Day of Silence

‘Day of Silence’ Scam Places Children at Risk

Monday, April 14th, 2008

matt_foreman_2.JPG “HIV is a gay disease,” admitted Matt Foreman of the extremist homosexualist group, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. If even leftists like Foreman can admit (sort of) to the high risks associated with homosexual behaviors, why are schools promoting this lifestyle to vulnerable students? For more on homosexuality-related health dangers, see this study and this FDA report explaining why the government bans blood donations from men who have sex with men (MSM).

Published by CWA, April 14, 2008

By J. Matt Barber

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 of the homosexual lifestyle among children.

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.

Read the rest of this article »

Keep Your Kid Home From School on the ‘Day of Silence’

Monday, March 10th, 2008

pastor_ken_hutcherson.gif Pastor Ken Hutcherson of Antioch Bible Church in Redmond, Washington, is speaking out strongly against the pro-homosexual “Day of Silence” on Friday, April 25. A growing coalition of pro-family groups is calling for parents to keep their children home from school on that day.

TAKE ACTION: First, check the two Mission America lists to see if your local schools are participating in the Day of Silence. The best way to ascertain whether YOUR children’s school is promoting or enabling DOS is to call the school and ask this question: “Are you allowing students to go silent in the classroom on the upcoming pro-homosexual “Day of Silence” (Friday, April 25)? (Some schools say they are NOT endorsing D.O.S., yet still allow students to not participate in class — which disrupts the learning process.) If the school administrator answers “yes” (or cannot say “no”), then yank your child out of the school on April 25th to protest their capitulation to homosexual activism. Of course, many committed Christians, and groups like Exodus Mandate, would advise you to pull them out of the public schools for good.

NOTE: Please notify AFTAH at americansfortruth@comcast.net with information about the response of your local school authorities to your DOS inquiries, and to tell us if you are pulling your children out of school on April 25th. Thank you!

By Peter LaBarbera

Folks, the politicization of America’s schools — both public and private — in favor of the the proud homosexuality (and now transsexuality) agenda is a crisis that continues to spiral downward. There was a time — back in the days when “Gay Power” was more a dream slogan for sexual radicals than the liberal establishment reality it is today — when homosexual activists disavowed any interest in our nation’s schools or recruiting youth. (Meanwhile, they had yet to kick out NAMBLA — the North American Man/Boy Love Association — from their coalition; in fact, the notorious pederasty group once marched in big-city “Gay Pride” parades.)

Fast-forward to today: homosexual activists and their liberal allies are all over the schools — even grade schools. In that respect, they are not unlike other nefarious ideological movements in their utilitarian misuse of schools to sway young minds. The result is that today’s young people are more pro-homosexual yet more pro-life at the same time — a curious mix and one that testifies to the effectiveness of pro-homosexuality marketing tactics. (Pop culture and media elites have decided that the “gay” debate is settled and we lost.)

In my experience, many of today’s teenagers and twenty-somethings are profoundly ignorant of the larger homosexual activist agenda, and even Christian youth are severely truth-challenged on this issue (to which the poll-driven church movement responds by scolding the larger Church for being too “anti-homosexual”).

Read the rest of this article »

Major Homosexual Groups Join in Effort to Stop David Parker Court Appeal

Tuesday, August 21st, 2007

david_parker_in_handcuffs.jpg NOTE:  David Parker (at left) will be a keynote speaker at Americans For Truth’s upcoming dinner banquet in Naperville, Illinois (outside Chicago) on Saturday, Oct. 6. His is one of the most important cases in the country, as parents’ rights to guide their children’s moral upbringing is on the line. Click HERE for more information on the AFTAH banquet. 

By Brian Camenker, MassResistance.org

In a time of universal deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
– George Orwell

MassResistance.org reports

National homosexual groups targeting children file in US First Circuit Court to stop appeal in David Parker lawsuit.

GLSEN and PFLAG, as well as GLAD all file appearance in case. Reveals nationwide importance of Parker’s court action. 

As David Parker’s lawyers prepare to appeal the ruling against his federal civil rights lawsuit against the Lexington School system, three major homosexual activist groups have officially filed their appearance in the case, and will be submitting amicus briefs as part of their effort to stop his appeal.

Read the official appearance document here:
http://www.massresistance.org/docs/parker_lawsuit/GLSEN_appearance_doc.pdf

David Parker, his wife, and another couple, the Wirthlins, are suing the Lexington, MA school system over the teaching and normalization of homosexual behavior in the elementary schools, purposefully without parents’ knowledge or consent, or ability to opt out.

