pride Film Festival, Programming
Date: 2008-2009
- Recipient: Reelout Arts
Project Inc., Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Funding received: $7,000.00
Purpose: Project: Reelout Queer Film & Video Festival, Programming
Date: 2008-2009
- Recipient: Queer City Cinema
Inc, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Funding received: $13,000.00
Purpose: Project: Queer City Cinema 7, Programming
Date: 2008-2009
- Recipient: Inside Out Lesbian
and Gay Film Festival Inc.Funding received - $26,000.00
Date: 2008-2009 Last modified, 2008-02-19
- Recipient: Darren McAllister,
Ontario Canada,
Minister: Hon. Peter MacKayFunding received - $550.00
Purpose: To allow Darren McAllister to present his short film
"Confessions of a Drag Queen" at the Outfest Gay and Lesbian Film
Festival in Los Angeles, California from July 6 to 17, 2006.
Date: 2006- 2007
- Recipient : Michael Mew,
British Columbia, Canada,
Minister: Hon. Peter MacKayFunding received - $900
Purpose: To allow Michael Mew to present his short film "Peking
Turkey" at the London Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in London, United
Kingdom from March 28 to April 6, 2007.
Date:2006-2007
. . . .
REAL
Women of Canada Sends a Strong Protest Against $400,000 Federal
Government Donation to Gay Pride Parade
On
July 13 (2009), REAL Women sent a letter to both Prime Minister Harper and
Minister of Business and Tourism, Diane Ablonczy, expressing its strong
objections to the $400,000 grant given in June to support the Toronto Gay
Pride parade and related activities. The letter said in
part:
"REAL Women of Canada is deeply offended that your government has given
$400,000 of the taxpayers’ money to support the Toronto Gay Pride Parade in
June 2009. According to newspaper
reports, part of this funding was to be directed towards marketing and
programming of the 10-day activity which, according to CTV.ca will “make
sure that these events continue to be competitive on the world stage”.
Why does your government regard this as significant?
"The Gay Pride Parade is well known for its full nudity,
open engagement in public sexual acts and its deliberate disregard of
behaviour acceptable to most sectors of Canadian society. The parade is about
hedonistic exhibitionism and narcissism, promoting a deadly form of sexuality.
The parade is designed to shock and titillate and the week-long
“celebration” has become an excuse for partying, drug use and promiscuity
. . . ."
Here is the complete text of
the letter:
REAL
Women of Canada
“Women
Building a Better Society”
NGO
in SPECIAL consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the
United Nations
The Right Honourable Stephen Harper
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2
Dear Mr. Harper:
Re: Federal funding of
Toronto’s Gay Pride Parade
REAL Women of Canada is deeply offended that your government has given
$400,000 of the taxpayers’ money to support the Toronto Gay Pride Parade in
June 2009. According to newspaper
reports, part of this funding was to be directed towards marketing and
programming of the 10-day activity which, according to CTV.ca will “make sure
that these events continue to be competitive on the world stage”.
Why does your government regard this as significant?
The Gay Pride Parade is well known for its full nudity, open engagement in
public sexual acts and its deliberate disregard of behaviour acceptable to most
sectors of Canadian society. The parade is about hedonistic exhibitionism and
narcissism, promoting a deadly form of sexuality.
The parade is designed to shock and titillate and the week-long
“celebration” has become an excuse for partying, drug use and promiscuity.
To argue that this grant has an economic and tourism benefit is to naively
accept the homosexual propaganda that over a million individuals actually attend
the event. This is not possible
because, if this figure were correct, the crowds would have had to be 80 deep
along the 3.1 kilometer parade route. This
is an absurdity. The crowd density
was, on average 4-6 people deep and the total number of people can be generously
set, at most, at approximately 154,000 persons: far fewer than attend
Toronto’s annual Caribana Parade each August.
It is also highly questionable that the “celebrations” that week
contribute millions to the economy, as alleged, as this figure again appears to
be part of the air of unreality surrounding the event.
There can be no long-term stimulus by giving taxpayers’ money to
homosexual groups. Such individuals
do not make a substantive contribution to society by producing and raising
children – essential for the future of our country.
Instead, their high medical and social costs are not a public benefit.
Canadian families are struggling in these difficult economic times, and a
grant of this magnitude, to promote a hedonistic lifestyle, serves only to
devalue their struggle.
The Conservative government’s decision to contribute to the promotion
and marketing of the Toronto Gay Pride Parade condones the homosexual life
style. It is an indication of your
government’s abandonment of your political base.
A low voter turnout in federal elections is already a concern, and this
grant will only serve to exacerbate this problem for the Conservative
government.
Yours truly,
Cecilia Forsyth
[The
article immediately following is taken
from the homosexual online
publication Xtra.ca .
Apparently pro-homosexuality activists are quite upset about proposals to
have parents’ rights being enshrined in the Alberta Human Rights act. ]
Alberta bill threatens
lessons on gay life
EDUCATION / Queer leaders and teachers unite in
opposition
Kaj Hasselriis . . ./ National / Thursday, May 21, 2009
The Alberta government has proposed a new law that gay
and lesbian leaders say will seriously hamper teachers' ability to raise the
issue of sexual orientation in schools.
"It's a huge step backwards," says
Melissa Luhtanen, president of the Calgary Outlink Centre for Sexual and Gender
Diversity. "It's really going to have an effect on Alberta, where issues
are already hidden."
The Alberta government's Bill 44 proposes to
enshrine the words "sexual orientation" in the province's Human Rights
Act, making it the last jurisdiction in the country to do so. But at the same
time, the bill proposes to allow parents to opt their children out of any
lessons that involve religion, sexual orientation and sexuality.
"It seems they pandered to the rightwing by
bringing in the parental rights clause," says Brendan Van Alstine, a social
worker with the Pride Centre of Edmonton.
Luhtanen, a human rights educator with the
Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre, says that the parental rights clause
opens up a huge can of worms, because the government is proposing to add it to
the Human Rights Act. That means teachers and school administrators could be
hauled before a human rights tribunal if they talk about what some consider
taboo subjects without parents' permission.
"Teachers won't be able to raise things on
an impromptu basis and they won't be able to respond to kids who do,
either," says Laurie Blakeman, a Liberal MLA from Edmonton who is leading
her party's opposition to the bill.
"This clause starts to insert itself into
biology, English literature and other subjects," she says. "It creates
a problem for teachers who don't call a halt to discussions."
According to Luhtanen, it also creates a problem
for teachers who avoid subjects like sexual orientation, especially when kids
are subjected to homophobic bullying. As the mother of a grade one student, she
wants her kid to learn that being gay is okay. "It puts schools between a
rock and a hard place," she says.
For instance, Luhtanen's daughter's teacher encourages
students to bring books to class, to read out loud to their classmates.
Recently, her daughter brought One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dad to class.
Luhtanen fears her daughter's teacher would think twice about reading that book
to her class, if the new bill becomes law.
Organizations that represent Alberta educators
are coming together in opposition to the bill. Already, the Alberta School
Boards Association, the Alberta School Councils' Association, the College of
Alberta School Superintendents and the Alberta Teachers' Association have all
united in anger against the province's Conservative government.
"These are not usually groups who come
together and support each other," says Blakeman. "It's quite
remarkable." . . . .
What makes Luhtanen especially frustrated is that
parents in Alberta already have the authority, under the province's School Act,
to yank their kids out of lessons dealing with sexuality and religion. She
doesn't feel it's necessary to add it to the Human Rights Act, where she doesn't
think it will hold up in court, anyway.
"It will probably be overturned and thrown
out," she says. "But that will take years."
In the meantime, Liberal and NDP opposition
members are campaigning to stop the bill with a petition, an upcoming rally and
proposed amendments. Blakeman says the government's move has caused its own
caucus to become divided between Red Tories, who tend to be fiscally
conservative but socially progressive, and rural MLAs, who preach so-called
family values. . . . .
Commentary:
American Psychological Association Changes Tune on Genetic Nature of
Homosexuality
Commentary by A.
Dean Byrd, Ph.D., MBA, MPH
May 13, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In 1998, the American Psychological
Association (APA) published a brochure titled "Answers to Your Questions
about Sexual Orientation and Homosexuality."
This particular document was ostensibly published to provide definitive answers
about homosexuality. However, few of the assertions made in the brochure could
find any basis in psychological science. Clearly a document anchored more in
activism than in empiricism, the brochure was simply a demonstration of how far
APA had strayed from science, and how much it had capitulated to activism.
The newest APA brochure, which appears to be an update of the older one, is
titled, "Answers to Your Questions for a Better Understanding of Sexual
Orientation & Homosexuality."
Though both brochures have strong activist overtones (both were created with
"editorial assistance from the APA Committee on Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual
Concerns"), the newer document is more reflective of science and more
consistent with the ethicality of psychological care.
Consider the following statement from the first document: "There is
considerable recent evidence to suggest that biology, including genetic or
inborn hormonal factors, play a significant role in a person's sexuality."
That statement was omitted from the current document and replaced with the
following:
"There is no consensus among scientists about the exact reasons that an
individual develops a heterosexual, bisexual, gay or lesbian orientation.
Although much research has examined the possible genetic, hormonal,
developmental, social, and cultural influences on sexual orientation, no
findings have emerged that permit scientists to conclude that sexual orientation
is determined by any particular factor or factors. Many think that nature and
nurture both play complex roles..."
Although there is no mention of the research that influenced this new position
statement, it is clear that efforts to "prove" that homosexuality is
simply a biological fait accompli have failed. The activist researchers
themselves have reluctantly reached that conclusion. There is no gay gene. There
is no simple biological pathway to homosexuality. Byne and Parsons, and Friedman
and Downey, were correct: a bio-psycho-social model best fits the data.
On the question of whether or not therapy can change sexual orientation, the
former document offered a resounding "no." However, the current
document is much more nuanced and contains the following statement: "To
date, there has been no scientifically adequate research to show that therapy
(sometimes called reparative or conversion therapy) is safe or effective."
Of course, no mention is made of the Spitzer research, the Karten research, or
the recent longitudinal research conducted by Jones and Yarhouse -- all of which
support the conclusion that some people can and do change.
Of the Spitzer research, psychologist Dr. Scott Hershberger (who is a
philosophical essentialist on questions of sexual orientation) conducted a
Guttman analysis of the study sample, and declared:
"The orderly, law-like pattern of changes in homosexual behavior,
homosexual self-identification, and homosexual attraction and fantasy observed
in Spitzer's study is strong evidence that reparative therapy can assist
individuals in changing their homosexual orientation to a heterosexual
one."
The Spitzer study found no evidence of harm. Neither did the Karten study, nor
the Jones and Yarhouse study.
For the rest of this commentary please see the website of the National
Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality here:
http://www.narth.com/docs/deemphasizes.html
From an editorial by Paul
Schratz, BC Catholic, May 4, 2009:
Today’s
Scripture, next year’s hatred
When the B.C. NDP calls for the removal
of a Liberal election candidate because of “disturbingly homophobic
comments,” it might be chalked up to politics as usual.
However, when the leading opinion
shapers in the province echo those sentiments, it’s evidence that a sea change
has occurred in terms of public support of homosexuality.
It’s also evidence that it may not be
long before publicly stating elements of our faith becomes not just
uncomfortable, but risky.
Liberal Maple Ridge – Mission
candidate Marc Dalton, a teacher at Pitt Meadows Secondary School, made remarks
about homosexuality in an e-mail 12 years ago.
At the time, the B.C. Teachers
Federation was adopting a policy to eliminate “homophobia and heterosexism”
in the public school system, and Dalton circulated a petition opposing the BCTF
move.
He placed homosexuality in a category
with gambling, abortion, adultery, and pornography as issues that “large
segments of our society” don’t see eye to eye with.
The comments were resurrected during
the current election coverage, and a media fire storm ensued. Dalton apologized
for any pain he had caused and said he “wouldn’t use those words now.”
Those words, however, were enough to
bring calls for his resignation and accusations of hatred against him in radio
programs, letters to the editor, and by newspaper columnists who expressed
dismay that anyone could hold such intolerant views, today or back then.
Dalton made it clear, 12 years ago and
last week, that he believes in respect for others. He clearly distinguished
between homosexuality as a lifestyle he couldn’t support, and homosexual
people, whom he respects.
No matter. The sheer fact that he
didn’t embrace all aspects of homosexuality was sufficient to haul him over
the coals.
The Dalton incident came within days of
a similar uproar at the Miss America contest, when contestant Miss California
Carrie Prejean was asked her views on “gay marriage.”
In a very respectful manner, Prejean
said she couldn’t support such unions because of her personal beliefs.
The reaction to her answer made the
Dalton incident look like a tea party. The audience booed and contest judge
Perez Hilton, known primarily for being a gay blogger, went to the Web and
excoriated her with language leaving no question about what constitutes hate
speech.
Next, a British MP made an on camera
remark about the possibility of Prejean being murdered. Facetious or not, such
remarks, like bomb jokes on an airplane, are distinctly unfunny, and a police
investigation resulted.
So this is where we have arrived.
A decades-long campaign to end hatred and unreasonable discrimination against
homosexuals has morphed past “gay marriage” and into a doctrinaire age that
brooks no criticism of homosexual behaviour. . . . . [Click
here to read the whole of this article.]
In the United States:
[From CitizenLink, May 7, 2009]
Federal Bill Would Add
Pro-Gay Policies to Public Schools
Family advocates are concerned by the so-called Safe Schools Improvement
Act, which was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives this week.
The anti-bullying bill would require many public schools to add special
protections for students based on sexual orientation and gender identity, in
addition to race and religion.
Candi Cushman, education analyst at Focus on the Family Action, said this
bill would force an adult political agenda into schools under the guise of
“safety.”
She said laws that spell out special classes of protection give gay
activists the leverage they need to force schools to host "diversity
trainings" and introduce curriculum promoting homosexuality.
“That’s why the interest groups pushing this bill are so adamant about
getting those special categories included," Cushman said. "They see
them as the tools they need to get what they want.
"So, if we care about maintaining control of our schools and not
exposing our school officials to threats from political activists, then we
should be very concerned about this bill."
GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, applauded the
legislation. . . . .
[Click here
to read the whole article above at its source.]
A
Message with Information Passed on by the Catholic Civil Rights League:
The
following (about the day of silence) is from an
American group, but the ideas may be applicable here.
Sincerely,
Sean Murphy, Director
CCRL Western Region
Liberty
Counsel -
April
16, 2009
Students Have the Right
NOT to Remain Silent on the Day of Silence
www.LC.org
The
annual "Day of Silence," sponsored by the
Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN), will
be promoted tomorrow in many public schools. This
event encourages students to remain silent, by not
texting or responding to anyone, including teachers,
administrators, or students at school. GLSEN claims
the event counteracts bullying, but it is merely
promoting an anti-heterosexual viewpoint. Schools can
teach students the value of respect without accepting
GLSEN’s propaganda event. Many states, like Florida,
for example, have laws that require abstinence-based
education when sexuality is discussed, so the school
cannot recognize the Day of Silence without promoting
abstinence.
Parents
can choose to keep their children home on the Day of
Silence or support their children in a
counter-observance of sexual purity. Liberty Counsel
has a legal memorandum explaining how to protect
schools from being hijacked by GLSEN’s political
agenda. Student conduct causing a substantial
disruption or material interference with school
activities is not protected under the First Amendment.
If a teacher asks a student a question during class,
the student does not have a right to remain silent.
Please
pray that students will be protected from forced
indoctrination by GLSEN, especially next week,
and that the truth will prevail.
Liberty
Counsel is encouraging students to mount a
counter-celebration to promote a positive message of
purity on the Day of Silence. Students are encouraged
to wear white and to distribute flyers promoting
sexual purity whenever other students are permitted to
distribute literature promoting the Day of Silence.
Read
our News
Release for more details.
Read
our Memo
about the Day of Silence.
Please
help inform as many people as possible by
forwarding this Liberty Alert to your entire e-mail
list of family and friends, and encourage them to subscribe.
Liberty
Counsel does not charge clients for representation, so
we depend on individuals, groups and churches who care
about advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of
human life and the traditional family. Liberty Counsel
is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt
organization that accepts tax-deductible donations. Donate
or order resources from the Liberty
Counsel online store.
Mathew D. Staver - Founder
and Chairman
Anita
L. Staver - President
Liberty
Counsel - 1-800-671-1776
PO
Box 540774 - Orlando, FL 32854
Catholic League
President Urges Congress: Don't Let "Hate Crimes" Chill Religious Free
Speech
Conservatives concerned that bill fails to define "sexual orientation"
By Kathleen Gilbert
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 7, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Catholic League President
Bill Donohue issued an open letter yesterday to the U.S. Senate urging
legislators to include protection for religious leaders preaching against
homosexuality in the newly-introduced "hate crimes" legislation.
Donohue added his voice to criticism from other conservative leaders who warn
that the measure's current form threatens to chill free speech and give special
protection to all forms of sexual deviancy including pedophilia, voyeurism, and
exhibitionism.
A version of the bill passed the House last week 249-175.
"The driving force behind the Matthew Shepherd Hate Crimes Prevention
Act is the desire to provide additional penalties to criminals who assault
homosexuals because of their sexual orientation," wrote Donohue, referring
to the legislation recently introduced by Senators Edward Kennedy and Patrick
Leahy.
Setting aside the "propriety of hate crimes legislation in
general," Donohue said, "the central problem with this bill is its
chilling effect on religious speech."
"To be specific, the bill would criminalize religious speech that was
critical of homosexuality if it were linked to a crime against a gay
person." he continued. "How do I know this? Because when the
bill was considered in the House, that is exactly what Rep. Louie Gohmert was
told when he raised this issue.
"While assaulting anyone, independent of sexual orientation, is rightly
considered a criminal offense, the prospect of criminalizing religious speech
that proscribes certain sexual practices is beyond worrisome-it is downright
dangerous."
Donohue pointed out that the bill's potential to chill free speech among
clergy addressing sinful behavior "flies in the face of the spirit of the
First Amendment."
"Surely there are ways to protect homosexuals from being singled out by
anti-gay thugs without trespassing on the constitutional rights of priests,
ministers, rabbis, imams and others," he wrote. The Catholic League
president concluded by urging the Senate to include an amendment to the bill
that would protect the speech rights of religious leaders.
Earlier in the debate Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-Tex.) also voiced a concern
shared by many conservatives, that the term "sexual orientation"
remains undefined in the bill, which he says opens the legislation up to a broad
interpretation. While there exists in law a strict definition of sexual
orientation, Gohmert objected, "there is nothing in this bill that
references the definitions in the Hate Crimes Statistical Act…it's not there.
We asked that it be added so we could get a specific definition. It is not
there."
Gohmert claimed that the lack of a definition left only "the plain
meaning" of the term "sexual orientation," which he says could
include "anything to which someone is orientated" - essentially
protecting all forms of sexual aberration.
The Family Research Council is sponsoring a petition against the federal hate
crimes bill (go to: http://www.fighthatecrimes.com/).
Capitol Hill switchboard:
202-224-3121
To find your U.S. representative:
http://www.congress.org
U.K. Teaches 11-Year-Olds
about Homosexuality;
San Francisco Schools Launch Pro-Gay Web Site
British schools will be required to teach children as young as 11 about
same-sex relationships, following a six-month review of the current
sex-education curriculum.
Secondary schools will teach about contraception and sexually transmitted
infections, The Times of London reported. The changes come after
decades of campaigning by so-called sexual-health organizations.
“We can take a lesson from what’s happening in British schools because
the very same trends are mirrored in our own nation’s public school
system," said Candi Cushman, education analyst at Focus on the Family
Action.
She pointed to a San Francisco Unified School District Web site dedicated
to the gay agenda — including curriculum for elementary classrooms.
"A taxpayer-funded school district now has an entire division
dedicated to promoting homosexuality,” Cushman said. “And the Web site
makes a point of stating that parents will NOT be notified when homosexuality
and transgenderism are discussed with their children."
Cushman said it's time for parents to make their voices heard in their
children's schools, rather than standing by while their schools are taken over
by adult political agendas. . . . .
— Jennifer Mesko
Want
to Know How the British Columbia Teachers' Federation Advises Teachers to Deal
with Parents who Object to the Pro-Homosexuality Program?
The
BCTF has a web-page entitled "Objections to Antihomophobia Curriculum in
Schools." A list of suggestions follows the sentence "Here are
some quick responses for educators when talking to parents." Here is
a sampling of parental statements under various headings and suggested responses
to them (as downloaded April 26, 2009):
"Parent Rights"
"This is against our rights as parents to teach our own set of family
values."
- As teachers, we do not condone children being removed from our classes
when we teach about Aboriginal people, people of colour, people with
disabilities, or gays and lesbians.
- You can teach your child your own values at home. Public schools teach
everyone about respecting diversity and valuing everyone.
Religion and Cultural Objections
"This is against our religion/culture."
- As teachers, we do not condone children being removed from our classes
when we engage in antiracism education. This issue is no different.
- All children, including yours, have a right to an education free from
discrimination.
Sexuality
"It's recruitment or teaching about sex!”"
- Antihomophobia education at the elementary level does not include
discussion about sex or sexual practices.
- Secondary students need accurate information about relationships and safe
sex. Lack of information can have tragic consequences for youth.
Age Appropriateness
"My child is too young for this topic!”"
- All families deserve to be represented in the curriculum. The mandatory
provincial curriculum includes diverse family structures.
- It is our job as educators to teach accurate, up-to-date information to
every child, including yours.
To read the complete list of suggestions, go to http://bctf.ca/SocialJustice.aspx?id=10394
.