Earlier this year, Federal District Court Judge Mark Wolf issued an unbelievable ruling against the Parkers which, among other things, gives schools in Massachusetts the right to teach homosexuality at will, without parents’ input, consent, or even knowledge. The Parkers are appealing.

Read Wolf’s disturbing ruling here:
http://www.massresistance.org/docs/parker_lawsuit/hearing_020707/hearing_dismissed.html

More on the Parkers’ case and events leading up to it.
http://www.massresistance.org/docs/parker/index.html

Read the rest of this article »

Shutting Down Opposition: the Gay Agenda and Schoolkids

Tuesday, April 24th, 2007

By Chuck Colson, Breakpoint, Prison Fellowship 

The Gay Agenda and Schoolkids

Once upon a time there was a handsome young prince. When he grew up, he began searching for a wife, but could not find a princess he wanted to marry. One day, he met another prince—and fell in love. The two men married and lived happily ever after.

They must have been the only ones who did. When the fairy tale—which ended with the newly married “couple” kissing—was read to Massachusetts first graders, Christian parents were outraged.

Two sets of parents sued the Lexington school district, claiming that district officials violated both state law and their civil rights by allowing a teacher to read to their 6-year-olds a book that normalizes homosexual love and marriage.

Not surprisingly—this is Massachusetts, after all—federal judge Mark Wolf dismissed the lawsuit. Public schools, he wrote, are “entitled to teach anything that is reasonably related to the goals of preparing students to become engaged and productive citizens in our democracy.”

I guess it is not possible to become a productive citizen without embracing the teachings of radical gays.

Incredibly, the judge said parents did not even have a right to pull their kids from classes that discuss and depict homosexual behavior. Allowing kids to leave, the judge said, “could send the message that gays, lesbians, and the children of same-sex parents are inferior and, therefore, have a damaging effect on those students.”

This decision is so ghastly it is hard to know where to begin. Since when did parents not have the right to control what their children are exposed to when it comes to matters of sexuality? And what about the damaging effect on kids who are taught ideas that conflict with their parents’ teachings?

If the school district is really committed to teaching about all kinds of families, then why not give children a story about a prince who longs for another prince, realizes his longings are disordered, undergoes reparative therapy, and lives happily ever after—with a princess?

The real goal, of course, is normalizing homosexuality. The judge tipped his hand on this when he said that children should be taught to “respect” differences in sexual orientation.

The two families are appealing Judge Wolf’s decision, and we ought to be praying for their ultimate success. But we must also realize what is really going on here.

When it comes to sin, humans have been playing the denial game ever since the Fall. In Romans, Paul says that even pagans know God’s moral law because it is “written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness.”

That’s why it is not enough for homosexuals to be tolerated; in order to live with their own consciences, homosexuals demand unanimous assent that homosexuality is a moral good. And that means silencing those who believe that homosexuality is a disorder, and that homosexual behavior is a moral sin.

You and I must fight back when homosexuals attempt to promote gay “marriage” in public schools. But we must also reach out with compassion to those ensnared by disordered sexual desires.

The Bible teaches that sin—and a guilty conscience—can be erased only by the grace of God through faith in Christ.

More links to resources on this story can be found on Breakpoint’s website.

Viewpoint Discrimination: Judge Blocks Students’ ‘Be Happy, Not Gay’ T-Shirts in Naperville, IL’s Neuqua Valley HS

Thursday, April 19th, 2007

How can students in the United States of America be allowed to promote the acceptance of homosexuality (e.g., the national Day of Silence) but not criticize it? Remember: many people of faith (and others) do not agree with the modern, trendy notion of “gayness” as personhood — i.e., that it is a part of a person’s intrinsic identity. Instead, they view homosexuality as changeable, unnatural and/or sinful behavior, as evidenced by the many men and women who once considered themselves “gay” but have since left their homosexual lifestyle behind.

Judge Hart’s decision creates classic viewpoint discrimination in a public, taxpayer-funded forum (schools) and we hope ultimately that it will be struck down in appeal. I trust that even some of our “gay” critics will see how this ruling is incompatible with the First Amendment.– Peter LaBarbera

Associate Press reports: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C266716%2C00.html

Judge Upholds Illinois School’s Ban on ‘Be Happy, Not Gay’ Shirt

Wednesday, April 18, 2007
CHICAGO — Two Neuqua Valley High School [in Naperville, Illinois] students won’t be able to wear T-shirts saying “Be Happy, Not Gay,” to school on Thursday following a judge’s ruling.