“Gay
and Lesbian Educators” Resource (Listed by Government for Social Justice
Twelve Course) Peddles Propaganda in the Name of Education
(a
brief review of the 2004 edition of Challenging Homophobia in Schools)
The
Gay and Lesbian Educators handbook entitled Challenging Homophobia in Schools
has now acquired additional importance, since it is listed by the British
Columbia Ministry of Education as a resource for the Social Justice Twelve
course instituted as a result of the Corren Agreement.
Some
years ago we had an opportunity to review the first (2000) edition.
Looking over the second (2004) edition, one notes some changes.
The second edition does not have an introductory commendation by Svend
Robinson, though he is acknowledged in the later edition as having had a part in
the development and production of the first.
No doubt there are other changes.
But what characterized the first edition also characterizes the second:
a lack of scholarship in a book being promoted as an educational
resource, and propaganda masquerading as education.
Once
again, for example, there is a list headed “Famous Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender Persons.” Among
those listed is “Augustine (Saint) – (354 – 430) English Roman Catholic
Bishop, Religious Writer.” (For some reason, almost all nouns in the list are
capitalized.) (Probably the handbook
authors picked up on something Augustine of Hippo wrote in his Confessions regarding
his life before conversion, and confused him with the Augustine who was a
missionary to the Anglo- Saxons.)
Also
included in the list is David, who is described as “Israeli King, Biblical
Lover of Jonathan.” The lack
of evidence for the assertion regarding David may be an indication of a similar
carelessness regarding the truth in the selection of many of the other names on
the quite extensive list. Also
listed are William Shakespeare, Leonardo da Vinci, and Popes Benedict IX, John
XII, Julius III, Leo X, Paul II, and Sixtus IV.
No
specific references are given for the particular people listed, though sources
are given at the end of the list. These
sources include a work called Outstanding Lives:
Profiles of Lesbians and Gay Men (M. Bronski, editor) and Who’s
Who & Who’s Gay—Alphabetical Listing (Internet, December, 1997);
also The Unofficial Gay Manual (Dilallo,
Kevin & Jack Krumholtz).
It
would appear that the authors of Challenging Homophobia in Schools have
left few stones unturned in the attempt to carry out their avowed aim of
creating a “K to 12 resource .
. . to aid in the support of,
and education about Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender youth and
families.” (title page).
One needs to examine the book as a whole to get the full impact of the
authors’ intentions. All we can do
is give examples illustrative of those intentions and the authors’ methods.
In
the “Background” section of this work, pages 49 – 56, is a chart entitled
“The Impact of Systemic Oppression.” In
this chart, under the heading “Institution” are listed the sub-headings
“Social System, Values and Beliefs,” “Family,” “Education,”
“Religion,” “Legal,”
“Health," “Economics,” and “Media.”
Opposite “Religion,” in a column headed “Homophobia and
Heterosexism,” is written “-only
heterosexual unions acknowledged by most religions” –an apparent reference
to the teaching that marriage is a male-female union.
Challenging Homophobia in Schools is
indeed intended for the whole range of grade-school.
For example, an outlined lesson on “Celebrating Same-Gender Families”
(“Lessons,” pp. 11-12) is intended for Kindergarten to Grade 3.
The teacher following the lesson plan will read his or her class the
books One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dads and
ABC—A Family Alphabet Book. Among
the suggested activities connected with the lesson is the following:
“Ask your students to think of things that they like to do with their
mom(s) or dad(s). Generate a class
list together. Have them imagine
double these good times if they had two moms or two dads.”
(The mathematics seems a bit odd here.)
A
lesson for students in Grades 8 to 12 is entitled “Queerly Canadian Role
Models” (Lessons, pp. 63-66).
Associated with this is a sheet of “Queerly Canadian Identity Cards,”
featuring the names of such luminaries as Libby Davies, James Chamberlain and
Murray Warren, and Svend Robinson.
The
examples given in this article do not enable a full analysis, but convey some of
the flavour of this handbook. What
is needed is ongoing research by a group of people to determine the nature of
the resources listed by the Ministry of Education as the effects of the Corren
Agreement work their way through the curricula of many subjects as new courses
are introduced and existing ones are revised.
What is also needed is a concerted effort to recommend educational
resources that will indeed educate rather than propagandize; that will meet the
undoubted needs of a generation of children and young people who can only suffer
confusion from the flood of inaccurate information and biased expression of
opinion which is being let loose upon them.
For an extensive analysis of
the first edition of Challenging Homophobia
in Schools, see Challenging Homophobia
in Schools: A Critical Review by Chris Kempling,
M.Ed., M.A., R.C.C., reproduced at the end of this page.
NEWS
RELEASE [from Kari Simpson]
For
immediate release March 16, 2009
Kari Simpson seeks human rights
ruling against BC
government, BCTF and
Murray
Corren
VANCOUVER
, March 16, 2009 — Kari
Simpson, well-known social activist and host of RoadKill Radio.com today
filed a complaint with the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal against the B.C. Ministry
of Education, the B.C. Teachers’ Federation and Murray Corren for
discriminating against those who suffer from homosexuality and other
dysfunctional sexual orientations, by failing to provide needed services,
including psychological help. “This complaint is about helping the
hurting” says Simpson.
In her complaint Simpson states: “The B.C. Ministry of Education has failed to
provide funding and access to relevant counseling strategies within the public
education system for B.C. students suffering from sexual identity disorders and
crisis.
“Sexual re-orientation therapies have helped thousands of individuals to
recover from such dysfunctional orientations. It is common and accepted
knowledge that sexual identity confusion is often the result of childhood trauma
and/or family dysfunction. B.C. students should not be denied access to
effective psychological help for such conditions.
“School
counselors are being denied the tools to be effective advocates for students in
need of sexual re-orientation help, and they should have access to resources and
training that will equip them to properly counsel students.”
Ms.
Simpson continues: “The B.C. Teachers’ Federation blatantly continues to
actively discriminate against students within the B.C. public education system
by publishing, promoting and adhering to a policy that denies students important
psychological help. BCTF Policy 12.25 states that the BCTF is opposed to:
“(a)
using and/or promoting reparative therapies aimed at
changing
lesbian, gay or bisexual students’ sexual orientation; and
“(b)
referring students to therapists who promote and practice reparative therapy.”
Murray
Corren recently published (December 9, 2008) this discriminatory statement on a
blog in the Vancouver Sun. He states (under “Your Comments”):
“One would hope, of course, that the kind of counselling being offered to
students as regards sexual orientation would be supportive, and not intended to
‘cure’ LGBT students. The BCTF has policy which specifically prohibits
school counselors from employing ‘reparative therapy’ or referring students
for such treatment.”
Simpson
goes on to advise the BCHRT that: “The situation is on-going. The
Ministry of Education does not provide training or funding to school counselors
to effectively help students suffering from dysfunctional sexual orientations
whose origins are founded in, or in part result from family dysfunction, trauma
and child sexual abuse.
“The
BCFT policy discriminates against these students, who need psychological help,
by publishing and promoting opposition to such therapy, based on an antiquated
and propagandistic view of homosexuality.
“Teachers and counselors should have access to scientific and proven
therapies, and should not be ignorant about issues relating to the origins of
homosexuality.
“Murray
Corren is a gay propagandist, and he is provably aware of some of the factors
associated with the origins and factors that contribute to homosexuality; he has
admitted that his own childhood experiences compare to identifiers that are
common to the family dysfunctions associated with dysfunctional homosexuality.
Murray Corren should be prohibited from discriminating against others who are in
need of help.”
The
remedies Kari Simpson is asking for:
1.
That the B.C.
Ministry of Education provides funding in the amount of $20,000.00 to a 7-member
committee, with Kari Simpson as Chair. Other members to include: two
mental health professionals associated with and recognized by NARTH (the
National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality), two
parents, a school counselor, and a teacher. This committee will develop a
resource guide for school counselors and educators to facilitate a scientific
and therapeutic understanding of the issues involved in homosexuality, instead
of relying on the gay propaganda that ignores the facts and simply perpetrates
the myths associated with ‘gay’ politics and political privilege.
2.
Further —
this guide will provide a list of agencies and other resources, to ensure that
students needing psychological help will not be denied.
3.
Further —
On-going funding in the amount of $10,000.00 each year to ensure that current
training is received and developed within the BC public education system, to
help students in need of psychological care associated with sexuality identity
confusion and dysfunctional homosexuality.
4.
Further —
that the BCTF forthwith rescind its policy of opposing re-orientation therapy
for those suffering from a dysfunctional sexual orientation.
5.
Further —
that Murray Warren make a public apology for his socially unjust and harmful
comments, and receive sensitivity training; and that he further be made to pay
$5000.00 to Kari Simpson for the harm and hurt he has inflicted on those
suffering and needing help. Kari Simpson, on behalf of those discriminated
against, will use the $5000.00 to purchase important resources for teachers,
schools and public libraries that factually debunk the myth and propaganda about
gender identity confusion.
When
asked by the BCHRT why she is making this complaint, Kari Simpson states:
“It’s
to ensure those who are suffering from dysfunctional homosexuality and/or sexual
identity confusion and/or other psychologically problematic sexual orientations
are not denied help by those who, because of their sexual politics, seek to
selfishly, hatefully and ignorantly discriminate against a group of people who
would benefit from re-orientation therapy.”
-end-
contact
Kari Simpson (604) 514-1614
More
information about this complaint can be heard on Tuesday, March 17, 2009 at 7:30
pm (PST) at www.roadkillradio.com
British
Columbia Teachers' Federation Promotes Day of Silence in BC Schools.
Parents for Democracy in Education Calls on Parents to Keep Students Home April
17th [2009]
On
April 17th, 2009, parents in some schools in British Columbia may expect that
the "Day of Silence" will be promoted and recognized.
"The BCTF supports provincial student and teacher participation in the Day
of Silence project," we are informed on the BCTF website:
What is the "Day of Silence"? Well, the "Gay, Lesbian, and
Straight Education Network" describes
it in the following terms:
The
Day of Silence, a project of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network
(GLSEN), is a student-led day of action when
concerned students, from middle school to college, take
some form of a vow of silence to bring attention to the name-calling, bullying
and
harassment -- in effect, the silencing -- experienced
by LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) students and their allies.
The day provides a ready
opportunity to engage students in the work of propagandizing their
fellow-students. Of course name-calling, bullying and harassment should
not be endured by any students, but by exclusively singling out students who
self-identify as lesbian, gan, bisexual, and transgendered, sympathy for the
pro-homosexual caused is generated, and this sympathy is used to promote
homosexual behaviour as nomal and acceptable, against the beliefs of parents of
traditional moral beliefs.
Parents for Democracy in
Education, a British Columbia organization, is calling on parents to iwthdraw
their children from schools where the "Day of Silence" is being
recognized. A newsletter issued by the group states:
Parents for Democracy in Education is joining a national coalition of pro-family
organizations urging parents to pull their children out of school
April 17.
That’s the day designated for this year’s ‘Day of Silence’, when students
and/or teachers will purposely remain silent during instructional time to
protest so-called discrimination, and to gain sympathy for those who identify
as homosexual or transgender.
(In some schools, e.g. in Victoria, the ‘Day of Silence’ is being observed
April 11 or 18.)
The ‘Day of Silence’ is now a yearly event sponsored by the partisan
political action group, Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network
(GLSEN) and by Gay-Straight Alliance Clubs (GSAs). The purpose is to
intimidate those who believe homosexuality is immoral.
It is the belief of the sponsors of the Student Walkout that parents should no
longer passively accept this political usurpation of taxpayer-funded public
school classrooms.
‘Day of Silence’ organizers demand that teachers either create activities
around or exempt silent students from any activity that involves speaking.
DoS participants have a captive audience, many of whom disagree with and
are made uncomfortable by the politicization of their classroom.
The BC Teachers’ Federation endorses the DoS in BC; many universities
and schools across Canada participated last year.
Laurie Higgins of the Illinois Family Institute explains, “While it is
appropriate to teach students that tolerance requires that society should treat
everyone with civility, it is not appropriate to teach that tolerance requires
students to accept the view that homosexual conduct is moral.”
Higgins further emphasizes: “The worthy end of eliminating harassment
does not justify the means of exploiting instructional time.”
. . . .
Parents are encouraged to call their children’s schools to ask whether the
administration and/or teachers intend to permit students to remain silent
during class on the Day of Silence. If so, parents can express their opposition
by pulling their children out of school on that day, and sending letters of
explanation to their administrators, their children’s teachers, and all school
board members. . . . .
The "Day of Slence" is only one of the progams and events promoted by the BC Teachers' Federation which readily lends itself to pro-homosexuality indoctrination.
It promoted "Think Pink Day," held on Febraury 25th of this year. It is promoting a "Week Against Homophobia" from May 11th to 15th, and the "" "International Day
Against Homophobia," to be held on May 17th. In addition, the BC Teachers' Federation is active in promoting Gay-Straight Alliances, and--through the provision of
various teaching resources--the positive portrayal of homosexuality in classroom teaching in the province.
[The following news release, which we have slightly
abridged, is most revealing for what it says about the plans of the
pro-homosexuality activists who are using "social justice" to promote
their agenda. --Editor of this website]
NEWS RELEASE
FEB. 25, 2009
Parents for
Democracy in Education
BCTF
‘Social Justice’ conference at UFV told
teachers
how to manipulate student attitudes
by Ron Gray
Feb. 20 and
21, I attended the first “Social Justice conference” staged by the BC
Teachers’ Federation at University of the Fraser Valley in Abbotford.
It was an eye-opener!
Although the
stated purpose of the conference was to show teachers how to approach the Social
Justice 12 curriculum adopted under BC’s Corren Settlement Agreement, an
underlying purpose was clearly revealed by a graphic of a staircase, distributed
by the BCTF in its information packages: the goal is to move students’
attitude towards LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and questioning)
people beyond “tolerance” to “acceptance”—and then further along to
“support,” “admiration,” “appreciation” and finally “celebration”
of deviant sexuality.
Most
Canadians have never seen what constitutes “celebration” of homosexuality;
but our big cities’ annual “Gay Pride” parades clearly show the reality:
public nudity (partial and/or total), simulated fornication,
lasciviousness—and open mockery of traditional morality.
This exposure
of the BCTF’s real goal—to manipulate the attitudes of students until the
“Prescribed Learning Outcome” of celebration is attained—reveals
that the teachers’ union is actually in violation of its own code of ethics,
which forbids using the classroom for indoctrination.
What has
given the BCTF this extraordinary power to manipulate the attitudes of BC’s
children? The cowardice of a pusillanimous government, and especially of two
cabinet ministers—Education Minister Shirley Bond and Attorney-General Wally
Oppal—who reached a secret agreement with two homosexual activists without
ever allowing debate in the Legislature.
Those same
ministers have consistently resisted efforts by parents’ groups to have a
countervailing voice in the education of their children on sensitive topics.
This BCTF
conference similarly lacked any opportunity for input from parents who want to
resist manipulation of their children’s curriculum to make acceptance of
homosexuality a goal.
The February
conference was the first of four planned to train BC teachers how to implement
the Correns’ ‘Social Justice 12’ curriculum. It did not deal with
the companion—and more radical—teacher’s guide Making Space, Giving
Voice, which the Correns were able to force on a supine Ministry of
Education. Making Space, Giving Voice instructs teachers how to make
every subject, at every level from Kindergarten to Grade 12, ‘gay’-friendly.
In one
workshop, a teacher suggested that if a student says his or her parents
disapprove of homosexual behaviour, he (the teacher) deflects the comment by
saying, “Well, different people have different ideas about sex.”
“That
won’t accomplish the kind of change we need,” said . . . . a professor in the Department of Social, Cultural and
Media Studies at UFV. “Students feel silenced by that kind of comment. ‘What
does everybody think?’ is a bigoted comment. We need to decide who we
want silenced.”
So such
students are to be told that their parents’ ideas are wrong. Perhaps not all
parents: Prof. Dow repeatedly identified “Evangelicals and Fundamentalists”
as the perceived problem.
That theme
recurred in several sessions. The
result of the BCTF’s unilateral advocacy that “gay is good” can only be to
drive a wedge between children and their parents. And the long-term social
result of that alienation would be worse than the problems they are trying to
correct.
However, the
BCTF apparently operates on the assumption that they are in possession of an
absolute truth—even though peer-reviewed science has discredited every claim
of discovery of a “gay gene”; and even though medical studies indicate that
homosexual behaviour shortens life expectancy dramatically. To “true
believers” in the BCTF dogma, such facts are apparently irrelevant.
Their
position is essentially religious—a fact that was vividly highlighted by a
teacher who said in a Friday workshop, “I don’t think I can teach this
without being converted.”
The
conference was lamentably short on factual information—but presenters were
quite willing to reiterate falsehoods, like the “10 percent myth”, based on
the discredited 1948 and 1953 Reports of self-styled “sexologist”
Alfred Kinsey. (Kinsey alleged that 10 percent of the population is homosexual; however the 2003 Canadian Community Health Survey
showed that only one percent of the population identify themselves as
homosexual.)
Dr. Judith
Reisman, in her book Kinsey: Crimes and Consequences, revealed that
Kinsey’s “research” included criminal sexual abuse of infants, and that a
substantial part of his survey population was drawn from prison inmates and
‘gay’ bars—but they were represented by Kinsey as typical of the whole
population. Kinsey himself was a homosexual who died from orchitis, an
inflammation of the testes often caused by excessive sexual self-abuse.
.
. . .
The
conference was not without merit: participating teachers were given some useful
tips on correcting students who use slurs or bully other students.
But the
underlying theme—BCTF’s absolute certainty that only their pro-‘gay’
dogma is correct, and they have the right to impose it on BC’s children
because “we’re professional educators”—was terrifying: such use of
government power to compel conformity is the very essence of fascism.
(945 words)
Ron Gray is a
former journalist (Vancouver Sun, Chilliwack Progress, BC Report, Fiji Times,
Richmond Review) and was a member of the founding administration of Fraser
Valley College, the forerunner of University of the Fraser Valley. He is
currently Vice-President of Parents for Democracy in Education.
Contact:
Ron Gray,
(604) 534-3319
From a Mass Ressistance, Dec. 28, 2008 e-mail
From
latest GLBT Youth Commission meeting: Massachusetts Dept. of Public Health
funding homosexual / transgender movement in schools - to make up for budget cuts!
The madness continues. The
Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) is giving full support to the
homosexual / transgender movement in Massachusetts schools, according to DPH
Commissioner John Auerbach (who is "married" to another man).
The DPH has given $150,000 of its budgeted money to the Massachusetts
Commission on Gay Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) Youth to
make up for the $150,000 which the Governor cut from the Commission's
$850,000 budget in October because of the massive budget crisis in
Massachusetts. In other words, money which was meant for public health is
now being diverted by the DPH to homosexual programs in the schools.
The Mass. Dept. of Public Health will also begin pushing acceptance of
"transgenderism" and will even begin bringing transgender
people into its leadership roles.
(Ironically, less than a month ago the DPH issued a report linking
homosexuality with health problems and destructive behavior.)
This was all revealed at the public meeting of the Mass. GLBT Youth
Commission last Monday evening, Dec. 15.
The article immediately following, from a
Vancouver, British Columbia, publication by and for homosexuals, illustrates
better than anthing else we have seen, how, under cover of the concept of
"tolerance" (one that can be a noble word in its meaning in our
society), pro-homosexuality indoctrination can take place and is taking place in
our schoools. Sections and words bold-faced have been marked for
emphasis by the editor of this BC Parents and Teachers for Life website.
For anyone not fully convinced of the importance of our confronting the
pro-homosexuality program in the schools, this article is a must-read.
[From XtraWest online]
From tolerance to celebration
EDUCATION / The making of a
gay-friendly elementary school
Patti Shales Lefkos / Vancouver /
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Five and a half years
ago, I became principal of the West End's Lord Roberts Elementary School and its
annex. I was ecstatic.
Lord Roberts on Bidwell St has all of the elements I love in a school community:
a multicultural population, inner-city funding and programs, bright students,
involved parents with high expectations and a dedicated, diverse staff. However,
having spent a week at the school in April 1998, I harboured no illusion that I
was in for an easy ride.
First, there was the story of the rainbow flag. To celebrate the opening of the
school's new playground, the principal who preceded me ordered several flags.
Unwittingly, one of them was a rainbow flag.
A few hours after it was raised there was an uproar in the parent community and
a Grade 7 student started a petition to remove it. Due to parental pressure the
flag was taken down.
Then there was the story of the photo exhibit called All Kinds of Families. For
one week, photos were displayed in the main hall depicting families of various
ethnic backgrounds, single parents, and same-sex parents. Parents raised
concerns yet again.
Staff decided to tackle the issue head-on. That's when I made my entrance.
We began with a two-day staff retreat featuring presentations by the Gay and
Lesbian Educators of BC (GALE). We decided each teacher would lead a class
meeting to discuss name-calling. If students did not bring up homophobic names,
the teacher would. So began our journey from tolerance to celebration.
That fall, we developed a Code of Behaviour for the school. While it did not
directly address sexual orientation, it did highlight respect for all people and
the importance of honouring diversity. This allowed staff to begin classroom
discussions around the question of what constitutes diversity and to take
those discussions beyond race into sexuality and family composition.
Having facilitated the development of a Code of Behaviour in three other
schools, I knew the process was as important as the product. The involvement of
students, staff and parents is crucial, as is the ritual of yearly review,
editing and recommitment.
In the last few years, our September Signing Ceremony has evolved into a joyous
celebration. Students, staff and parent representatives sign the Code each fall
in a school assembly to indicate their commitment to its stated values for the
coming year.
The assembly ends with staff members presenting an energetic dance to "We
Are Family" which invariably causes a barely contained riot of student
applause.
It is obvious to students that staff care for and respect each other and have
fun working together. The Code is illustrated by the Respect Mural on the gym
wall facing Bidwell St, which provides a daily reminder to all.
In order to gauge the Code's success, we then designed a Respect Rubric (one of
those charts with the word "respect" spelled out down the left side
and attributes beginning with each letter described and assessed on the right).
Teachers and parents use the rubric each term to evaluate student growth in
social responsibility. Students use it as a self-evaluation tool.
We also made it school-wide policy to include anti-homophobia lessons within
discussions of diversity at all grade levels, starting in Kindergarten. Picture
books depicting all kinds of families provide an effective way to broach the
topic in the primary grades.
. . . .
Recently, Lord Roberts celebrated Pride Week, planned by the newly formed
school Pride Committee, a group of gay and straight staff members. "You Can
Be Anyone You Want to Be" by the Flirtations was played over the public
address system, the rainbow flag was raised in the playground, open classroom
discussions took place without giggles, and anti-homophobia posters featuring a
gay staff member and his partner were displayed. There were no complaints from
students, parents, or community.
We have come a long way at Lord Roberts. Both gay and straight staff members now
feel it is a gay-friendly school. All our gay and lesbian staff are out to
colleagues and most are now out to students and parents, as well.
Though diversity is a part of every community, I feel that directly addressing
homophobia is especially crucial in a West End school if we are to truly honour
all members of our local community.
I commend the ongoing leadership of gay and straight staff and parents that has
brought us to this point. It is my privilege to have been part of the continuing
journey from tolerance to celebration.
There have been bumps in the road. There may be more to come.
The Vancouver School Board's anti-homophobia policy provided me with welcome
ammunition to back up my personal beliefs when addressing parent concerns. The
government's new Grade 12 elective Social Justice course is another positive
initiative that will hopefully be chosen by future leaders.
. . . . I
Patti Shales Lefkos was
principal of Lord Roberts Elementary School and Lord Roberts Annex for the past
five and a half years. She retired in December 2005 after 36 years in education.
School
holds surprise 'Gay' Day for kindergartners
Parents
outraged at public elementary's secretive 'coming out' event
October
22, 2008
By Chelsea Schilling [from WorldNetDaily]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Some parents are shocked to find
their children are learning to be homosexual allies and will participate in
"Coming Out Day" at a public elementary school tomorrow – and they
claim the school failed
to notify parents.
One mother of a kindergartner who attends Faith Ringgold
School of Art and Science, a K-8 charter school in Hayward, Calif., said she
asked her 5-year-old daughter what she was learning at school.
The little girl replied, "We're learning to be
allies."
The mother also said a Gay Straight Alliance club regularly
meets in the kindergarten classroom during lunch.
According to a Pacific
Justice Institute report, Faith Ringgold opted not to inform the parents of
its pro-homosexual activities beforehand. The school is celebrating "Gay
and Lesbian History
Month" and is in the process of observing "Ally Week," a
pro-"gay" occasion usually geared toward high school students.
The school is scheduled to host discussions about families
and has posted fliers on school grounds portraying only homosexuals. According
to the report, a "TransAction Gender-Bender Read-Aloud" will take
place Nov. 20. Students will listen to traditional stories with "gay"
or transgender twists, to include "Jane and the Beanstalk."
[Click
here to read the rest of this WorldNetDaily article]
An
Analysis of Some Aspects of the Social Justice Twelve Course
as approved by the British Columbia Ministry of Education
The Social Justice Twelve Course is one striking
illustration of the Education Ministry’s lack of positive response to the
concerns so many have expressed about the Corren Settlement Agreement and its
results.
In the first place, this unresponsiveness was shown in the way in which the
draft curriculum for the new Social Justice Twelve course was released.The
Settlement Agreement with the Correns1 states: “Prior to release of
the Social Justice 12 Response Draft for public review and response, the
Respondent [the Ministry] will provide the Complainants [the Correns] with a
draft of the sexual orientation/gender identity portion for their review, and
will make revisions as appropriate in light of the comments received. The
Complainants may consult experts, on a confidential basis, to assist them in
providing such comment.” We note the fact that this consultation with the
Correns was to take place before the draft course was released to the general
public. (Settlement Agreement, Section 3A)
Though a pilot version of the new course was to be completed on or before
June 30, 2007, the draft program or draft “Integrated Resource Package”
(IRP) for the course was withheld from public review till August 1, 2007.
This was in spite of the fact that the draft course was to be used as a
pilot course the next month. This
late release in the summer of 2007 meant that already in September of 2007 some
students would be exposed to this course before those who might be critical of
the course had a proper chance to review it and ask for changes.
When we looked at the draft course, the first startling fact we noted was that
it failed to include information on recommended learning resources for the
course. In fact, we were
told that these would not be available until the final publication of the IRP.
In other words, the general public had no input into the selection of
recommended learning resources, in contrast of course to the role of the
Correns. Since the nature of
recommended learning resources can, to a large extent, determine the nature of
the course, this means that the
general public was excluded from providing input regarding a very important
aspect of the course.
An examination of the approved Social Justice 12 course now published reveals
that grave concerns about the course which were expressed following the release
of the draft course are still justified.
It may be important to note that this is an elective course so far, but this
does not mean that we should be unconcerned about it.
The nature of the course, as we shall see, is such that it lends itself
readily to the introduction of propaganda, and this indoctrination could create
a cadre of student activists who in
turn could influence a whole school.
Under “Considerations for Program Delivery,” on
page 16 of the approved IRP for Social Justice 12, we read this curious
sentence: “Ensure
students are aware that their parents may have access to the schoolwork they
create only insofar as it pertains to students’ progress.”
We cannot help but wonder, "What does this mean?"
Does this mean that certain assignments (given though not counted for
assessment) are to be kept secret from parents?
If so, what type of assignments would they be?
On page 21 of the approved IRP, under “Prescribed Learning Outcomes,” we
read: “Prescribed learning
outcomes are content standards for the provincial education system; they are
the prescribed curriculum. Clearly
stated and expressed in measurable and observable terms, Prescribed Learning
Outcomes set out the required attitudes, skills, and knowledge – what students
are expected to know and be able to do – by the end of the specified
course.” We should note that
not only are measurable and observable skills and knowledge prescribed, but
attitudes as well. Students, then,
are expected to have certain attitudes. What
attitudes are these, and what are the consequences for those students who fail
to develop them and thus fail in this respect to have the prescribed learning
outcomes?
Under
“Student Achievement: Key Elements,” in the subsection
“Defining Social Justice, “ the following is given in the set of
indicators which may be used to assess student achievement:
“Students who have fully met the Prescribed Learning Outcomes are able
to identify and define a range of concepts and terms of social justice
(e.g., ableism, ageism, anthropocentrism, colonialism, consumerism, cultural
imperialism, dignity, discrimination, diversity, economic imperialism, economic
liberalization, empowerment, equality, equity, ethics, extremism, fairness,
feminism, fundamentalism, genocide, globalization, hate crime, hegemony,
heterosexism, homophobia, human rights, humanitarianism, humility, inclusion,
individual responsibility, marginalization, misogyny, oppression, peace,
persecution, power, prejudice, privilege, racism, sexism, speciesism,
stereotype, stewardship, systemic, transformational leadership, truth, value,
worth.)” (p. 34)
It is
worthwhile to examine the definition of these terms in the “Glossary”
which accompanies this
curriculum (on pages 49-54). (There was no glossary in
the draft version of Social Justice 12.) According
to this glossary, “diversity refers to
the ways in which people within a society differ from each other.
Some of these differences may be visible (e.g., race, ethnicity, sex,
age, ability), while others are less visible (e.g., culture, ancestry, language,
religious beliefs, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background).
Honouring diversity is based on the principle that, if these differences
are acknowledged and utilized in a positive way, it is of benefit to the quality
of life for all in society.”
We
would agree that many differences can be “acknowledged and utilized in a
positive way,” but there is surely a danger in not recognizing that some
characteristics may actually be harmful and not capable of being so utilized.
In the definition of “homophobia” we read that homophobia is:
“a
fear, dislike, or hatred of homosexuality or homosexuals, or of people or
behaviours perceived to be homosexual.” We
are further informed that “Homophobia
manifests itself as prejudice, discrimination, harassment, and/or acts of
violence. Homophobia can exist at personal, institutional, and societal levels.
Also transphobia: fear, dislike, or hatred of transgendered or transsexual
people. See also heterosexism.”
Here we have adopted the usual stereotype used by pro-homosexuality
activists that those disliking homosexuality will demonstrate “prejudice,
discrimination, harassment, and/or acts of violence.”
“Heterosexism” is defined as “the assumption that heterosexual
orientation is better than other sexual orientations and therefore deserving of
public acceptance and legal privilege.”
The
term “two-spirited” is listed as “a modern term for a traditional
North American Aboriginal concept implying a masculine spirit and a feminine
spirit in the same body. Two-spirited individuals were found in many, if not
most, pre-contact Aboriginal communities, and played important societal roles
within communities. There are terms for these individuals in the various North
American Aboriginal languages, and their social function varied from nation to
nation. In present-day parlance, two-spirited is also used to refer to gay,
lesbian, and bisexual Aboriginal people.”
(The
authority for the statements about pre-contact aboriginal communities is not
given.)
It is only
fair to say that many of the other definitions in the glossary are
unobjectionable. When matters of
sexual orientation are defined, however, we can see the distorting influence of
the Corren Agreement.
Under
the heading “Recognizing and
Analysing Social Injustice” (p. 40), a suggested achievement indicator is that
students should be able to “apply
principles of social justice to analyse specific historical and contemporary
examples of injustice in Canada related to . . . people
who are LGBT (e.g., criminalization, institutionalization, marriage, adoption,
employment discrimination, spousal rights, immigration, censorship, hate crimes,
school safety).” Here
it becomes obvious that the until-recent limitation of the official use of the
term “marriage” to male-female unions is to be regarded as an injustice, as
is the denial of adoption rights to homosexuals.
Will students be expected to also regard as unjust, religious teachings
which limit marriage to the union of man and woman?
In
the subsection on “Recognizing and Analyzing Injustice” (pp. 24-25), we are
told that one of the prescribed learning outcomes is that students will be
expected to describe social injustice based on certain characteristics.
These characteristics are to include age, marital or family status,
mental or physical ability, nationality or "rationality," political
affiliation, race and ethnicity, religion and faith, sex, sexual orientation,
and socioeconomic status. (p. 23). While
the list is suggestive of many topics worthy of consideration by students, one
wonders what descriptions of social injustice in certain of these categories
will be considered acceptable. For
example, will a student be expected to describe same-sex marriage as a move
towards justice when discussing marital status and sexual orientation?
Such questions become particularly relevant when we read (on Page 40)
that students will be expected to apply
principles of social justice to analyze specific historical and
contemporary examples of injustice in Canada related to
. . . people who are LGBT (e.g., criminalization,
institutionalization, marriage, adoption, employment discrimination, spousal rights,
immigration, censorship, hate crimes, school safety)”
(emphasis supplied by the present writer).
On Page 41 we are told that students should be able to “identify legislation and public policies that relate to human rights
in Canada” and an example of
legislation given in the Civil Marriage
Act.
This
would certainly indicate that students are expected to regard as an injustice
the limitation of the legal definition of marriage to opposite-sex couples:
a definition only recently jettisoned.
Serious questions arise regarding the many concepts that may be inculcated in
this course and regarding the attitudes students are expected to adopt when we
consider that students are to be expected to “analyze the social justice
implications of legislation, public policy, and other forms of government action
in Canada with specific reference to . . . ”
(and among the legislation included is the Charter of Rights and
Freedoms, the BC Human Rights Code,
and the Civil Marriage Act),
the.Human
Rights Code,
and the Civil Marriage Act).
Students
will also be expected to assess the contributions of particular individuals and
groups who are identified with struggles for social justice.
What individuals and groups will they be expected to assess the
contributions of? After all, those
whom some would regard as identified with a struggle for social justice others
will regard as working for social injustice.
While practically all in our society might regard Wilberforce as an
example of someone working for social justice (the abolition of the slave trade
and of slavery), others would be much more controversial.
For example, pro-abortion supporters would regard Morgentaler as having
worked for social justice, but pro-lifers would regard his work as a source of
grave injustice.
Since,
as we have seen, the prescribed learning outcomes include attitudes, what is to
be the fate of the student who does not share the teacher’s attitude toward
particular concepts of social justice?
Such a student may find his or her achievement is rated low at the end of
the course, unless he has changed his attitude under peer or teacher pressure
during the year.
Although
the Social Justice 12 course as outlined in the approved IRP will deal with many
topics worthy of students’ consideration, it is, due to bias and lack of
specified direction, a course which allows for the possibility of gross abuse on
the part of the teacher who might choose to use it to propagandize for his own
particular viewpoint. We have
not had the time or resources to examine these learning resources for this
course, but the process by which they were added without being open to criticism
from the public leads to the possibility that they could, combined with the
prejudice of a teacher who acts as a propagandist, result in a course that
distorts the whole consideration of social justice in the services of a radical
agenda,
E. S. (Ted) Hewlett
October, 2008
Endnotes:
Page numbers given in the text of this essay are those used at the bottom of
pages in the Social Justice 12 IRP online at
http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/social_justice12/sj12irp2008.pdf
.
(URLs for website pages were as of October, 2008)
1
Settlement Agreement between Murray Corren and Peter Corren (Complainants) and
Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of British Columbia as
represented by the Ministry of Education (Respondent).
The Agreement was signed on April 8, 2006.
A copy can be viewed at
http://www.bcptl.org/corren_settlement_agreement.htm#agreement
.
2 at
http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/social_justice12/sj12irp2008.pdf
--XXX--
Janet Steffenhagen, Vancouver Sun
Published: Saturday, October 18, 2008
The two men responsible for the creation of a new social justice course for
B.C. high school students have filed a human-rights complaint against the
Abbotsford school district for its decision not to offer the course this year.
Murray and Peter Corren say the district discriminated against students at W.
J. Mouat secondary when it cancelled Social Justice 12 despite more than 90
students wanting to take it. They've asked the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal to
intervene.
Social Justice 12, an elective for senior students, was created as a result
of a contract the province signed with the Correns in 2006 to end a
long-standing human rights complaint that the curriculum discriminated against
gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered students. .
Earlier, Education Minister Shirley Bond said boards have a choice about
whether or not to offer elective classes, but Murray Corren said the Abbotsford
situation is different because the course was offered and then pulled. "It
would have been an entirely different matter if the course had never (been)
offered," Murray Corren added. .
[Click
here to read the whole of this article on the Vancouver Sun
online.]
Gay-friendly
high school may open here in 2010
PRIDE CAMPUS | Would provide 'heroes,' seek to combat
bullying
A "gay-friendly'' Chicago public high school that will weave gay and
lesbian "heroes" -- from James Baldwin to Gertrude Stein -- into its
curriculum was among 20 new school proposals unveiled Wednesday
The Pride Campus of Social Justice High School would be open to all students
citywide but would provide a safe, "gay-friendly'' atmosphere to combat the
high bullying, dropout and depression rate many gay and lesbian students
experience nationwide, advocates say
In U.S. history and other classes, "gay and lesbian historical figures''
would be taught so gay youth "have heroes,'' said Bill Greaves, Chicago's
liaison on issues affecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
community.
"We will teach the history of all people, but we are just going to make
sure these people are not invisible in that history,'' said Greaves, part of the
Pride Campus design team.
[Click
here to read the whole story online.]
"Class
surprises lesbian teacher on wedding day"
Jill Tucker, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, October 11, 2008
A group of San Francisco first-graders took an unusual field trip to City
Hall on Friday to toss rose petals on their just-married lesbian teacher -
putting the public school children at the center of a fierce election battle
over the fate of same-sex marriage.
The 18 Creative Arts Charter School students took a Muni bus and walked a
block at noon to toss rose petals and blow bubbles on their just-married teacher
Erin Carder and her wife Kerri McCoy, giggling and squealing as they mobbed
their teacher with hugs.
Mayor Gavin Newsom, a friend of a friend, officiated.
A parent came up with the idea for the field trip - a surprise for the
teacher on her wedding day.
"She's such a dedicated teacher," said the school's interim
director Liz Jaroslow.
But there was a question of justifying the field trip academically.
Jaroflow decided she could.
"It really is what we call a teachable moment," Jaroflow said,
noting the historic significance of same-sex marriage and related civil rights
issues. "I think I'm well within the parameters."
Nonetheless, the excursion offers Proposition 8 proponents fresh ammunition for
their efforts to outlaw gay marriage in California, offering a real-life
incident that echoes their recent television and radio ads.
"It's just utterly unreasonable that a public school field trip would
be to a same-sex wedding," said Chip White, press secretary for the Yes on
8 campaign. "This is overt indoctrination of children who are too young to
have an understanding of its purpose."
The trip illustrates the message promoted by the campaign in recent days, namely
that unless Prop. 8 passes on Nov. 4, children will learn about same-sex
marriage in school.
"It shows that not only can it happen, but it has already
happened," White said.
California Education Code permits school districts to offer comprehensive
sex education, but if they do, they have to "teach respect for marriage and
committed relationships."
Parents can excuse their child from all or part of the instruction.
On Friday, McCoy and Carder, both in white, held hands
on Newsom's office balcony overlooking the rotunda and recited their vows.
"With this ring, I thee wed!" Carder said,
shouting the last word for emphasis.
After traditional photos, the two walked out City Hall's main doors where
the students were lined up down the steps with bags of pink rose petals and
bottles of bubbles hanging from their necks. McCoy, a conferences services
coordinator, was in on the surprise and beamed as the children swarmed around
Carder.
The two said they have participated in the campaign
against Proposition 8 and planned to travel around San Francisco on Friday
afternoon in a motorized trolley car with "Just Married" and
"Vote No on 8" banners.
The two met on a dance floor two years ago.
"This is one girl I can honestly say deserves
happiness, and it came in the form of Kerri," said Carder's friend Dani
Starelli.
Creative Arts administrators and parents acknowledged that the field trip
might be controversial, but they didn't see the big deal. Same-sex marriage is
legal, they noted.
"How many days in school are they going to remember?" asked
parent Marc Lipsett. "This is a day they'll definitely remember."
Carder's students said they were happy to see their new teacher married.
"She's a really nice teacher. She's the best," said 6-year-old
Chava Novogrodsky-Godt, wearing a "No on 8" button on her shirt.
"I want her to have a good wedding."
Chava's mothers said they are getting married in two weeks.
The students' parents are planning to make a video with the children
describing what marriage is to them.
Marriage, 6-year-old Nolan Alexander said Friday, is "people falling
in love."
It means, he added, "You stay with someone the rest of your
life."
As is the case with all field trips, parents had to give their permission
and could choose to opt out of the trip. Two families did. Those children spent
the duration of the 90-minute field trip back at school with another first-grade
class, the interim director said.
"As far as I'm concerned, it's not controversial
for me," Jaroflow said. "It's certainly an issue I would be willing to
put my job on the line for."
From: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/11/MNFG13F1VG.DTL
This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco
Chronicle
"Gay" Sex Kills
"In light of the irrefutable medical facts, it should be considered
criminally reckless for educators to teach children that homosexual conduct is a
normal, safe and perfectly acceptable alternative form of sexual expression (or
'sexual orientation'). "
Commentary by J. Matt Barber
April 21, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Can you imagine officials at a middle
school, junior high or high school setting aside a day to promote
"tolerance" for heavy smoking and drinking among children? How about a
day where teachers encourage kids to "embrace who they are," pick up
that crack pipe and give it a stiff toke?
Neither can I. The public would go ballistic, and for good reason.
But that hasn't stopped officials in thousands of schools across the country
from promoting other politically correct and socially "in-vogue"
behaviors that - both statistically and manifestly - are every bit as dangerous
as the aforementioned frowned-upon behaviors.
That's exactly what the homosexual activist "Day of Silence" is all
about - advancing, through clever, feel-good propaganda, full acceptance among
children of the homosexual lifestyle.
Just the Facts Ma'am
By recently admitting that "HIV is a gay disease," Matt Foreman,
outgoing Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force,
acknowledged what the medical community has known for decades: the homosexual
lifestyle is extremely high-risk and often leads to disease and even death.
In fact, multiple studies have established that homosexual conduct, especially
among males, is considerably more hazardous to one's health than a lifetime of
chain smoking.
To the consternation of "gay" activist flat-earthers and homosexual
AIDS holocaust deniers everywhere, one such study - conducted by
pro-"gay" researchers in Canada - was published in the International
Journal of Epidemiology (IJE) in 1997. (see the study here: http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/26/3/657.pdf
)
While the medical consensus is that smoking knocks from two to 10 years off an
individual's life expectancy, the IJE study found that homosexual conduct
shortens the lifespan of "gays" by an astounding "8 to 20
years" - more than twice that of smoking.
"[U]nder even the most liberal assumptions," concluded the study,
"gay and bisexual men in this urban centre are now experiencing a life
expectancy similar to that experienced by all men in Canada in the year 1871.
… [L]ife expectancy at age 20 years for gay and bisexual men is 8 to 20 years
less than for all men."
This morose reality makes a strong case for a fitting redefinition of so-called
"homophobia," that being "Homophobia: The rational fear that 'gay
sex' will kill you!"
The fact that we don't have mandatory surgeon general warnings on the side of
condom wrappers is a testament to the power and influence wielded by the radical
homosexual lobby. (Warning: Male-male anal sodomy has been proven to shorten
your lifespan by up to 20 years.)
Not surprisingly, that same homosexual lobby and its codependent enablers in the
mainstream media moved quickly to sweep the IJE study under the rug. Under
tremendous pressure, the researchers who conducted the study even jumped into
the political damage control fray issuing a statement which read, "[W]e do
not condone the use of our research in a manner that restricts the political or
human rights of gay and bisexual men or any other group."
Yeah, so?
Of course, that's all just worthless fluff. All the political spin in the world
doesn't change reality, nor does it eliminate the study's disturbing conclusions
or practical implications. The research left ZERO wiggle room for anyone who
would argue that homosexuality is a "perfectly normal and healthy
alternative sexual orientation."
The risks associated with homosexual conduct are so drastic, in fact, that U.S.
health regulations prohibit men who have sex with men (MSM) and women who have
had sex with MSM, from even donating blood.
Consider that, according to the Food and Drug Administration, MSM, "have an
HIV prevalence 60 times higher than the general population, 800 times higher
than first time blood donors and 8,000 times higher than repeat blood
donors."
Adults and children who engage in homosexual conduct, especially males, are also
susceptible, at an astronomical rate, to nearly all other forms of sexually
transmitted disease (STD). For example, the Hepatitis B virus is about five to
six times more prevalent among "gays," and Hepatitis C is twice as
common.
But perhaps most shocking are today's syphilis rates among homosexual men and
adolescents. A recent study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) found that although homosexuals comprise only a fraction of the
population (one to two percent), they account for an epidemic 64 percent of all
syphilis cases.
The "Day of Silence"
In light of the irrefutable medical facts, it should be considered criminally
reckless for educators to teach children that homosexual conduct is a normal,
safe and perfectly acceptable alternative form of sexual expression (or
"sexual orientation").
But instead, the "gay" lifestyle is vigorously promoted in our public
schools. Sexually confused children who suffer from gender identity disorder and
same-sex attractions are told to "embrace who they are," and are
encouraged to entertain deviant and dangerous sexual temptations. "But
always use a condom!" liberal educators bellow. (Forget that condoms have a
perilously high failure rate and are incapable of preventing numerous STDs such
as the HPV virus.)
On April 25, 2008, the pro-homosexual indoctrination of your children comes to a
boil. Homosexual activists and like-minded liberal educators will be pushing the
so-called "Day of Silence" on kids in thousands of schools across the
country.
The "Day of Silence" (DOS) is organized by the Gay, Lesbian and
Straight Education Network (GLSEN), one of the most militant and well-funded of
the powerful homosexual pressure groups. DOS purports to confront the alleged
systematic harassment and bullying of children who self-identify as homosexual,
bisexual or "transgender." (For a sampling of the kinds of things
GLSEN teaches children, click here: http://www.cultureandfamily.org/articledisplay.asp?id=2580&department=CFI&categoryid=papers#fistgate
; Be warned, though. It's pretty graphic.)
To be sure, bullying and harassment should not be tolerated against anyone,
anywhere for any reason, and those who engage in such activities should be
firmly disciplined. However, DOS has very little to do with "bullying"
and has everything to do with propaganda.
During DOS, children and teachers are encouraged to disrupt the school day by
refusing to speak, in a show of support to self-described "gay,"
"lesbian," "bisexual" and "transgender" students.
Kids are additionally taught that Biblical truth, which holds that human
sexuality is a gift from God shared between husband and wife within the bonds of
marriage, is "homophobic," "hateful" and
"discriminatory."
Our schools are supposed to be places of learning, not places of political
indoctrination. It's the height of impropriety and cynicism for "gay"
activists and school officials to use good-hearted but misguided children as
pawns in their attempt to further a deceptive, highly controversial and
polarizing political agenda.
DOS is pure, unadulterated propaganda and, based on the medical science, amounts
to nothing short of educational malpractice. With liberal school officials in
tow, these militant homosexual activists are brazenly circumventing and abusing
parental authority to further this dangerous political agenda. DOS is also a
slap in the face to the many students with traditional moral values.
So, it's time for the "Day of Silence" to finally live up to its name.
It's time for these radical adult activists to be silent in our children's
schools.
And you can to do something to help.
At DOS-participating schools all over the country, parents are joining with
dozens of pro-family organizations, such as Concerned Women for America (CWA),
in a "Day of Silence Walkout." They're keeping their kids home from
school on DOS as a show of protest. (For more information visit http://www.missionamerica.com
).
Parents and children are also strongly encouraged to participate in the Alliance
Defense Fund's non-disruptive "Day of Truth," which will follow DOS on
Monday, April 28, 2008. (For more information visit http://www.dayoftruth.org
).
Children are impressionable. Their young minds are fresh clay ready for molding,
and these adult homosexual activists know it. Your child's spiritual, emotional
and physical well-being belongs in your hands, not in the hands of liberal
activists and elitist educators with a deceptive and destructive political
agenda.
It's time to shatter the silence with truth.
_________________
Matt Barber is one of the "like-minded men" with Concerned Women for
America. He is an attorney concentrating in constitutional law and serves as
CWA's policy director for cultural issues.
The
"Day of Silence" in British Columbia
The following is from "Silencing
homophobia",: an article that appeared in "saanichnews.com"
(April 22, 2008):
"The silence is spreading.
"Donning colourful masks, pins and armbands, hundreds of secondary
students across Greater Victoria kept silent in support of their gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgendered classmates on Wednesday. . . . .
Reynold’s has a very active gay-straight alliance group, whose members have
put up anti-homophobic posters and murals throughout the school.
“Homophobia in our school is still a big deal but it’s not as big a deal
as the racism and ablism (against special education students),” said
Reynold’s student Marissa Johnston.
“We have same-sex couples who are out and walk around the school holding
hands. If anyone said anything... people know not to say anything.”
The Greater Victoria School District was the first in the province to develop
a homophobia policy and action plan, five years ago. . . . ."
News
Release from the Catholic Civil Rights League
British Columbia
Parents and Teachers for Life has received the following news
release from the Catholic Civil Rights League, and passes it on
for the information of our readers.
Catholic
Civil Rights League
120
Eglinton Ave.
E, Toronto, ON M4P 1E2
Phone:
416-466-8244, Fax: 416-466-0091, ccrl@ccrl.ca
http://ccrl.ca
News
Release
Western
Region
Release
Date: 14 March, 2008
For immediate release
“Serious concerns”
raised about teacher guide
The Catholic Civil Rights League today released what a
retired UBC professor of education calls “a comprehensive,
finely detailed, extensively researched and documented
critique” of a teachers’ manual designed to fulfil a private
contract between the Ministry of Education and two homosexual
activists.
The manual, Making Space, Giving Voice, explains how
K-12 students will be introduced to “the full range of gender
identity and sexual orientation.”
Walter Szetela, Professor Emeritus of the Faculty of
Education at the University of British Columbia, describes the
League’s review of Making Space, Giving Voice as
“superlative.” Retired UBC English professor Ross Labrie
comments that the review “raises serious concerns about the
dangers to democracy of an ideologically driven and secretive
policy designed to impose a particular view of what is claimed
to be social justice.”
According to the League, the recommendations of Making
Space, Giving Voice are made at the expense of core
curriculum subjects. It warns that the ‘ideological
straitjacket” imposed by the Ministry on some subjects, like
English and literature, “is spiritually and intellectually
impoverishing.” The Ministry’s manual is also faulted by the
League because it “draws false analogies . . . fails to make
important distinctions . . . and omits information relevant to
informed decision making.”
The League has asked the Minister of Education to waive the
six week deadline imposed by her officials for public response
to Making Space, Giving Voice.
“They gave the public four months to comment on a single
social justice elective intended only for some Grade 12
students,” said Sean Murphy, author of the League’s
critique. “But they allowed only six weeks for responses to a
manual affecting teaching in every subject from Kindergarten to
Grade 12.”
Murphy, a CCRL director for western Canada, hopes that the
Minister will instruct her officials to consider the League’s
submission, despite the deadline.
“It wasn’t possible to complete a proper review of the
document in six weeks,” he said.
Read the CCRL review on line at http://www.ccrl.ca/index.php?id=4932
-30-
Western
Contacts
Sean
Murphy (BC & Prairies) ccrl-west@shaw.ca
Tel: 604-485-9765
Ed De Vita (BC Lower Mainland) edevita@shaw.ca
Tel: 604-430-9596
[The
following, from the Catholic Civil Rights League, Western Region,
summarizes a more comprehensive document available online at the
URL given.]
A
Critical Review of British Columbia MInistry of Education
Guidelines Embodied in the Teachers' Manual
Making Space, Giving Voice
Making
Sense of Making Space, Giving Voice
Sean Murphy, Director
CCRL Western Region
A
critical review of Ministry of Education guidelines issued
as a result of the Corren
Agreement.
Now available on-line at http://www.ccrl.ca/index.php?id=4932
|
. . . trenchant, well-documented, and articulate. . . .
raises serious concerns about the dangers to
democracy of an ideologically driven and secretive policy
designed to impose a particular view of what is claimed to
be social justice . . .
Ross Labrie, Professor
Emeritus,
Faculty of English, University of British
Columbia
.
. .a comprehensive, finely detailed, extensively
researched and documented critique. . . an oasis
with an abundance of observations and warnings which
specify the negative nature and consequences of the Corren
Agreement to children and their parents and upon
restrictions of fundamental freedoms of conscience,
religion and expression . . . superlative . . .
Walter Szetela,
Professor Emeritus,
Faculty of Education,
University of British Columbia
|
Executive
Summary
1. Making Space, Giving Voice
proposes an ideology that identifies autonomy as the essential
characteristic of the human person, teaches that human
relationships and social justice depend primarily upon a balance
of power, and denies the distinction between authority and power.
This ideology is fundamentally flawed. It may account for some
human failings, but it cannot comprehend man’s highest
aspirations. It provides an unsatisfactory preparation for life in
a liberal democracy.
2. The goal of Making Space, Giving
Voice is to require students to affirm the moral and social
acceptability of any and all sexual lifestyles presented to them.
These include not just homosexuality and bisexuality, but "transgenderism"
and a kaleidoscopic mix of purported "identities" and
"orientations." Ministry of Education policy requires
that all be portrayed in a positive light. "Acceptance"
is presented as a moral, social and legal obligation imposed by
the requirements of social justice. To require this is a direct
attack on natural marriage, a fundamental human institution.
Moreover, this kind of instruction presumes and even requires the
suppression of critical thinking, the estrangement of many
children from their parents and cultural and religious
communities, and a continuing exploration of sub-cultures and
activities beyond the experience of children and even most adults.
3. Making Space, Giving Voice is
not part of the official curriculum, but, as a policy document, it
establishes norms for state schools. It authorizes the
introduction of " non-heterosexual realities" into every
subject in the curriculum from Kindergarten to Grade 12, not
excluding mathematics, entirely at the behest of the teacher,
without consultation with parents, and even over their objections.
It may be cited to justify professional persecution of
non-conforming teachers and the withdrawal of state funding for
non-compliant independent schools.
4. Notions of " diversity,"
"identity" and "culture" advocated by Making
Space, Giving Voice do not withstand critical analysis. It
draws false analogies and fails to make important distinctions and
omits information relevant to informed decision making. At one
point it is seriously mistaken about matters of public record,
while at another it requires a polemical interpretation of complex
and controversial information. Some sample lesson plans are
ideologically driven, tendentious and, occasionally, seem less
than honest.
5. The kind of social justice
instruction proposed by Making Space, Giving Voice can only
be accomplished at the expense of core curriculum subjects, since
there is not sufficient time to meet core learning outcomes and
also deal adequately with social justice topics and related
issues. The imposition of an ideological straitjacket on some
subjects, like English and literature, is spiritually and
intellectually impoverishing.
6. The approach taken by Making
Space, Giving Voice is openly authoritarian and includes
elements that are characteristic of education in a totalitarian
state: isolation of students from parents, destruction of natural
marriage and natural family, and a methodology calculated to
destroy the capacity to form and maintain convictions that are not
approved by the state.
7. The development of state schools has,
incidentally, provided the state or other powerful interests the
means to bring their power to bear on fundamental freedoms. The
Corren Agreement demonstrates the need to develop defences against
the coercive potential of state education. This may require
substantial changes to the scope of the powers and
responsibilities of the Ministry of Education, as well as other
reforms. Ultimately, the preservation of democratic freedoms may
require the separation of school and state.
Deerfield
High School Offers Pornography to Students
DEERFIELD, Ill., March 6
/Christian Newswire/ -- North Shore Student Advocacy has learned
that Deerfield High School, in Deerfield, Illinois, is offering
the books "Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National
Themes" (Part One & Two) -- laced with graphic sexual
content, including gay sex, pervasive expletives, religious
denigration and mockery -- in English classes this spring . . . .
"After almost 15
years of school advocacy and reviewing many objectionable books
and curricula, I have never seen anything this vulgar and harmful
to students," says Lora Sue Hauser, Executive Director of
North Shore Student Advocacy. "Parents, taxpayers and
concerned citizens must force themselves to read these excerpts,
as horrific as they are, so you know what kids are being exposed
to. The school justifies this egregious choice because of its
themes of hope. Evidently, all great literature with themes of
hope have already been exhausted so teachers need to start
offering pornography. We say - enough."
North Shore Student
Advocacy (NSSA) was made aware of these books last fall when a
parent complained. The books were part of required reading until
NSSA filed a formal complaint with the school, asking the books to
be reviewed and removed. The school decided to remove the books
from required reading but continued to offer them in the classroom
as an optional title. "Optional Title," according to the
principal, means that the student may select the books to study
with peers and be guided by the teacher.
Deerfield High School has
had a long history of presenting inappropriate curricula to
students. Last year, teachers made Freshman students sign a
"Confidentiality Agreement" in a class where they were
allowing presentations by homosexual and transgendered students.
Court:
No Opt-out of Homosexual Indoctrination in Class for Massachusetts
Parents
Parents vow to appeal decision all the way to the US
Supreme Court
By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman
BOSTON, MA, February 2, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A federal
appeals court panel has upheld a Massachusetts policy of
indoctrinating elementary school students with pro-homosexual
attitudes without their parents consent.
The three judge panel ruled that a lower court decision was
correct when it denied parents the right to remove their children
from such classes, while admitting that the purpose of the
literature to which their children were being exposed was to
influence children to "tolerate" gay marriage.
"It is a fair inference that the reading of King and King
was precisely intended to influence the listening children toward
tolerance of gay marriage," the court admits. "That was
the point of why that book was chosen and used."
However, in the appeals court's opinion, this doesn't mean the
children were being indoctrinated with anything. "Even
assuming there is a continuum along which an intent to influence
could become an attempt to indoctrinate, however, this case is
firmly on the influence-toward-tolerance end. There is no evidence
of systemic indoctrination. There is no allegation that Joey was
asked to affirm gay marriage. Requiring a student to read a
particular book is generally not coercive of free exercise
rights."
The book referred to by the panel, "King and King",
depicts a "prince" who isn't interested in a princess,
but instead is "in love" with the princess' brother.
Their "love" is portrayed in a sympathetic manner, and
the two "marry" each other. They are shown kissing on
the lips at the end of the book, which was read to second graders
in 2006 in Estabrook Elementary School in Lexington,
Massachusetts.
Two families complained to the school district, which responded
that the school district was not obligated to advise families
about such matters, and would not allow parents to opt-out. David
Parker and other parents with children in the school district
responded by filing a federal civil rights lawsuit. After the suit
was dismissed by Federal District Judge Mark L. Wolf in early
2007, the parents appealed. Now, the Federal appeals court has
rejected their appeal.
However, the families are determined to press on all the way to
the Supreme Court, which is the next step in the appeals process.
"We are fully committed to go forward," Jeffrey Denner,
lead attorney of the Parker legal team, told the pro-family group
Mass Resistance. "We will continue to fight on all fronts
that we need to."
"This ruling will surely embolden and enable the schools
even more on this if it's not fought," said Parker.
"There's going to be an accountability, you can count on
it."
Denner told Mass Resistance that he is not discouraged,
recalling the St. Patrick's Boston Parade case in the 1990s, in
which parade organizers sued to vindicate their right to exclude
homosexuals from the event. Although local, state, federal circuit
court and appeals court judges ruled against them 17 times, they
eventually won their case before the Supreme Court, successfully
defending the right of Americans to organize themselves according
to their convictions.
Related Links:
Federal court denies appeal in David Parker Civil Rights case
on homosexual programs in elementary school
http://www.massresistance.org/docs/parker_lawsuit/appeal_loss_013108/
History oft the Parker Case
http://www.massresistance.org/docs/parker/index.html
Exceprts from Book, "King and King", Approved by
Federal Appeals Court
http://www.massresistance.org/docs/issues/king_and_king/book.html
An object lesson in free
speech and democracy
Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun
[The article from which the following excerpt was taken,
though not as a whole sympathetic to the traditional moral view of
homosexual behaviour, is nevertheless important for highlighting
the attempt to close off critical comment on the subject.]
Published: Saturday, January 12, 2008
I have long appreciated Balwant Singh Gill's honesty -- even
though it's now landed him in trouble.
As one of the most prominent "moderate" Sikh leaders
in Canada, Gill has been interviewed by the mainstream media
hundreds of times. He always bravely speaks his mind, even in the
face of threats from "fundamentalist" Sikhs.
In late November, I again appreciated Gill's forthrightness
when he agreed to be interviewed for The Vancouver Sun's five-page
package, "Canada's Changing Moral Landscape," based on
an Angus Reid poll. Gill, who says he speaks for 39 Sikh temples,
responded frankly when I asked him (and a variety of other
Canadians) about hot-button moral issues -- including
prostitution, abortion, sex outside marriage, illegal drug use,
and, of course, homosexuality.
Kaboom! Gill's comments "unleased a firestorm" within
the country's gay and lesbian community, according to a Jan. 2
article in Xtra West, a long-standing homosexual publication.
"I hate homosexuality," Gill told me on the telephone
three weeks before the morality package ran. "Most Sikhs
believe homosexuality is unnatural and you can't produce kids
through it. And, secondarily, no major religion allows it."
I told Gill at the time he was being very blunt. The long-time
Sikh spokesman didn't backtrack.
Gill has not been as frank lately. He's "apologized"
on CBC radio and, according to Xtra West, has been widely
chastised by the ethnic media.
But, mixed in with his regret, Gill has publicly wavered about
what he told me. As well, he's been saying he doesn't remember
when the interview took place. That vagueness permitted some to
claim to the media that Gill made his homosexuality comments three
years earlier. Sheesh.
Xtra West has been among those correcting such false
statements. But the red herring about the timing of the interview
has fuelled the dangerous accusation The Sun went out of its way
to target Sikhs as homophobic.
Some suggested The Sun was being "racist" in the way
it handled the national morality poll, which indicated immigrants
are making the country more morally conservative.
Before exploring that trendline, a few words about free speech.
It was important to publish Gill's beliefs because they are
real. Such views, which he said are widespread among Sikhs, need
to be held up to the light. The usual champions of political
correctness called for police to investigate Gill, to charge him
with a hate crime. But they would have only been able to make a
case if Gill had said, "I hate homosexuals." Which he
didn't.
In a free country, we have to live with how some of the 40 per
cent of Canadians who find homosexuality morally unacceptable
might "hate homosexuality." We can't legislate what
people feel. Canadians have the right to hold offensive views
about minorities -- so long as they don't actively discriminate
against them.
Other Canadians, meanwhile, have the right to tell people with
harsh beliefs exactly why they believe they're wrong.
It's called democracy.
I also reject the accusation from some minority-group activists
that The Sun was being racist by highlighting Gill's remarks and
citing data suggesting rapid immigration, particularly from Asia,
might be causing British Columbians to lose their reputation as
laid-back, freedom-loving liberals.
[Click
here to read the whole Vancouver Sun article online.]
My conversation with a protester on the side
of an Indiana country road.
The protesters lined up on the grassy shoulder because there
was no sidewalk on this two-lane road through the cornfields.
They spaced themselves 10 feet or so apart, apparently in a vain
attempt to make it seem like there were more than the 10 or 15
people who showed up outside Trader's Point Christian Church.
Inside the church, the daylong Love
Won Out conference had just wrapped up.
Produced by Focus on the Family, the conference shares hope
for people who are unhappy with their homosexuality and who
desire to change. But based on the protest signs out front, you
would never suspect that was the gentle spirit of Love Won Out.
I flipped on my video camera and walked from protester to
protester to get some shots of the signs they were holding. One
woman held a sign that read, "I love my lesbian
daughter."
She looked like someone I might chat with in line at the
grocery store, so I asked if I could speak with her, making
clear I did not want to start a debate. "I just want to
hear you," I said.
She said, "May I show you an e-mail from my
daughter?"
She unfolded a sheet of paper, explained that her daughter
had “come out,” and sent this note afterward.
The e-mail thanked her parents for how they had accepted her
announcement, especially when they asked her to look them in the
eyes and they made it clear that they loved her.
I was struck how much this story rang true with so many
parents who had attended the conference. I shared that it was
essentially the advice that had been offered inside the church
that day, but added that offering unconditional love does not
mean affirming everything someone does.
As the setting sun glinted off her sunglasses, the mom raised
basically three arguments. That 10 percent of the population is
gay. That among a hundred and something animal species, there
are those that exhibit gay behavior. And that her daughter's
relationship with her partner was not hurting anyone.
I saw a lot of tension in her eyes, likely from having this
unexpected conversation as cars dashed past, but I also saw
sincerity.
I shared with her that there are very good arguments to
refute all of those points, but that standing on the side of the
road was not the place to have that conversation. We agreed that
we were not likely to change each other's minds at this brief
meeting.
We spoke a little more, I thanked her for being gracious and
headed back across the road.
On the flight home, I reflected on what I had learned on an
Indiana country road: There are times to push back firmly but
respectfully. But there's also a time to listen and hear
someone's story.
. . . . [from http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000005875.cfm
]
Forced Education in Homosexuality
and Evolution Leads to Exodus of Mennonites from Quebec
By John-Henry Westen and Elizabeth O'Brien
MONTREAL, August 16, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A community of a dozen Mennonite
families in Quebec is ready to leave the province rather than succumb to
provincial government demands that would require their children to be taught
evolution and homosexuality. While the government sees its actions as nothing
more than enforcing technical regulations, many view the case as intolerance of
Christian faith.
The community runs a small Mennonite school out of a church in Roxton Falls
where eleven children in elementary grades were expected to commence studies
this Fall. Subjects include reading, writing, math, science, geography, social
sciences, music and French. However, they are not schooled in evolution and
homosexuality (sex education) as demanded by the official provincial curriculum.
Quebec Education Ministry Spokesman Francois Lefebvre told LifeSiteNews.com that
the province has two requirements for approval of private schools. "That the
teachers are certified and that the provincial curriculum which is mandatory in
all Quebec schools is followed," he said.
Ronald Goossen, a spokesman for the families, told LifeSiteNews.com the
community rejects both demands. With regard to certified teachers, he said,
"we have pulled our students out of public schools and by asking us to have
certified teachers they are asking us to send our teachers to public school. So
basically they're asking something of us that we don't feel we can do."
Regarding the curriculum, Goosen said, "Some of the things - the theory of
evolution would be a problem, the attitudes portrayed, the lifestyles we don't
ascribe to, making it look that single motherhood is fine, that alternate
lifestyles are fine - gay 'marriage', we'd be very much against that."
After visiting the Mennonites in November, the Ministry of Education told the
school that their teaching was not up to standard and threatened them with legal
action. Parents were informed that their children must be enrolled in
government-approved schools by the fall.
Given other incidents in the province, Goossen was concerned that if they don't
comply, children might be taken from their families by social workers. In 2002,
social workers in Aylmer removed seven children from a Mennonite family because
the family used spanking as a form of discipline.
This move is an enactment of the Ministry of Education's decision last year to
shut down schools that don't teach the full government-approved curriculum. The
Ministry threatened to shut down private Evangelical schools that didn't want to
teach evolution and sex-education (See
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/oct/06102404.html ).
The Mayor of Roxton Falls, Jean-Marie Laplante, said that the majority of
non-Mennonites in his town support the school. Laplante has complained to the
education department and Education Minister Michelle Courchesne to save the
school from being shut down.
"We want to keep these people here - they're part of our community," the Mayor
told the National Post. "They're good neighbours. They integrated into the
community, they work hard, they have farms, they work in businesses in the
region."
The prospect of losing the families, said the Mayor, "hurts economically, but it
also hurts because everybody loves these people and we're saying, 'Why? Why is
this happening?' " (Contact the Mayor here:
roxton@cooptel.qc.ca )
Goosen told LifeSiteNews.com that the families are serious about moving and will
be gone in a couple of weeks when school commences. He noted that most have
already rented housing in Ontario. Should the government reconsider and allow
them the freedom to educate their children within the boundaries of their faith,
the community would gladly stay he said.
Lefebvre told LifeSiteNews.com that the school had not yet applied for
permission to run privately. However, Goosen responded that the ministry of
education had all the required information and his application was not
'officially' submitted only due to a technicality related to the online
submission process.
Moreover, said Goosen, "we have been informed that our application would be
rejected since they require certified teachers and adherence to the curriculum."
August 21, 2007
A San Diego Mother Goes Undercover Inside of
A San Diego Gay Community Children's Event: . . . .
Mother Reports Transvestites, Some Appearing To Be Using Drugs,
Accessing Children At Gay Community-Sponsored Easter Egg Hunt
. . . .
Reported By Arnae Davison - Produced
By James Hartline
She is a woman that has lived through some of life's most difficult
battles over the past two years. From raising two young children to
battling a near-terminal case of bone cancer in 2006, Arnae Davison has faced it
all in recent times. Yet, nothing prepared this San Diego mother, wife and
business owner for the people and debauchery that she encountered during a
dangerous assignment that she undertook in April of 2007. On April 9, 2007
Arnae Davison became an undercover journalist for the California Christian
News. During that assignment, Davison entered society's dark underbelly to
investigate some disturbing allegations connected to a children's Easter egg
hunt that was being sponsored by various elements of San Diego's gay community.
. . . .
On April 9, 2007, Easter Sunday, my husband and I attended an
Easter egg hunt that was sponsored by the San Diego League of Gentlemen. I
would not normally attend an event that is sponsored by a homosexual
organization, especially one that has ties to a gay bar called The Eagle.
However, I thought that it was important to see for myself what business an
openly gay organization had associating itself with children and Easter Sunday.
As Christians, my husband and I believe that Easter is a time to celebrate the
resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
. . . .
To begin the festivities each child with a parent was required to start
at a registration booth.
Many of the older children who stood in line
approached the registration booth with puzzled and confused looks on their faces
as they were spoken to, and instructed by transvestites, in regards to
registration information. I must admit that my husband and I too had the same
puzzled looks on our faces and found ourselves staring uncontrollably. It
is quite a confusing sight to see what you think is a woman, but as you get
closer you realize that it is a man. We could not believe what our eyes were
seeing. Whether or not an individual is a man or women should be the last
question on the minds of children at an Easter egg hunt.
. . . .at some point during the event we believe that there were drugs
being used by the unclean looking men. We concluded this because of our
observations that some of the transvestites kept going in and out of the
portable bathroom while carrying little pink envelopes. The door to a
portable bathroom was left open and we could clearly see one person in
particular who went into the bathroom and used one of the pink envelopes.
When he came out it was very obvious from his conduct that he was under the
influence of some type of drug. He began to stumble while walking and proceeded
to look into the garbage cans while he adjusted his fake anatomy in public.
~ At this point my family and I had seen enough and decided to leave. ~
After attending this event I am more convinced
than ever that the homosexual community has targeted innocent children with the
desire of infiltrating their minds with a false, hidden agenda. This
agenda, I believe, consists of targeting children so that they can make them
believe that same-sex relationships are moral, good and overall, normal. These
homosexual relationships cause children to be confused, to stumble and to
partake of an immoral lifestyle.
[Click
here to read the whole California Christian article from which the
selection immediately above was taken.]
Read
the Corren Settlement Agreement for Yourself
Readers
of this bulletin who wish to examine the Corren Settlement
Agreement for themselves may have had difficulty finding a copy.
For some reason, the Ministry of Education has not been
particularly forthcoming with the details of this agreement,
which--after all--should be readily available to all British
Columbians, as well as to others who might be concerened about
such an agreement being signed governing education in other
jurisdictions.
We
encourage our readers to read the Corren Settlement Agreement and
to see for yourselves the terms of this document, and how it
gives, to the two private individuals with whom the government
signed, a special role in influencing educational curriculum .
[Click
here to read the
agreement.]
The
Gay Shibboleth
Opposition
to homosexual behavior may now be a bar to high office.
A
Christianity Today editorial | posted 7/11/2007 08:36AM
As a member of the United
Methodist Judicial Council, physician James Holsinger voted with the majority
to affirm Methodist teaching that bans practicing homosexuals from ordination.
Holsinger also wrote a white
paper for the denomination 16 years ago on the health hazards of
gay sex and on the biological complementarity of the human sexes.
Should that bar him from serving
(as President Bush desires) as U.S. surgeon general? It's not surprising that
homosexual-activist groups like Human
Rights Campaign think so. But most of the major Democratic
presidential candidates agree. John
Edwards was particularly harsh: "In a profession dedicated to
healing and compassion, it cannot be hard to find a qualified candidate for
surgeon general who sees all human beings as equals. … Holsinger's anti-gay
writings and beliefs suggest that he will undermine, not advance, the cause of
equality and fairness in health care."
The
Boston Globe called for Bush to withdraw his nomination, since
"no one should go into the job with a record of discriminating against
people because of their sexual orientation." A Washington
Post editorial called Holsinger's white paper "bigotry
masquerad[ing] as science" and mocked him for this sentence: "In
fact, the logical complementarity of the human sexes has been so recognized in
our culture that it has entered our vocabulary in the form of naming various
pipe fittings either the male fitting or the female fitting depending upon
which one interlocks within the other."
"Is he a doctor or the Ace
Hardware man?" asked the Post. Satirist Stephen
Colbert went further: "For years, we have tolerated smoking
just like we currently tolerate homosexuality. But the surgeon general alerted
us to the dangers of smoking with warning labels. With Holsinger at the helm,
we can use the same approach for homosexuality. Every gay man and woman should
come with a label: 'Warning! Plumbers have found homosexual behavior to be
dangerous and unnatural.'" The Bush administration didn't exactly rush to
Holsinger's defense. "That was not his belief. It was not his opinion. It
was a compilation of studies that were available at that time," a
spokeswoman said.
"Over the last 20 years, a clearer understanding of these issues has been
achieved." The spokeswoman added,
"It should be noted that in 1991, homosexuals were banned from the
military, and several years before that, homosexuality and Haitian nationality
were considered risk factors for HIV/AIDS."
Contrast this with, say, 2007,
when the military still bans "persons who demonstrate a propensity or
intent to engage in homosexual acts" and gays and Haitians are still at
high risk for HIV infection.
So some things don't change. But
tolerance for dissent on homosexuality apparently has. The Holsinger
denouncements and the White House's assertion that Holsinger couldn't possibly
have meant what he wrote suggest that opposition to homosexual behavior is
becoming a disqualification from serving in high public office.
That's a remarkable change from
even a few years ago, and we're not alone in seeing it. "On no issue is
history moving faster than on 'gay rights'—an already antiquated term for
full and equal participation and acceptance of gay men and women in American
life," Michael
Kinsley wrote in Time.
On the other hand, as of press
time, Holsinger hadn't been rejected yet, and other newspaper editorials,
along with Holsinger's medical colleagues (including some homosexuals) are defending
him as fair, professional, and compassionate. Still, affirmation of homosexual
behavior seems to be shifting from an in-group shibboleth to an unwritten
requirement for American leadership.
[Click
here to read the rest of the Christianity Today article immediately
above.]
Pastor Who
Fought For Gay Marriage Receives Canada's Highest Honor
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
July 2, 2007
(Toronto, Ontario) The Rev. Brent Hawkes, who
conducted a double wedding for two same-sex couples at his Metropolitan
Community Church in 2001 and then went to court when Ontario refused to
register the marriages in a case that resulted in marriage equality across
Canada, has been named to the Order of Canada.
It is the highest civilian honor given in Canada
and is awarded in the name of The Queen, by the Governor General, her
representative in the country.
Hawkes will celebrate his 30th anniversary as
pastor of MCC Toronto - a career that continually has seen him at the
forefront of the fight for LGBT civil rights.. . .
Order of Canada
Membership Awarded to Homosexual Pastor Who
Promoted Same-Sex "Marriage"*
By John Jalsevac and John-Henry Westen
OTTAWA, Ontario, July 3, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Rev. Brent Hawkes of the
Metropolitan Community Church in Toronto, the same man who flouted Canadian law
by illegally "marrying" a homosexual couple in 2001, and who
subsequently pushed homosexual "marriage" on Canada through the
back-door of the judicial system, has now been awarded the highest honor that
can be given to a Canadian civilian.
This past Friday, Rev. Brent Hawkes was awarded, along with several dozen
others, the high honour of the Order of Canada, given in recognition of "a
lifetime of distinguished service in or to a particular community, group or
field of activity."
The award given under the Conservative Government of Prime Minister Stephen
Harper has come as a shock to social conservatives and Catholics since Hawkes,
in addition to flouting the law on marriage has attacked the Vatican. In an
affidavit before the Supreme Court of Canada Hawkes bashed a Vatican document on
homosexual unions and statements by Catholic bishops on the same as
"expressions of hatred that should not be tolerated in our society."
According to the Globe and Mail, Hawkes recognized the "irony" of the
situation: "I'm used to picketing governments," said Hawkes, according
to the Globe, "taking them to court."
"It's amazing. My head's spinning a little bit," he said. "It's
just an amazing moment to focus on what a great country this is."
In 2001 Hawkes illegally "married" a lesbian couple in his Toronto
church, and when the Canadian government would not recognize the
"marriage" as valid, he took the government to court. Subsequently,
the Ontario Superior Court of Justice recognized the "marriage" as
legal, beginning a process of judicial activism that eventually culminated in
the legalization of homosexual "marriage" by Canada's Parliament.
Brian Rushfeldt, the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Canada Family
Action Coalition (CFAC), who has worked to defend traditional marriage in
Canada, lamented the naming of Hawkes to the Order of Canada.
"Awarding the Order of Canada to someone who has worked tirelessly to
destroy the foundation of marriage is a very questionable act," Rushfeldt
said in an interview with LifeSiteNew.scom.
"I like the award, but to give an award to someone who has spent his
energies undermining the foundation of man/woman marriage is certainly a wrong
reason."
Rushfeldt also pointed out that the fact that this award was given while the
Conservative government is in power does not bode well for conservatives.
"The fact that we continue to reward activists that are undermining the
conservative values and the conservative value base is not going to fare well.
Even if it was not something that that the government itself or the prime
minister or a minister of the department would or could step into, for the
governor general to approve this kind of an award is clearly an indication that
she herself is in support of undermining marriage, the very essence and
foundation of our society. And obviously the conservative government did nothing
to change that or stop it."
* original title (Conservatives Award Order of Canada to Gay
Pastor Who Attacked Vatican, Performed Illegal Gay 'Marriages' ")
The
Corren Settlement Agreement: How
Did We Arrive at This Point and What Should Parents of Traditional Morality and
Their Supporters Do About It?
[The
essay below is in substance the talk given on June 5, 2007, by the president of
British Columbia Parents and Teachers for Life at a community forum in
Abbotsford, British Columbia. The sections in square brackets were omitted
from the talk due to time
constraints]
1.
Background: How Did We Arrive at
This Point?
The Corren Settlement Agreement gives two private citizens a special role
in the review of educational curriculum. Not
only are Murray and Peter Corren given an extraordinary role, but so are any
organizations and groups which they name as having “ . . . expertise in sexual
orientation, homophobia and other issues of inclusion and diversity in the
curriculum.” The Ministry has
promised to “. . . solicit feedback directly from these organizations and
groups regarding the IRP (that is program of study) Response Drafts when each
Response Draft is posted on the Ministry’s website.
While the Ministry is to consider comments from other organizations and
groups, the Correns are the only ones who are legally guaranteed that those they
name will have their suggestions considered.
This is true for all courses, from kindergarten to Grade Twelve, not just for one course.1
How did we arrive at the point where two pro-homosexuality activists were
given such a special role by government? Well,
it didn’t happen overnight, or without warning
On February 11, 1997, Murray Warren, as he was then known, made a
presentation to Coquitlam school trustees.
In his presentation he indicated his overall aims when he said:
“Nowhere in the curriculum are the many and significant contributions
of lesbian and gay people, living and dead, acknowledged.
Our school libraries are devoid of resources that positively affirm the
achievements of gay and lesbian people in the arts, in literature, science,
medicine, social sciences, politics, and in every other sphere of endeavor.”
That presentation to the Coquitlam School Board was a wake-up call.
In the years following, we in British Columbia Parents and Teachers for
Life became more aware of the extent of pro-homosexuality propaganda planned for
the schools, and sought to warn parents about it.
Just a few days before Christmas, 2002, the Supreme Court of Canada handed
down its verdict in the so-called “Surrey Gay Books Case.”
In her judgement the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada found
against the Surrey School Board for failing to approve as teaching material
certain books promoted by homosexual activists.2
It is relevant to point out that Murray Warren was one of the petitioners
in this “book case” against the Surrey School Board.
It was also Murray Warren and his partner, Peter Cook, who brought the
case before the BC Human Rights Tribunal in which they alleged that the Ministry of Education had failed to make the B.C.
curriculum inclusive of positive and accurate portrayals of gay, lesbian,
bisexual, and transgendered students and same-sex families.
Rather than have this case continue, the BC government signed the
Settlement Agreement which we are considering tonight.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, the united front which we should have had
against this agreement did not develop.
Of course, we have had all sorts of indications—besides the actions of
the Correns--of the directions pro-homosexuality propagandists are taking.
The case of Dr. Chris Kempling ought to be instructive.
This Christian psychologist, teacher and school counsellor of Quesnel,
BC, has been harried through the courts and penalized for nothing more than
voicing, as a citizen, his warnings against the pro-homosexuality propaganda
being promoted in the schools. Now he has been silenced, forbidden to speak out
on the matter of pro-homosexuality propaganda in the schools.
And after what happened to Chris, it is unlikely that we can depend on
teachers to inform parents about what is going on in the schools.
Schools have become, in part, secret societies where activities go on
that are not open to examination by the public.
Gay-Straight Alliances have gradually increased in number in the schools
of British Columbia, largely unnoticed by parents, it would seem.
Not only is a favourable view of homosexual behaviour conveyed, but
students are propagandized to become activists and taught to regard as
oppressive those churches which fail to approve of such behaviour.
The approval of same-sex marriage (so-called) in Canada has enormously
increased the pressure on the schools to convey a message that such homosexual
unions are equivalent to traditional marriages.
Where
do British Columbia parents now stand as regards the Corren Settlement
Agreement? In
the public school system nothing guarantees students any safety from
pro-homosexuality propaganda. We are still hopeful, however, that sane and
rational voices will be listened to. There is reason to think that the
provincial government, while unable or unwilling to formally allow others the
same guaranteed input that the Correns had, may be cautious in flying in the
face of a considerable body of parents and their allies who are concerned about
the Corren Agreement. The more input concerned parents and their
supporters demand, the more likelihood there is that the plans of the Correns
will not be completely carried to fruition. But parents of
traditional morality, and parents who for medical reasons are concerned about
the pro-homosexuality program, will do well to be extremely wary.
Education Minister Shirley Bond has sent a letter assuring
independent schools that they are not subject to the provisions of the Corren
Settlement Agreement. They are thus apparently protected for the time
being. We cannot, though, preclude possible lawsuits from
pro-homosexuality activists that might challenge the protection afforded by
independent schools. Homeschooled students, of course, are protected as
long as homeschooling is protected by our laws, in contrast to what is happening
in Germany, where homeschooling is not allowed.
2.
What Should Parents of Traditional Morality and Their Supporters Do About the
Corren Settlement Agreement?
All
that has been said so far has been said to call attention to a serious threat to
the children and youth of our society.
If children in the schools are taught to accept as normal, behaviour that
their parents consider as immoral or dangerous or both, what can those parents
and their supporters do about the situation?
It
is useful to consider this question in two parts:
What can parents do to protect their own children, and what can we do to
protect education in general? We
all have responsibilities to those closest to us, and, as citizens, we also have
responsibilities to our fellow-citizens which we should not ignore.
Parents
can no longer take for granted—if they ever could-- that the schools their
children attend are safe. Now, more
than ever, it is necessary for parents to be involved in the schools. In spite of the fact that there are countless dedicated
teachers in the public school system, we cannot close our eyes to the fact that
there are forces seeking to use the schools to promote their own ideologies in
radical opposition to the life-views of parents of traditional morality.
First
of all, parents must know the school that their children attend. For busy
parents this is not easy. Parents
need to know the teachers, and the teachers can change from year to year.
Parents need to know the principal and vice-principal, and these can
change too. In a large school, and
particularly in a secondary school where your child can have many teachers in a
given year, it may be almost impossible to get to know each teacher in a
meaningful way.
Parents
need to know the philosophy of the school.
This is difficult in the case of a public school, because there may be no
consistent philosophy regarding the treatment of the most important life issues.
BC Parents and Teachers for Life, in an effort to
help parents in their efforts to protect their children, has issued a
“Parents’ Directive Regarding the Education of Their Children.” We think
that this document is written in respectful terms yet is firm in stating
the parents' wishes. Others have written similar documents. We
present this as reflective of issues we feel parents should be concerned
about.
This document when sent to the school does not come from
British Columbia Parents and Teachers for Life. It is only of value if it is recognized
as coming from the parents who deliver it.
We are happy to share this document with parents who request it.
I would encourage parents to write, as the Catholic Civil Rights League
has done,3 seeking
assurances that students will not be penalized if their parents keep them home
when certain sensitive topics (ones which are likely to be used to propagandize)
are discussed in class. Of course,
parents will also need assurance that prior notice is given them before the
discussion of such topics.
Though no-one else has been given the guaranteed input that the Correns
have been given, there is an opportunity on a government website for the review
of draft courses as they are released to the public.
Individuals and organizations can also request direct notification when
draft curricula and other documents are posted for public review.
The e-mail address you can use to send in your regular or e-mail address
if you request such notification is EDUC.Achievement@gov.bc.ca
. BCPTL has sent in its
address, and would be happy to hear of any others who have done so.
Perhaps you would like to work with us on the review of draft IRPs for
courses.
Inevitably many parents will choose independent schools, many
of them faith-based schools. So
far, independent schools receiving grants from the province may be allowed to
continue to teach in a manner consistent with the faith of parents and
supporting churches. They may be
allowed to ignore any sections of the curriculum devoted to affirming the
validity of life-styles to which parents are opposed.
Enrolling
students in independent schools does not absolve the parents of their obligation
to know their schools. Here too it
is necessary to be alert to what is being taught.
As always, this does not mean being a busybody.
It does mean exercising your parental right to know the nature of your
child’s education.
So
far, home-schooling is an option in British Columbia.
[Parents have a great deal of freedom to choose the form that
home-schooling takes, whether it is organized by the parents individually, or
through a purchased program—or by distributed learning, or correspondence,
which can come from the Ministry of Education.] Home-schooling naturally offers the greatest opportunity for
the parent to know what is taught to the students.
Before venturing into home-schooling, however, parents should count the
cost. If your child is not to be
deprived of important components of education, you need to make sure you have
the ablility and the resources of time to function as a teacher or guide in your
child’s schooling. You need
to also make sure your child has sufficient opportunities for social interaction
with others.
So
far, home-schooling is remarkably free of government restraints.
Looming on the horizon, however, is the possibility that this freedom may
not endure. Could we come to the
situation in Germany where children have been taken from their parents beause
those parents chose to home-school them? Watchfulness
is needed to ensure that our freedoms remain.
I think, too, that parents who home-school must be careful to keep up the
standards of their children’s education, not only for the sake of the
children, but to make sure that no reason or excuse is given for curtailing the
right to home-schooling.
What
is our responsibility as citizens? Surely
we do have a responsibility to our neighbours, including to our neighbours’
children. Even if thousands
of parents remove their children from public schools, many thousands will leave
their children in the system, and many thousands of students can still be
subjected to pro-homosexuality propaganda.
[The fact that large numbers of children are being removed
from the public-school system and either put in independent schools or
home-schooled has probably led to the loss of large numbers of parents who would
otherwise be active in seeking to protect the public-school system.
I am not suggesting that children be left in dangerous situations simply
to attempt to protect the school-system. Adults,
not children, should be the foot-soldiers in the struggle to save the public
schools.] I am going to suggest that parents who choose methods of
education other than the public schools still have a responsibility to those
schools. We are all taxpayers and
citizens. We have the
privilege of voting, and the responsibility vote thoughtfully.
We need to ask those seeking election as school board members and MLAs to
make written commitments as to what sorts of measures they will support if they
gain office. Whispered
promises are not a substitute for firm written commitments.
Too often those who are pro-life and pro-family have voted for candidates
who claimed to support their views, only to find that the support never
materialized once the candidate was elected.
What
of the Corren Settlement Agreement? Can
nothing be done to change or mitigate the provisions of that agreement? Thankfully, there are things we can do.
First of all, each of us can write to the provincial government
protesting its unwarranted action in giving a special role to the two activists
involved in the Corren Agreement.
We can show that we are constructive people by suggesting positive
principles that should guide the government’s actions.
Some positive principles were suggested in a statement drawn up in
September of 2006 by a number of groups, including
British Columbia Parents and Teachers for Life.
We would be glad to share that document.4
It is regrettable that there is no easy way to ensure that the schools
are not used for propagandizing on behalf of pro-homosexual activists.
But there is no easy way to ensure the protection of our children
and youth. Parents and their
supporters must be vigilant and active if the present perilous state of things
is to be remedied. For too
long the warning signs have been ignored. Only
if we are aware of the danger to children and youth and willing to act-- only
then will we be fulfilling our duty to the next generation.
Endnotes:
1
Settlement Agreement between Murray Corren and Peter Corren and Her Majesty the
Queen in Right of the Province of British Columbia
as represented by the Ministry of Education [Settlement Agreement], April 28,
2006, Section 2B.
In
the case of the Social Justice 12 course the Correns and “experts” chosen by
them get to review the draft before it is released to the public, and the public
will only see the version that has had “appropriate” revisions made after
the Correns have made their comments. (Settlement Agreement, 3A).
2
Chamberlain
v. Surrey School District
While
paying lip-service to the rights of parents to be involved in their children's
education, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court wrote: " . . . although
parental involvement is important, it cannot come at the expense of respect for
the values and practices of all members of the school community."
It seems almost incredible that the learned judge actually said that
school-board policy must respect the values and practices of all
members of the school community. Logically, this means we must accept not only Asha
Has Two Moms (one of the pro-homosexuality books in question), but Asha
Has Three Moms, and Asha's Mom is Her Aunt--and so on, where not only
polygamy, but relationships of incest would be held up as legitimate foundations
for the family.
In one matter the judge was obviously deadly serious: Schools must give
“families” based on homosexual relationships the same official respect as
traditional families. And children must be taught to respect such families. It
did not matter that some parents believe that such relationships are immoral.
Their rights were to be superseded by the rights of homosexual couples to have
their “family” groupings officially approved.
3
Sean
Murphy of the Catholic Civil Rights League has written to every school district
in British Columbia, with the result that many districts have committed to
allowing parents to withdraw their children from class when sensitive issues
are being dealt with. This is good news, but it depends on parents
having the boldness to take this action, and also on parents being notified
beforehand when such topics are about to be covered (which would
require preventing the "teachable moment" being used to cover such
topics.
4
(Among
the other groups whose representatives agreed to the statement were REAL Women
of British Columbia, Christian Social Fellowship, Catholic Civil Rights League,
and Christian Coalition.) The
positive principles they agreed to were the following:
“1. We affirm our common desire
to see established within the schools of British Columbia an atmosphere in which
harassment or abusive conduct directed at any student is not acceptable,
regardless of their actual or apparent association or identification with any
group.
“2.
Access to the means of influencing the development of curriculum for all
subjects in British Columbia public schools should be open to all citizens
without discrimination. No special rights of access or influence should be
given to particular private citizens or groups.
“3.
Parents have the right to educate children in conformity with their moral and
religious convictions. Public schools must be transparent and accountable to
parents about what is taught to students. Teaching materials should be open to
examination by parents, and particular care should be taken that parents are
directly advised, well in advance, when sexuality or other controversial or
sensitive topics are to be discussed.
“4.
Nothing in the curriculum or practice of British Columbia public schools should
denigrate the legally protected moral and religious beliefs of parents and
children.”
On
the BCPTL website is a list of ways in which the above principles could be used
to remedy the injustices of the Corren Settlement Agreement.
--XXX--
Texas
Psychiatrist Questions
Sex Reassignment Surgery
By Mike Hatfield
June 12, 2007 - Theron Bowers, MD, an Assistant Professor of
Psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine, has recently written an essay that
questions the wisdom of surgeons doing sexual reassignment surgery for
individuals who believe they are trapped in opposite sex bodies (known by the
umbrella term "transgenders").
In "Focus
On Gender Politics: Is Changing Gender As Simple As Changing Clothes?"
Dr. Bowers describes a recent Newsweek
cover story that portrays maleness and femaleness as social constructions
and promotes the idea that sex change operations are correct choices for
individuals who suffer from gender confusion.
According to Bowers,
Sexual reassignment, with hormone treatment and surgery, is a woolly term
which is used far too casually. Take the word "reassignment." What
are the defenders of transsexualism implying when they use it? In my view,
they are relying upon both hoary old Freudian ideas and a silly recent
movement called constructivism. The upshot of these two schools of thought is
that nature is unimportant compared to nurture. Society and technology always
trump biology. So using the word 'reassignment' imples that sex is an
arbitrary category imposed by the dominant culture through the family. From
this perspective, sex is merely a societal convention.
Dr. Bowers also quoted Dr. Paul McHugh, writing in "Surgical
Sex" for First Things. According to McHugh:
I have witnessed a great deal of damage from sex-reassignment. The children
transformed from their male constitution into female roles suffered prolonged
distress and misery as they sensed their natural attitudes. . . . .
[Click here to go to the complete NARTH article.]
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
June 20, 2007
For more information, contact:
Joseph Nicolosi, Ph.D., 818.789.4440
Email: nationalarth@yahoo.com
American
Psychological Association
Appoints Gay Activists to Monitor
Reorientation Therapy
Encino, California -- National Association For Research &
Therapy Of Homosexuality (NARTH) President Joseph Nicolosi, Ph.D. has issued the
following statement about the recent creation of the American Psychological
Association (APA) "Task Force On Appropriate Therapeutic Responses To
Sexual Orientation":
This new APA task force was created to monitor "reorientation
therapies" - therapy for people who want to decrease their homosexual
attractions and develop their heterosexual potential. But the APA has sent
the foxes to guard the henhouse. Reorientation therapy is for people who
don't want to be gay--and it is now being monitored by gay activists who
believe there is no such thing as a formerly gay person!
NARTH nominated a list of
highly qualified names to serve on this new committee, but none were
chosen. Out of the six individuals finally approved by the APA, five of them
are committed gay-affirmative activists who are openly hostile to the reality
that individuals with unwanted same-sex attraction can be helped.
The eventual findings of this committee are already predetermined. I predict
that once this task force finishes its investigation into "appropriate
responses to sexual orientation," it will issue a report calling upon the
APA to declare reorientation/reparative therapy to be unethical and harmful.
It will then call upon all psychological groups to ban such therapy.
If this activist-committee succeeds in its efforts, thousands of individuals
with unwanted same-sex attractions will be unable to have access to qualified
therapists to aid them. This is a clear violation of patient autonomy and
self-determination, and a blow to the same diversity that the APA
claims to champion.
NARTH, founded in 1992, is
composed of psychiatrists, psychologists, certified social workers, professional
and pastoral counselors and other behavioral scientists, as well as laymen from
a wide variety of backgrounds such as law, religion, and education.
NARTH
16633 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 1340
Encino, CA 91436-1801
Phone: (818) 789-4440
In the United States:
NEA Teachers Help Fund
Homosexual Groups, Training
| Children
are Endangered by Radical Agenda
Contact: Linda Harvey (614) 442-7998
E-mail: lh@missionamerica.com
(COLUMBUS, OH, June 27, 2006) The National Education Association (NEA),which
gathers this week for its annual meeting in Philadelphia, has just been
brought up short by an Ohio
court ruling that an individual teacher’s union dues may not be used
to fund pro-abortion activities, if that teacher objects for religious
reasons.
But many teachers may not be aware that NEA and its state affiliates
also fund pro-homosexual activities, including groups advocating the full
expression of homosexuality and “transgendered” behaviors by children
and teachers . . . .
The teachers’ union also sponsors training on “GLBT issues.” Its
NEA-GLBT Caucus will holde "Mission on tcle a workshop on June 29 for
the NEA board of directors and member teachers about how to support
homosexuality in their schools and silence other viewpoints and warnings.
There is no training planned with an alternate view.
[Click here to read the
whole article on the "Mission America" website.]
|
"Thousands
cheer gay parade"
Jun 24, 2007
Canadian
Press
[Note the enthusiasm expressed by the writer in this article.--BCPTL website
editor]
Thousands of people lined downtown Toronto's streets Sunday afternoon to
enjoy the city's Pride Parade, Canada's largest gay pride celebration.
. . . .
Mexican
tourist Nancy Figueroa, on a visit to Canada with her husband and daughter, said
there were no parades like this where she is from and praised Canada's
open-mindedness.
"It's good for the people to express themselves, what their preferences
are," Figueroa said of the parade.
Figueroa had brought her daughter to the event in order to expose her to gay
culture.
"(She) won't see something like this as something forbidden, or as
something that is not right," she said. "Hopefully in the future,
(she) will see this like something normal."
Several politicians also joined in the march, including Toronto Mayor
David Miller, Ontario Progressive Conservative leader John Tory and Liberal MP
Michael Ignatieff. [boldface by editor of BCPTL website]
The event brings in an estimated $80 million to the local economy.
Chicago Board of Ed
Sued for Teacher Allegedly Showing 'Brokeback Mountain' in Class
Fox News online, May 13, 2007
A girl and her grandparents have sued the Chicago Board of Education, alleging
that a substitute teacher showed the R-rated film "Brokeback Mountain"
in class.
The lawsuit claims that Jessica Turner, 12, suffered psychological distress
after viewing the movie in her 8th grade class at Ashburn Community Elementary
School last year.
The film, which won three Oscars, depicts two cowboys who conceal their
homosexual affair.
Turner and her grandparents, Kenneth and LaVerne Richardson, are seeking around
$500,000 in damages.
"It is very important to me that my children not be exposed to this,"
said Kenneth Richardson, Turner's guardian. "The teacher knew she was not
supposed to do this."
According to the lawsuit filed Friday in Cook County Circuit Court, the video
was shown without permission from the students' parents and guardians.
The lawsuit also names Ashburn Principal Jewel Diaz and a substitute teacher,
referred to as "Ms. Buford."
The substitute asked a student to shut the classroom door at the West Side
school, saying: "What happens in Ms. Buford's class stays in Ms. Buford's
class," according to the lawsuit.
Richardson said his granddaughter was traumatized by the movie and had to
undergo psychological treatment and counseling.
In 2005, Richardson complained to school administrators about reading material
that he said included curse words.
"This was the last straw," he said. "I feel the lawsuit was
necessary because of the warning I had already given them on the literature they
were giving out to children to read. I told them it was against our faith."
Messages left over the weekend with CPS officials were not immediately returned.
Students Take a Stand
for Truth
by Jennifer Mesko, associate editor, CitizenLink e-mail,, May
11, 2007
Nearly a month after the Day of Silence and Day of Truth, controversy continues.
Sophomore Oleg Manzyuk and many of his friends stayed home from San Juan High
School on April 18, the Day of Silence. On that day, homosexual students and
their supporters wore tape over their mouths in protest.
Two years ago, the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) established the Day of Truth -
April 19 this year - to express a Christian perspective. Nearly 7,000 students
participated in the third-annual Day of Truth.
But Oleg wasn't in class that day either; he and about a dozen others were
suspended by the Citrus Heights, Calif., school for wearing T-shirts with
Scripture verses addressing homosexuality. In four California districts, at
least 150 students were suspended.
"It was my idea for the shirt," Oleg said. "Some of the gay
students wore shirts (with rainbows and mentions of gay sex), and they were not
suspended. That's just ridiculous. They're showing their opinion; so can
we."
The girl who wore the gay-sex shirt was suspended three days later.
Trent Allen, director of information for the San Juan Unified School District,
said any shirt that creates an "atmosphere of intimidation" is not OK.
"Students on both sides of the issue who are wearing shirts that do not
continue the conversation in an educational manner" are asked to remove the
shirts or turn them inside out.
The suspensions on the Day of Truth were expunged, but there were more
suspensions in the weeks that followed. Protests outside some schools continued
this week.
"We fully support both sides to have a discussion, as long as it doesn't
disrupt the educational process," Allen said.
The students opposed to the gay agenda contacted Kevin Snider, chief counsel at
the Pacific Justice Institute.
"Our position is that any of the shirts that are out there are lawful to
wear," he said. "It doesn't mean they are necessarily seemly, or for
ministry purposes. They are engaging in expressive conduct that is legal.
"It would be completely inappropriate for the government to ban speech that
speaks to moral issues."
Snider has advised the students to stop wearing the shirts. Instead, the
district, parents and lawyers have been meeting to find middle ground.
"Parties can either negotiate a middle ground," he said, "or it
would be appropriate to go into the courts. We need to go forward in a logical
manner. We need to aggressively either pursue negotiations or go to court."
David French, senior counsel for ADF, said there are two considerations in the
T-shirt cases: legal equality and substantial disruption.
"If the school is going to allow one side unfettered free speech on the
issue of homosexuality," he said, it has to let the other side speak, too.
A high school cannot say speech is creating a "substantial disruption"
just because one person is offended, he said.
"Just getting your feelings hurt is not disruptive to the educational
process."
Candi Cushman, education analyst for Focus on the Family Action, agreed.
"While we would encourage students to always use compassionate and
respectful message on their T-shirts, the sad thing is, these kids shouldn't be
having to deal with homosexual politics in their public schools at all,"
she said. "If schools are going to insist on allowing adult agendas to be
promoted in their hallways and classes, then the least they can do is give equal
access and equal respect to religious students' point of view."
The next Day of Silence is just about 340 days away.
"This would all be settled without a Day of Silence," Oleg said.
"It's a promotion of homosexuality and the homosexual lifestyle. I don't
want that showcased at school."
YouTube Pulls Videos Showing Homosexual
Indoctrination of Elementary School Children
By Hilary White
CAMBRIDGE, MA, April 26, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A video has been removed
that was posted to the online video service, YouTube, showing teachers using
homosexual materials in class to promote the normalization of homosexuality to
young children.
The film, “It’s Elementary”, was made in 1996 by Women’s Educational
Media, a San Francisco-based group that claims the film “has served as a
catalyst for schools all over the world to become more proactive in addressing
anti-gay prejudice in the classroom.”
The link to the site on YouTube where the video was, now carries a message
saying, “This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Women's
Educational Media.”
The videos [however] were cached on the website of Mass Resistance, a pro-family
lobbying organization.
The video can be viewed at
http://www.massresistance.org/media/video/brainwashing.html
Note by editor of this BC Parents and Teachers for Life website:
Since the above was posted, it has been revealed that the original posting on
YouTube was done by someone who holds reprehensible views on other
matters--views with which wse would not want to be associated. This,
however, does not change the fact that the excerpts from "It's
Elementary" are ones that parents ought to be familiar with.
Actually, the excerpts
from the viewing guide to "It's Elementary" published by
"Women's Educational Media" contain far more explicit evidence of the
propagandist nature of the film.
Examples from the "Synopsis of the Film" in this viewing guide give
the flavour of the film, and indicate how it can be used for pro-homosexuality
propaganda:
"Lesson #5: Photo Text Exhibit: Love Makes a Family. A principal
explains her decision to display the photo exhibit of families with gay members,
the controversy that ensued with mixed reactions from parents, and her reasons
for going ahead. Children view the exhibit with serious interest; a veteran
teacher learns from their response."
"Lesson #8: Volunteer Speakers’ Presentations. Two gay young adults
talk about their own lives, then open the session for earnest questions that
demonstrate students’ lack of information and their desire to learn about what
it means to be gay or lesbian. Speakers clarify that the purpose of their visit
is not to discuss their sex lives. Students comment afterward on stereotypes
they had believed but now understand aren’t true"
"The Controversy. Angry demonstrators quote the Bible, and the
principal asserts the need for tolerance and mutual respect that cuts across
religious lines."
The
British Columbia Teachers’ Federation is Promoting the Week Against
Homophobia, May 14th.
What
Can Parents Expect?
Last
year the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) promoted a “Day of
Silence” in which students, in the words
of the BCTF website, “ . . .take a nine-hour vow of silence to
recognize and protest the harassment, prejudice, and discrimination—in effect,
the silencing—that LGBT people face. Instead of speaking, high school and
university participants hand out cards or wear stickers or t-shirts printed with
the following message:
“Please
understand my reasons for not speaking today. I am participating in the Day of
Silence, a national youth movement protesting the silence faced by lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender people, and their allies. My deliberate silence echoes
that silence, which is caused by harassment, prejudice and discrimination. I
believe that ending the silence is the first step toward fighting these
injustices. Think about the voices you are not hearing today. What are you going
to do to end the silence?”
The
Day of Silence is, among other things,
the BCTF website states, about “raising awareness around LGBT [Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, and Transgendered] issues.”
This
year the BCTF is promoting not just one day but a week, which it entitles a
“Week Against Homophobia.”
(See http://bctf.ca/SocialJustice.aspx?id=6112
)
What
may parents expect in their children’s schools if they have a
“Week Against Homophobia”?
Well, in spite of the professed devotion to eliminating prejudice, these
events when fostered by the pro-homosexuality activists who promote them, are
anything but objective. They are
one more tool by which these activists may propagandize the youth.
The nature
of the week’s activities may be gathered from the BCTF website’s
suggestions on the web page the URL of
which is given above. Under the
sub-heading “What can principals do?"
are given, among others, the
following ideas:
”Talk positively about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) issues
in your school community. Demonstrate leadership as a progressive ally.”
” Support LGBT staff members who choose to be “out” within the school
community . . . “
” Encourage someone from the local school or
parent community to contribute to LGBT Pride Month (June). Recognize it
within your school as you do other celebrations.”
Under the sub-heading “What can teacher-librarians do?” are the following
suggestions:
”Find out what new books are available to positively portray lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and add some to your library
collection.”
Under “What can elementary teachers do?” we find the following:
”Read a story and talk positively about same-sex families to students in your
classroom. Titles appropriate for Grades K–3:
King & King
ABC—A Family Alphabet Book
My Two Uncles
Asha’s Mums
Mom and Mum Are Getting Married
Who’s In a Family?”
and
“Have a class discussion about Canadian newsworthy events—Grades 6–7
(i.e., same-sex marriage in Canada)”
Under “What can secondary teachers do? are
the following suggestions:
“Highlight
famous LGBT people and discuss their contributions to society within your
subject area (i.e., English, P.E., Science, Music). For information, check out
the pages of the “Challenging Homophobia in Schools” handbook available in
your school.”
”Start a Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) Club in your school. Apply for a GSA
bursary from GALE-BC for an event within your school that helps counteract
homophobia.”
” Invite speakers to your class or an assembly during Pride month in June.
Contact a local LGBT society in your area (i.e., Gab Youth Services, GALE-BC,
PFLAG, ASIA, Youthco AIDS Society).”
What can parents do who are concerned about the possible effects of a
propaganda-laden “Day of
Silence” or “Week Against Homophobia?”
Well, first we suggest you take steps to find out if these events are
going on in your child’s school.
Then express your concern to the appropriate authorities, emphasizing
that you are against violence and harassment in the schools but are also against
the propagandizing of students for a harmful life-style.
In the United States this year a national coalition of organizations has
called on parents to boycott the “Day of Silence,” pulling their children
out of school for the day. If you
choose to remove your child from school on that day or to remove him on one or
more days during the “Week Against Homophobia,” we suggest you tell the
school authorities the reason for your action
In the United States:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Cindy Roberts
662-844-5036 x227
April 4, 2007
AFA Warns Parents to Keep their Children Home
from School
on 'Gay Day' of Silence, April 18
The American Family Association (AFA) is
alerting parents about a "Day of Silence" - sponsored by the Gay,
Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) -- to take place in many
schools across the country on Wednesday, April 18. The AFA is encouraging
parents with children in those schools participating in the "Day of
Silence" to keep their students at home on that day. GLSEN says they
promote this "Day of Silence" to protest alleged oppression of
homosexuals. In 2006, over 4,000 junior highs, high schools, and colleges
participated in DOS, according to GLSEN."
Many school district superintendents, principals, and faculty members also
endorse, promote or allow DOS -- subjecting traditional students to
pro-"gay" activism that violates their religious beliefs and right to
a non-politicized education.
"Students in our public schools should not be subjected to indoctrination
and pressure from administrators, teachers, students, and especially homosexual
activists," says AFA chairman Donald Wildmon. "These school
sanctioned activities promote intolerance and bigotry toward any student who
holds a Biblical view of the dangerous and unhealthy lifestyle."
According to GLSEN, on last year's Day of Silence, over 500,000 students
nationwide were confronted with mute homosexual peers and "allies"
wearing stickers and passing out cards, which stated (in part):
"... My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by
harassment, prejudice, and discrimination. I believe that ending the silence is
the first step toward fighting these injustices. Think about the voices you are
not hearing today. What are you going to do to end the silence?"
For a complete list of the schools planning to participate in DOS, visit http://www.missionamerica.com/agenda.php?articlenum=68.
CitizenLink,
Apr. 4, 2007
Connecticut High School
Agrees to Allow Day of Truth
The principal of Danbury High School in
Connecticut agreed Wednesday to allow a student to promote and participate in
the Day of Truth -- but only after receiving a letter from the Alliance Defense
Fund (ADF). The school initially had prohibited the student from taking part.
The school has endorsed the pro-gay Day
of Silence on April 18, but officials told Rosemary Shakro she could not invite
a speaker to a club meeting or post signs concerning the counter-event scheduled
for the following day.
The principal called the Day of Truth
too "controversial" and also prohibited "anti-homosexual"
speech.
Matt Bowman, an attorney for ADF, said
the letter to the principal simply explained Shakro's rights so the school could
correct its error.
"According to the law, a school
cannot allow students to promote one viewpoint and then prohibit promotion of
another viewpoint," he said. "School officials also cannot ban speech
just because they think it's unpopular or controversial."
Bowman said he hopes other schools will
follow the example.
"The Day of Truth is an
opportunity for Christian students to respectfully present a different viewpoint
than students participating in the Day of Silence."
FOR MORE INFORMATION
To learn more about the Day of Truth, click
here.
Click
here to view the letter sent to Danbury High School.
The free Adobe Reader is required to
view this document. You can download it here.
From CitizenLink
2-28-2007
Gay Lawmaker Pushes Bill to Muzzle
Schools
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
Legislation would silence any curriculum that reflects adversely on
homosexuality.
A gay-activist lawmaker has introduced a bill to require California schools
to censor any instructional material that "reflects adversely" on
people with perceived gender issues.
Sen. Sheila Kuehl, an open homosexual, is the sponsor of SB 777, a bill
almost identical to last session's SB 1437. That bill was vetoed by Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Ron Prentice, executive director of the California Family Council, said
Kuehl’s bill would further infiltrate the state's laws with definitions and
protections for alternative sexual behavior.
"This bill claims to eliminate bias in education," he said.
"Instead, it is intolerant of opposing beliefs and perspectives. The bill
threatens an accurate portrayal of history and social science, in order for
homosexuals to achieve a legislated sense of 'normalcy.' "
If the legislation succeeds, Prentice said, school-sponsored activities
like homecoming king and queen would be forced to become more neutral or end
altogether. In addition, if a student is one gender but claims the other,
school districts would be forced to provide special treatment and services --
such as restroom facilities or participation in the opposite gender's physical
education class.
"Senator Kuehl continues to push for the re-engineering of
California’s schools," he said, "through the silencing of teachers
and students."
A
Significant Quote: A Pro-Homosexuality Activist's Denies Parental
Opt-Out
But parents don't have a right to opt their children out of an
inclusive education, regardless of whether or not it collides with their
religious or moral values, counters James Chamberlain of the Gay and Lesbian
Educators of BC.
Just as a classroom teacher won't condone a racist parent for rejecting positive
images of people of colour in a book, the same holds true for a parent who
presents a homophobic objection, Chamberlain explains. Parents shouldn't have
the right to opt out simply because it's a message they don't want their child
to hear, he adds.
"It's a message of inclusion and tolerance, and the Supreme Court of Canada
was really clear with that in the case Murray Corren, myself, and three other
litigants took to the court a few years ago with the Surrey book issue.
Sometimes the messages we teach children in school do collide with home values.
That's called cognitive dissonance. It's just part of education,"
Chamberlain says.
Homosexual Activists Consider Targeting Private
Christian Schools for "Homophobia"
Want provincial ministry of education to exert “more control" over
curriculum and staff hiring
By Gudrun Schultz
OTTAWA, Ontario, February 27, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Ontario private schools
are coming increasingly under the lens of homosexual activist groups for
"homophobic" teaching stemming from the schools' primarily religious
foundations, a report in Ottawa's homosexual news media indicated earlier this
week.
In an article warning about the increasing trend toward private and religious
schools in the province, Ottawa's Capital Xtra objected to religious schools
that teach children "only their own values."
The article quotes Tony Lovink, a homosexual . . . teacher . . . , as
saying, "All private schools tend to be at least implicitly homophobic. And
I would say all religiously formed independent schools are definitely
homophobic."
The Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Ontario said they were concerned the
provincial ministry of education wasn't "exerting more control" over
the curriculum used by private religious schools. Unless a school wants to grant
students government-recognized Secondary School Diplomas, Ontario private
schools are free to use their preferred curriculum. Even schools that do grant
the government diplomas may teach any additional material they choose, so long
as the required curriculum is covered.
As well, the CLGRO objected to provincial standards that permit private schools
to hire teachers based on the school administration's own qualification
requirements.
In October 2006 the Quebec government ordered private Christian schools in the
province to begin teaching sex education and Darwinism in compliance with the
provincial curriculum, threatening schools with closure if they failed to
comply.
Dr. Janet Epp Buckingham, then-director of law and public policy with the
Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, told LifeSiteNews at the time that parents’
right to educate their children in accordance with their religious beliefs is
protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
In 1986 the Supreme Court ruled that although an Alberta pastor who was running
a school out of the basement of his church did have to license the school, the
provincial government had to provide reasonable accommodation for religious
belief.
The court ruled that the province must “‘delicately and sensitively weigh
the competing interests so as to respect as much as possible the religious
convictions as guaranteed by the Charter,’” Dr. Epp Buckingham quoted.
In an ongoing battle over homosexual content in BC public school curriculums,
parents are struggling to gain assurance from the school board that they may
withdraw their children from pro-homosexual content in the classroom.
Homosexual activists Murray Corren and Peter Corren were granted an
unprecedented say over the development of new pro-homosexual content in the
provincial curriculum, as part of settlement in a human rights lawsuit against
the province's Liberal government in June 2006. The agreement also introduced a
policy that would prevent parents from withdrawing their children from the
classroom when the material was being taught.
The Catholic Civil Rights League is continuing efforts to ensure all 60 BC
school boards acknowledge parents' rights to oversee the education of their
children.
See related LifeSiteNews coverage:
Quebec Government Forcing Evangelical Private Schools to Teach Sex Ed, Darwinism
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/oct/06102404.html
Gov't Agrees to Mandatory Homosexual Curriculum with No Opt-Out for Students or
Parents
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jun/06060101.html
B.C. School Boards Refuse to Assure Parents of Right to Oversee Children’s
Education
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jan/07010804.html
[Note by editor of this BCPTL website: In British
Columbia, the Education Minister has assured
independent schools that they are not subject to the
provisions of the Corren Settlement Agreement.
They are thus apparently protected for the time
being. We cannot, though, precluded possible
lawsuits from pro-homosexuality activists that
might challenge the protection afforded by independent
schools.]
Gay Pressure
Threatens Counseling
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor, Family News in Focus
[February, 2007]
Task force will review "appropriate therapy practices.”
Politics over Science
Under pressure from homosexual activists, the American
Psychological Association (APA) plans to re-examine its policy on therapy for
gay men and women seeking change.
At least two homosexual groups--the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy
Institute (NGLTF) and PFLAG (Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbian and
Gays)—want the APA to get tough on anyone who tries to help gays change.
The groups “came to us and said from their perspective issues related to
reparative therapy are still very important issues that affect the well-being of
lesbian, gay and bisexual people," Dr. Clinton W. Anderson, director of the
lesbian, gay, and bisexual concerns office at the APA, told CitizenLink.
"They said, 'We think it would be a good idea if you took another look at
it.' "
The APA is inviting nominations for a five-member task force to consider the
issue.
Anderson said he isn't sure if there will be a panel member appointed to
represent homosexuals who have successfully sought change.
"What we will do is look to see who is nominated," he said. "I
believe that there will be a strong concern to have on the task force people
with substantive expertise about the population you're talking about -- people
who know the scientific and clinical literature very well; people who have both
research and clinical understanding."
Dr. Warren Throckmorton, associate professor of psychology and fellow for
psychology and public policy at Grove City College, said the APA is responding
to pressure, not science.
"The reasons they recommended it was for political reasons, not for
scientific reasons," he said. "They didn't refer to new research, or
new studies -- they referred to new policy statements from other groups."
The APA already stands against therapies that treat homosexuality as a mental
illness, Throckmorton said. If the group yields to demands from PFLAG and NGLTF
and comes out against reparative therapy, discontented gays will have fewer
options.
"What we're talking about is the right of clients who are unhappy with
their feeling (of same-sex attraction)," he said. "Those people have
the right to seek therapy to help them live the way they want to live -- the way
they value."
Alan Chambers, a former homosexual and president of Exodus International, an
ex-gay organization, said reparative therapy isn’t harmful. In fact, he said
he's all the better for having gone though it.
“What I found in my life is that I had lasting change, a change in identity
and something that I don’t feel tempted to be involved in homosexuality at
all,” Chambers told Family News in Focus. “It took probably eight years for
me to find freedom from the attractions and the desires that really held me
captive for decades. But I believe that I have a heterosexual identity.”
Family News in Focus Correspondent Steve Jordahl contributed to this report.
2-27-2007
Gay Student 'Weddings' Anger
California Parents
Citizen Link; Feb. 27, 2007; from staff reports
High school event offer counterfeit marriage certificates.
Some self-identified gay students at Glendale High School in California
recently gathered in the cafeteria for fake wedding ceremonies -- a
school-sponsored event.
A petition asking the government to end discrimination against same-sex
marriage was also in the mix.
The "Freedom to Marry" event provided the couples with mock
marriage certificates and included a petition drive calling on the government
to allow same-sex marriage.
George Taylorson, a Glendale resident, said he's appalled the school would
allow the event.
"To encourage this type of lifestyle with kids that are 13, 14, on up,
it just totally angers me and just disturbs me," he told Family News in
Focus. "The schools have a big-enough problem as it is just educating the
kids without getting involved in such a highly sensitive area."
The Pacific Justice Institute sent a warning letter to Principal Kathy
Fundukian, urging her to act in the best interest of all students. The goal of
the ceremonies, backed by an openly gay teacher and the school's Gay-Straight
Alliance student club, was to "mock marriage."
Lynne Fishel, director of public relations at the California Family
Council, isn't surprised by the tactic.
"They are a pretty organized group throughout California high
schools," she said. "It's just kind of an in-your-face event,
obviously for those of us that want to protect traditional marriage."
TAKE ACTION: If you'd like to ask Principal Kathy
Fundukian to not allow students to make a mockery of marriage, you may e-mail
her at kfundkian@gusd.net
From: News
Advisory: February 23, 2007
Contact:
Regina Griggs, Director, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX)
703-360-2255
PFOX@pfox.org
www.pfox.org
PARENT
GROUPS ASK MARYLAND TO STOP NEW SEX ED LESSONS
Neutral
Unisex Bathroom Created for Cross-dressing Student
Montgomery
County, Maryland – Three parent
organizations are asking the Maryland State Board of Education to halt the new
sex ed curriculum approved by the Montgomery County, Maryland Board of
Education (BOE). Parents and
Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX), Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum
(CRC), and Family Leader Network have filed an appeal requesting Maryland to
stay Montgomery County Public School’s sex ed plans.
The
newly approved curriculum, entitled "Respect
for Differences in Human Sexuality," promotes cross-dressers,
homosexuals, transgenders, bisexuals, the intersexed, and other
non-heterosexuals. It teaches
children about “coming out” as gay, “gender identity” for men who
think they’re women and vice-versa, and “homophobia” as a label for
anyone who disagrees.
In
one lesson, a boy begins to wear dresses to school, calls himself
“Portia,” and wants to be known as a girl.
The principal gives him a key to a private restroom and a new student
ID identifying him as a girl. “Although
transgenderism is considered a gender identity disorder by the American
Psychiatric Association, the lesson plan fails to recommend counseling for
students with gender confusion,” said Regina
Griggs, PFOX Executive Director.
“Instead, it implies that schools should create new unisex bathrooms
for cross-dressing students.”
The
lesson also refers
to “Portia” as a ‘she’ when the law and biology classify ‘her’ as
a “he.” “This gender
bending forces students to acknowledge ‘Portia’ as a female when he is not
and creates gender confusion for children,” said Griggs.
“This flawed educational policy is not based on medical or scientific
facts.”
Despite
repeated appearances by former homosexuals and a former transgender before the
BOE, the Board voted to exclude ex-gays from the lesson plans although gays,
transgenders, and the intersexed are included and taught to students. “Why
do the lesson plans censor ex-gays when every other sexual orientation is
discussed and supported?” asked Griggs.
“The
BOE violates its own sexual orientation non-discrimination policy by choosing
which sexual orientations it favors based on politics and not science.
Its discriminatory actions contribute to the intolerance and open
hostility faced by the ex-gay community.”
PFOX
was a member of the curriculum committee representing the ex-gay community,
yet the BOE voted to teach
students that it is normal to change your sex (transgender) but not normal to
change your unwanted same-sex attractions (former homosexual).
“The lesson plans instruct students that homosexual orientation is
innate and inborn, despite testimony by former homosexuals before the BOE and
all contrary scientific research,” explained Griggs.
“The
lesson plans are entitled “Respect for Differences in Human Sexuality,”
yet the ex-gay community receives no respect and is deliberately left out of
the curriculum,” Griggs said. “The
actions of the Montgomery County Board of Education are discriminatory,
endanger children, and are politically motivated.”
“What
happens in Montgomery County will happen to the rest of Maryland, so it is
imperative to stop this ‘sex ed’ program now before it is fully
implemented,” said Griggs. Concerned
Maryland residents can take
action at http://www.mcpscurriculum.org/take_action.shtml
###
A
copy of this news advisory is available online at:
http://pfox.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?
A version of the essay
immediately below was refused for publication by the Briltish Columbia Teachedrs'
Federation'sTeacher Newsmagazine. So here is the essay that B.C.
teachers were not given the opportunity to see.
The Goose, the Gander
and the Elephant
Sean Murphy, Director
CCRL Western Region
Introduction
This essay responds to a column by a homosexual activist published in the
magazine of the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation.
Writing in Teacher Newsmagazine in the garb of a "guardian of
public education," Murray Corren urges his colleagues to assert their
"professional autonomy" and "fend off" parents who refuse to
allow their children to participate in classes for reasons of conscience or
religion. He asks, “Whose worldview should we privilege and whose should we
censor? Who should decide what gets taught and what doesn’t?”1
For an answer to this question, one has only to look at Mr. Corren's private
agreement with the provincial Ministry of Education. It awards him and Peter
Corren privileged status in the development of public education policy and
curriculum.2 The agreement was signed secretly,
includes a provision for continuing secrecy,3 and
was kept secret for over a month after it was signed.4
The first part of the agreement is intended to prevent objecting parents from
removing their children from Kindergarten to Grade 12 classes when
"queer-positive" lessons are taught.5
Clearly, it is Mr. Corren’s worldview that is privileged. Those who
disagree with it will be censored, and a coterie of ‘professionals’ who
share his views will decide what gets taught.
For example, the Ministry of Education called an invitation-only meeting to
discuss the proposed grade 12 ‘social justice’ elective with the Correns and
others deemed worthy of consultation, like the BCTF and the SPCA.6
Representatives of the province’s religious traditions were not invited;
groups opposed to the Corren agreement and concerned about curriculum revisions
were deliberately excluded. The President of the BC Civil Liberties Association
- one of the select invitees - sniffed that such groups “should not be
contributing to any dialogue on education reform."7
Everyone is equal in public education, it seems, but some are more equal than
others.
In the light of all of this, it is tempting, as Mr. Corren parades in his
robes of office as a “guardian of public education,” to observe that the
emperor has no clothes. But one does not do so. Instead, one humours his claim
to the guardian of public education, on the condition that he admits that he
shares the office with fellow citizens - including those who disagree with him.
But his assumption of guardianship over other people’s children warrants a
different response.
The Minister of Education is not the source of parental authority, nor is a
teaching degree or professional certification the source of a teacher's
authority as it relates to the educational and moral formation of students
entrusted to them. Quite the reverse: the authority of the Minister, teachers
and administrators with respect to students is delegated to them by parents, a
delegation reflected in the traditional statement that teachers act in loco
parentis.
Parents do not surrender their authority to the state, to a union, to a
profession or to special interest activists when they entrust their children to
a public school system. They remain the primary educators of their children, and
this primacy is not only in order of time and importance, but in order of
authority, regardless of religious affiliation. It cannot be suppressed by the
Corren’s private agreement with the government, nor by fiat of the Ministry of
Education.
Moreover, citizens do not surrender freedom of conscience, religion, thought
and belief as a condition of attending a public school. No direction from the
Ministry of Education and no private agreements with special interest activists
can relieve teachers, administrators and school districts of their
responsibility to accommodate these fundamental freedoms. Were that the case, it
would give them the power to override the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a
power which has been granted only to parliament and provincial legislatures.
There is also the issue of international agreements, to which Canada is a
signatory.8
Of course, it can be awkward to apply these principles in practice. Mr.
Corren asks if the “sensitivities” of one parent should determine what
novels are used in a public school classroom. Clearly not: no more than Mr.
Corren’s sensitivities should force curriculum revisions on the entire public
school system. If sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, his private
contract with the government is markedly inconsistent with his scornful rhetoric
about the sensitivities and religious beliefs of “a small segment of the
parent population.”
Once more, everyone is equal in public education, but some are more equal
than others.
Still, the question remains. How should a teacher respond if parents refuse
to allow their children to participate in lessons or classes “mandated” by
the curriculum?
Mr. Corren urges his colleagues to ”take a stand” and invite the objectors
to avail themselves of “other educational options,” ignoring the fact that
home-schooling is unrealistic for many families, and other alternatives may be
unavailable. This could be remedied by increasing support for charter and
independent schools so that parents in such situations would have a real choice,
but, in the meantime, his solution remains unsatisfactory.
More to the point, Mr. Corren’s answer - “my-way-or-the-highway” - is a
wrong answer that comes of asking the wrong questions. His questions do not lead
to an enlightened response to the dilemma posed by profoundly divergent
worldviews reflected in the classroom. Rather, one should ask how a state
educational system can respect differences among families with diverse moral and
religious outlooks while developing broadly acceptable curriculum standards.
That different parents have different moral or religious outlooks does not make
it impossible for a state educational system to respect those differences while
developing broadly acceptable curriculum standards. If, despite appropriate
consultation, the standards are unacceptable to some parents, they can be
accommodated by acknowledging their authority to withdraw their children from
the objectionable lessons or classes. Alternatively, discussion between the
parents concerned and school authorities may yield other acceptable solutions.
What Mr. Corren thinks of their solutions is unimportant.
The accommodation of religious and conscientious conviction is not merely
possible; it is a legal obligation that binds teachers and school districts to
the point of undue hardship. Mr. Corren's call to teachers to "take a
stand" against the accommodation of religious beliefs is, arguably, a
statement of an intention to discriminate, something forbidden by Section 7(1)a
of the BC Human Rights Code. So, for that matter, is the Ministry’s
‘clarified’ Alternative Delivery Policy and the letter from the Deputy
Minister of Education quoted by Mr. Corren. Both of these, by the way, are
products of his private agreement with the government.9
An uninformed reader would be unaware of this, since Teacher Newsmagazine does
not follow the practice of professional journals that require disclosure of an
author’s ‘competing interests.’
Turning to Mr. Corren’s assertion (backed by the Deputy Minister) that
students from objecting families “are not exempted from meeting the prescribed
learning outcomes,”it is time to introduce the elephant in the room.
It is almost unheard of for students in Kindergarten to Grade 8 in British
Columbia to be "held back" (fail a grade) because they have not met
prescribed learning outcomes. Whether or not they meet curriculum standards for
reading, writing, mathematics, socials, or any other subject, students pass from
one grade to the next until the end of Grade 8. Only in Grade 9 are students
required to meet a minimum standard in order to pass a subject, and, even then,
a mark of 50% is all that is needed. This may or may not reflect an achievement
of half the learning outcomes, but it does indicate that something substantially
less than the full complement is acceptable. Further: students in British
Columbia are not suspended or expelled from school for failing to do assignments
or participate in a class activity.10
Thus, if a Kindergarten to Grade 8 student does not meet a prescribed outcome
related to Mr. Corren’s “queer-positive” curriculum for reasons of
conscience or religion, that would not justify holding the student back or
imposing other penalties for non-compliance, since that is not done in any other
subject. Similarly, there would be no justification for failing or penalizing a
Grade 9 to 12 student in similar circumstances who was otherwise meeting the
course standard.
To sum up: Mr. Corren’s appeal to his colleagues to refuse to accommodate
freedom of conscience, religion, thought, opinion and belief is an invitation to
engage in wrongful discrimination that is likely to embroil them in
confrontation and even litigation, all in the service of his personal agenda and
his private contract with the government. It is inconsistent with respect for
authentic pluralism in a liberal democracy, and it is not in the best interests
of students, parents or teachers.
Notes
1. Corren, Murray, “A
censor? Who, me?" ” Teacher Newsmagazine Volume 19, Number 4,
January/February 2007 Accessed 2007-01-31.
2. Settlement
Agreement between Murray Corren and Peter Corren (Complainants) and Her Majesty
the Queen in Right of the Province of British Columbia, as Represented by the
Ministry of Education (Respondent), 28 April, 2006. Hereinafter,
“The Agreement”
3. “Subject to any public statement made pursuant to
Article 5 of this Agreement, anything said by a participant or any information
or documents exchanged during any meetings or discussions covered by this
Agreement are confidential, except to the extent to which the parties agree, or
may be required by law.” Article 9, The
Agreement.
4. "The parties will attempt to negotiate a
mutually agreeable public statement about the terms of resolution of the
complaints. If such agreement cannot be reached on or before May 31, 2006, the
parties may issue their own respective public statements. The parties further
agree that they will not publicly discuss the settlement of the complaint,
including the terms of settlement, prior to May 31, 2006." Article 5, The
Agreement.
5. “Ultimately, the most frequent reason for parents
to opt their children out of classes had to do with any discussion of sexual
orientation and gender identity and same-sex parents,” Murray Corren said.
“We felt it was extremely important for the ministry to delineate exactly
where this policy applies and where it doesn’t.” Smith, Charlie, "Correns
unfazed by right-wing backlash." Georgia Straight, 9 November,
2006. Accessed 2007-01-29.
"There's no point in us making the curriculum more queer-positive if
people can take their kids out." Peter Corren, quoted in Luymes, Glenda,
"Hooky touted for anti-gay parents: Trustee claims Education Ministry
policy on opting out takes away 'freedom'". The Province, 12
September 12, 2006
6. Steffenhagen, Janet, “Activist wants animal
rights taught in B.C. schools: 'Speciesism' is a prejudice too, says humane
society.” Vancouver Sun, 25 September, 2006
7. Hasiuk, Mark, “Concerned Parents accuse ministry
of discrimination.” The Vancouver Courier, 4 October, 2006
8. “Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of
education thatshould be given their children.” (From Article 26 - United
Nations, Universal Declaration on Human Rights – 1948). “The best
interests of the child shall be the guiding principle of those responsible for
his education and guidance; that responsibility lies in the first place with his
parents.”(From the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child,
Principle 7)
9. “The Respondent [Ministry of Education] will
amend the Policy to state expressly that the Policy applies to Health and Career
Education K-7, Health and Career Education 8 and 9, and Planning 10 and not to
any other IRPs; and that it applies only to the Health curriculum organizer of
each of these three IRPs and to no other curriclum organizers. The Respondent
will draft a letter to all public School Board Chairs and school district
Superintendents (“Letter”) that will be copied to the BC School Trustees
Association, BC School Superintendents Association, BC Principals’ and
Vice-Principals’ Association, BC Teachers’ Federation and the BC
Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils that will clarify the true nature and
limited reach of the Policy. The Respondent will provide the amended draft
Policy and the draft letter to the Complainants [the Corrrens] for their review
on or before July 15, 2006. The Complainants will provide their comments on the
. . . Policy and . . . Letter on or before August 1, 2006. The Respondent will
finalize the wording of the Policy and the Letter, and will implement the Policy
and send out the Letter, with copies of each to the Complainants, on or before
September 15, 2006.” Article 1B, The
Agreement.
10. The statement reflects the usual practice. It is
contrary to Ministry of Education policy to have students repeat a year before
Grade 4. “In Grades 4 to 12, the decision for a student to advance or repeat a
grade or course will be made in the best interest of that student by the
teachers, parents and the school principal. In making placement decisions, those
involved should consider the available research, the age of the student, and the
intervention support available.” Ministry
of Education, K-12 Education Plan: Placement Accessed 2007-01-03.
See also Ministry
of Education, K-12 Education Plan: Letter Grades and Symbols Accessed
2007-01-03; Provincial
Letter Grades Order Accessed 2007-01-03; BC Ministry of Education,
Special Program Branch, Focus
on Suspension: A Resource for Schools (1999) Accessed 2007-02-03.
The practice may explain an observation made by Project Literacy in Victoria,
BC. Many of their clients report “that they have reached a grade level in
school that is significantly higher than their skill set actually reflects.”
One young man who had reached Grade 9 or 10 had about a Grade 4 reading level,
and he was unable to write in cursive script; he could only print. In its
presentation to a legislative committee, Project Literacy cited a study
indicating that “about 20% of Canadians have lower literacy skills than their
education level might indicate.”
Project
Literacy Victoria, Presentation to the Select Standing Committee on Education,
Victoria, BC (26 April, 2006) Accessed 2007-02-07.
This 'right' for gays
is an injustice to children
By Roger Scruton
From Telegraph.co.uk, updated 28/01/2007]
|
Western societies have, in recent decades, undergone a radical
change in their attitudes to homosexuality. What was once regarded
as an intolerable vice is now regarded as an
"orientation", no different in kind, though different in
direction, from the inclinations that lead men to unite with women,
and children to be born. This radical change began with the
decriminalisation of homosexual conduct, and with a growing
readiness not just to tolerate homosexuality in private, but to talk
about it in public. We saw the emergence of the "public
homosexual", the flamboyant propagandist for that
"other" way of life who, like Quentin Crisp, tried to
persuade us that "gay" is after all the right description.
There followed the movement for "gay pride" and the
"coming out" of public figures —to the point where it is
no longer very interesting to know whether someone is or is not of
the other persuasion.
For the most part, the people of this country have gone along with
the changes. They may not be comfortable with its more demonstrative
expressions, but they are prepared to tolerate the homosexual way of
life, provided it keeps within the bounds of decency, and does no
violence to fundamental norms. However, this attitude does not
satisfy the activists. For to tolerate is to disapprove. It is only
when conduct offends you that you need to exercise your toleration,
and the activists want people to treat homosexuality as normal.
Through the slippery notions of discrimination and human rights,
they have used the law to advance their agenda. Homosexuality is now
treated by the law as a tendency comparable in almost every way to
heterosexuality, so that any attempt to distinguish between people
on grounds of their "orientation" — whether as
applicants for a job, or as recipients of a privilege — is
regarded as unjust "discrimination", comparable in its
moral heinousness to discrimination on grounds of race or sex.
On the whole we have accepted that laws against discrimination might
be needed, in order to protect those who have suffered in the past
from hostile prejudice. Every now and then, however, we wake up to
the fact that, although homosexuality has been normalised, it is not
normal. Our acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle, of same-sex
couples, and of the gay scene has not eliminated our sense that
these are alternatives to something, and that it is the other thing
that is normal. This other thing is not heterosexual desire,
conceived as an "orientation". It is heterosexual union:
the joining of man and woman, in an act which leads in the natural
course of things not just to mutual commitment but to the bearing of
children, the raising of a family and the self-sacrificing habits on
which, when all is said and done, the future of society depends. The
propaganda that has tried to rewrite heterosexuality as an
"orientation" is really an attempt to persuade us to
overlook the real truth about sexual union, which is that it is, in
its normal form, the way in which one generation gives way to the
next.
This truth is recognised by all the great religions, and is
endorsed in the Christian view of marriage as a union created by
God. This explains, to a great extent, the reluctance of religious
people to endorse gay marriage, which they see as an attempt to
rewrite in merely human terms the eternal contract of society. To
put it in another way, they see gay marriage as the desecration of a
sacrament. Hence the growing conflict between the gay agenda and
traditional religion, of which the current dispute over
"adoption rights" is the latest sign. According to the
Christian perspective — and it is one that is shared, I believe,
by Muslims and Jews – adoption means receiving a child as a member
of the family, as one to whom you are committed in the way that a
father and mother are committed to children of their own. It is an
act of sacrifice, performed for the benefit of the child, and with a
view to providing that child with the normal comforts of home. Its
purpose is not to gratify the parents, but to foster the child, by
making him part of a family. For religious people that means
providing the child with a father and a mother. Anything else would
be an injustice to the child and an abuse of his innocence. Hence
there are no such things as "adoption rights". Adoption is
the assumption of a duty, and the only rights involved are the
rights of the child.
Against that argument the appeal to "anti-discrimination"
laws is surely irrelevant. The purpose of adoption is not to gratify
the foster parents but to help the child. And since, on the
religious view, the only help that can be offered is the provision
of a real family, it is no more an act of discrimination to exclude
gay couples than it is to exclude incestuous liaisons or communes of
promiscuous "swingers". Indeed, the implication that
adoption is entirely a matter of the "rights" of the
prospective parents shows the moral inversion that is infecting
modern society. Instead of regarding the family as the present
generation's way of sacrificing itself for the next, we are being
asked to create families in which the next generation is sacrificed
for the pleasure of the present one. We are being asked to overlook
all that we know about the fragility of homosexual partnerships,
about the psychological needs of children, and about the norms that
still prevail in our schools and communities, for the sake of an
ideological fantasy. . . . . [ Click
here to read the whole article.]
• Roger Scruton is a writer and philosopher. His website is
www.roger-scruton.com
|
I
In the United Kingdom:
[From "thisislondon.co.uk" Dec. 28, 2006]
Schools that fail to show enthusiasm in rooting out prejudice against
homosexuals should be reported to the police by pupils and parents, a Home
Office report recommended yesterday.
It called for parents and children to identify schools that ignore
"homophobic" language in the playground and teachers who produce
"homophobic" lessons.
And it called for head teachers to bring lessons about "homophobia"
on to school timetables and to involve their pupils in gay "awareness
weeks".
The advice from Home Secretary John Reid's officials comes at a time of deep
concern among churches that new gay rights laws due next spring will bar
traditional teaching on sexual morality in schools and force them instead to
include gay rights dogma in lessons. [Click
here to read the whole article on "thisislondon.co.uk" .]
Egale
Leader Looks for Classroom Victories
Egale Canada is a lobbying group for
“gay,” lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered activists.
Kaj Hasselriis, formerly of Canadians For
Equal Marriage, interim executive director of Egale, recently made this
significant statement:.
"I think that Egale has been very associated in the
public with legal issues, and it will continue to be — and there have been
good reasons for that association because of the victories we've had in this
country and at the Supreme Court level and at Parliament Hill. But there are
all sorts of other victories that won't come in the courtroom, they'll come
in, let's say, the classroom. It's important for us to look at how we will
make the next gains for [queer] equality in Canada."
[quoted in: “Long
struggle back for Egale,” by
Marcus
McCann, Capital Xtra, Thursday,
December 21, 2006.”]
Schools
Withhold Sad Facts About
Homosexual Lifestyle
By Rick Fitzgibbons
Teachers are being irresponsible when they teach that homosexuality is a
healthy lifestyle.
Tuesday,
24 October 2006 - When parents in the Philadelphia School District
received an official calendar recently marking October as Gay and Lesbian
History Month, they were confronted with a trend that is gathering momentum in
many countries. In Victoria, Australia, family groups are up in arms over
instructions to celebrate homosexuality in the classroom to counteract
"homophobic bullying". Something similar is happening in England,
where new sexual orientation laws may force primary school teachers to make
books such as Hello Sailor and Daddy's Roommate available in class.
Challenges to these moves are occurring in forums
ranging from school board meetings to the courts, but parents are losing
ground. And yet, says a psychiatrist who specialises in this field, the health
and even the lives of their children may be at stake. In this interview with
MercatorNet, Richard P. Fitzgibbons MD explains why -- and what can really
help children vulnerable to same-sex attraction.
* * * * *
MercatorNet: Any health
intervention these days requires informed consent. Does this apply to the
promotion of homosexuality in schools?
Rick Fitzgibbons: It's a matter
of great concern that educators are presenting homosexuality and same sex
attraction to young people as a healthy lifestyle when the medical literature
shows it is not. Numerous studies show an inability to maintain a commitment,
rampant promiscuity and resultant serious depressive illness. In his book, The
Sexual Organisation of the City, E. Laumann reported that among homosexuals in
five urban areas the average length of a relationship was six months. M.
Xiridou in 2003 reported that a long-term relationship among those he studied
was 18 months, and overall they had an average of 18 to 26 partners per year.
Consequently, due to AIDS and other diseases sexually active homosexual and
bisexual males can lose up to 20 years of life expectancy.
The inability to maintain commitment and promiscuity
contribute to sadness, anger and mistrust leading to hopelessness and suicidal
ideation. Many studies also demonstrate that these conflicts lead to a high
prevalence of abuse in same sex relationships which is not communicated to
students. In 1999 three very well-designed studies were published in the
Archives of General Psychiatry -- one from New Zealand, one from the
Netherlands and one on twins. These showed there is a much greater prevalence
of psychiatric disorders among homosexual population -- more than six times
the general risk of suicide among young adults.
Dr John Diggs has assembled overwhelming medical
evidence on the serious health risks of the lifestyle in his article,
"The Risks of Gay Sex". And yet young people are not being informed
about this. They are being denied the truth. Instead, they are told being
homosexual is as normal as the heterosexual lifestyle. It really seems that
educators are teaching bad science and that political correctness is trumping
science here.
Now, it's not clear whether teachers are bound by
informed consent principles legally, but school psychologists certainly are. I
would say the schools, particularly school psychologists, are very vulnerable
to litigation if they don't inform young people, as well as principals and
school superintendents, about the serious health risks associated with the
homosexual lifestyle. Some people are working to warn national organisations
of school psychologists of their liability if they fail to provide informed
consent to students. . . . .
MercatorNet: Is there a problem
with a young person's identifying as gay or lesbian while still in high
school? Can same-sex attraction be a phase or a fad at this age?
Dr Fitzgibbons: Yes, there is a
fair amount of research showing that same-sex attraction (SSA) is not
something that is locked in at a certain stage, but it can be fluid and
actually change over the course of a person's life. But young people are being
told by educators, the media and health professionals that SSA is genetic so
they will be that way for the rest of their lives. In fact, there is no proof
that it's genetic. If it were, then all identical twins should be completely
concordant for homosexuality, and no study has shown more than 50 per cent
concordance. Last year the first genome scan of male sexual orientation was
published in Human Genetics (No. 116) and the conclusion was there is no
genetic basis.
The thing that troubles me greatly is that in asking
young people to embrace a particular identity at an early age they're denying
that child the right to self-knowledge. It's easier to think, "Oh, I have
same sex attractions," rather than, "I was deeply lonely for a male
friend when I was growing up," or, "I was too afraid to trust men,
to trust my father."
Another issue is the danger of entering a
relationship where you use another human being as a sexual object. A
utilitarian sexual philosophy permeates the homosexual lifestyle, as evidenced
by numerous studies which document a high level of promiscuity, and it can be
very traumatic for a young person to be repeatedly used sexually by another
person. Ultimately this trauma can lead to severe depressive illness and even
suicidal ideation and excessive anger with abuse of others in the lifestyle.
MercatorNet: One reads various
claims about the prevalence of homosexuality in the population. A Philadelphia
group said 5 to 6 per cent. What does the research show?
Dr Fitzgibbons: Numerous
international studies put it at 1-3 per cent. In a study of 5,898 adults in
the Netherlands by T. Sandfort only 2.1 identified themselves as homosexual.
Among 15,705 adults with a median age of 35, B. Cochran found less than one
per cent were homosexual: 0.99 per cent of males and 0.75 of females. . . . .
MercatorNet: Even in adult life
can one's sexual attraction can be changed successfully?
Dr Fitzgibbons: Yes it can. The
major evidence here is Robert Spitzer's study published in the Archives of
Sexual Behaviour, October 2004. This is very significant because Spitzer led
the taskforce which removed homosexuality from the diagnostic manual of
psychiatry in 1973. Thirty years later he was going to a meeting of the
American Psychiatric Association in Washington where there was an attempt to
pass a resolution that no one should be allowed to treat patients with
unwanted SSA. Outside there were people who had overcome their same sex
attractions who were picketing and he walked over and talked to them. They
said, "Study us." Spitzer, a professor at Columbia University, said,
"All right, I'll study you." Among 200 men and women out of the
lifestyle at least five years, he found 61 per cent of the males and 44 per
cent of the females met criteria for good heterosexual functioning. His
conclusion was that people have the right to pursue their heterosexual
potential.
My own clinical experience is this. If there's
significant self-knowledge, forgiveness of offenders in one's life and a
spiritual component to the treatment, as there is in the treatment of
compulsive behaviours in substance abuse disorders -- in Alcoholics Anonymous,
for example -- we find the emotional pain that causes the SSA can be healed. A
person thinks he is powerless over his emotional pain and compulsive
behaviours, turns them over to God and begins to practice meditation -- which
is also used now in the treatment of hypertension and coronary artery disease
-- for 15 minutes twice daily, with the help of a spiritual director.
It's a process in which the adolescent or college
student works at understanding those who have hurt or rejected him, and works
at forgiving them. Then, as well, if they can grow in the sense that God is a
loving Father and Christ is their friend and brother, the inner emptiness can
be filled, the loneliness healed and the confidence strengthened. No longer
does the person feel angry with his father or peers for not building or for
damaging male confidence. Instead, he appreciates that his male gifts and
identity are special, God-given and meant for a particular mission in life.
Dr. Richard Fitzgibbons is a psychiatrist and Director of
Comprehensive Counselling Services in W. Conshohocken, Pennsylvania and was a
major contributor to Homosexuality and Hope, published by the Catholic Medical
Association of the United States.
[Click
here to read the whole article of which the above selection is an
abridgement.l
Comment from Mission America on the article immediately
below: “Note that part of the settlement includes an ‘anti-bullying’
program, which will no doubt teach all students to accept homosexuality.”
"Long
Battle Over Gay Club In Georgia School Nears End”
[From the pro-homosexuality website “365Gay.com”
12/23/2006]
(Cleveland, Georgia) A battle over the formation of a Gay Straight Alliance at
White County High School that has raged on for nearly two years is almost over
with a reported agreement in principle that the school district will implement
an anti-bully program and pay about $170,000 in legal fees to the American
Civil Liberties Union. Both sides must still sign off on the agreement
and it must be approved [by] the judge.
In July a federal judge ruled that the high school must allow students in the
gay-straight alliance club to meet on campus. U-S District Court Judge
William C. O'Kelley said that the school cannot deny the GSA, called
P.R.I.D.E., equal access or a fair opportunity to conduct meetings on school
premises during noninstructional time.
O'Kelley said that school officials had violated the Federal Equal Access Act
by barring the group from meeting on campus, while allowing other
non-curricular clubs to do so. His ruling also said that the school cannot
discriminate against student groups on the basis of the religious, political,
philosophical or other content of their speech.
In February 2005 students were told they would be allowed to organize thne
Gay-Straight Alliance, which later became Peers Rising In Diversity Education,
P.R.I.D.E.. About two weeks later about 250 angry parents attended a
White County school board meeting to protest the club and the board decided to
ban all non-academic clubs.
The move staved off a threatened suit by the American Civil Liberties Union on
behalf of the students, but when some of the non-academic clubs began holding
meetings on school property and have their meetings promoted during morning
announcements the ACLU filed a federal discrimination suit.
Judge Kelly's ruling settled part of the lawsuit with charges the school
district had turned a blind eye to widespread systemic bullying of LGBT
students to be resolved. The agreement reached this week between the
district and the ACLU ends that phase of the dispute.
While neither side will comment officially on the terms of the settlement
until it is signed sources close to the district tell the White County News
Telegraph that it provides for payment of the ACLU legal fees estimated at
$168,000, $10,000 to the student plaintiffs, and implementation of the
anti-bully program.
Radical Homosexual Groups Approved
by UN
with Bush [Administration] Support
By Bradford Short
(NEW YORK — C-FAM) The U.N. Economic and Social
Council (ECOSOC) recently granted official status to three gay-rights
non-governmental organizations (NGOs): the Danish National Association for Gays
and Lesbians, the Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany (LSVD) and the
International Lesbian and Gay Federation (ILGA). ECOSOC granted the
consultative status to the gay-rights NGOs despite the fact that the UN
Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations recommended against it, and the fact
that one of the groups had clear links to pro-pedophilia organizations in the
past.
ILGA is probably the most infamous of the groups
granted ECOSOC consultative status last week. A “global federation of
organizations and individuals seeking to” advance gay rights, ILGA, was
repeatedly rejected for official UN status many times in the past several years
for its connection to a child-sex group called the the North American Man/Boy
Love Association (NAMBLA). NAMBLA is probably the leading pro-pedophilia
group in the United States. ILGA is said to have expelled NAMBLA but,
according to UN delegations, refused to condemn adult-child sex. ILGA said
“these groups had joined ILGA at an earlier stage of ILGA’s development, at
a time when ILGA did not have in place administrative procedures to scrutinize
the constitutions and policies of groups seeking membership.” This
claim, at least until last week, gave UN delegations pause since the name
"North American Man Boy Love Association makes it fairly clear the group
promotes homosexual sex between men and children.
Another approved group, the Danish National Association
for Gays and Lesbians considers itself to be an organization that takes a
“conservative” approach to gay-rights advocacy in Denmark |