U.S. District Judge William T. Hart ruled in favor of the high school Tuesday in a preliminary injunction that would have allowed the students to wear the shirts the day after Wednesday’s National Day of Silence.

On the Day of Silence, students can refrain from speaking as an effort to protest discrimination against homosexuals.

The Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund is representing Heidi Zamecnik of Naperville and Alexander Nuxoll of Bolingbrook in a lawsuit that claims Zamecnik’s rights were violated last year when she wasn’t allowed to wear the shirt in school.

The Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian litigation group, will appeal the judge’s decision on the preliminary injunction to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, attorney Jonathan Scruggs said. The lawsuit is still pending.

Scruggs said the school is violating the students’ rights to free speech by banning the shirt.

“The school cannot silence speech merely because some people find it offensive,” Scruggs said. “We believe that’s the core of what the First Amendment protects.”

Jack Canna, an attorney for Indian Prairie Unit School District 204, said banning the shirt is part of a policy “to preserve the notion that kids shouldn’t make negative or derogatory comments about other students.”

Messages left by The Associated Press with the Indian Prairie Unit School District 204 and Neuqua Valley High School were not immediately returned Wednesday morning.

Educational Malpractice: Waubonsie Valley High School in Naperville, IL, Promotes GLSEN’s ‘Day of Silence’

Tuesday, April 17th, 2007

By Peter LaBarbera

wv-dos-card.bmp

At right is a facsimile of the “Day of Silence Card,” which Waubonsie Valley High School in Naperville, IL is urging students to pass out in school tomorrow (Wed., April 18th); to view a clear version in PDF, click HERE.

The following is excerpted from a letter I sent to school authorities at Waubonsie Valley High School (WVHS) in Naperville, Illinois, concerning their promotion and endorsement of the “Day of Silence,” an in-school pro-homosexual protest in which students go silent all day [to protest alleged anti-homosexual oppression]. My children attend public schools in Naperville.

To read Waubonsie’s online announcement about the Day of Silence (DOS), click HERE. To view a PDF of the “Day of Silence Card” that WVHS is promoting to students (to present to their teachers and fellow students), click HERE.  For more information on the parental/student boycott of schools promoting the Day of Silence, go to the NotOurKids.com website. And for information on Alliance Defense Fund’s “Day of Truth” designed to counter the DOS, click HERE.

___________________________

April 7, 2007

Re: Waubonsie Valley HS web announcement: “Second Annual Day of Silence”: http://www.ipsd.org/newsevents/news_item_detail.asp?id=14568

Dear District 204 Faculty & Waubonsie School Administrators and Teachers,

I was deeply distressed to read the web posting concerning Waubonsie High School’s outright promotion of GLSEN’s national Day of Silence (tomorrow). Because you have chosen to embrace and officially endorse this event — which clearly advances one side of the controversial moral issue of homosexuality and will disrupt the learning environment at WVHS — my wife and I will be pulling our son … from school tomorrow (Wed, April 18th), and will encourage other parents to do the same.

We will also work to advance a policy of strict neutrality [at WVHS] on the issue of homosexuality and other moral conscience issues at Waubonsie and District 204 in the months and years ahead….

We respectfully ask: how does it promote an environment that is conducive to learning to encourage students to present a card to their teachers informing them that they will “remain silent for the entire day, including class….” (emphasis added) on the Day of Silence, Wed., April 18th? What about the students who do not agree with homosexual behavior, for religious, moral or other reasons? Or what about students who come to school to learn, and are not interested in crusading for social causes during school hours? Doesn’t it concern you that these students will be unfairly subjected to this propaganda exercise — and that their right to be educated in a non-politicized atmosphere will be violated?

We are concerned because the “gay” student club at WVHS, Identity — alone among all the extra-curricular student clubs — deals with a highly controversial moral and social issue that has severe implications for students’ health and spiritual well-being. Nobody doubts the merit of the other student clubs. It is as dubious to portray Day of Silence as an innocuous event about tolerance as it is to say that Identity is like any other student club.

We do not view homosexuality as an issue of innate identity but changeable behavior which is immoral in the eyes of the Creator. Some common “gay” sexual behaviors are also very high risk (unsafe), as evidenced by this quotation — not by Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson — but by homosexual writer Jack Hart (pardon the graphic content):

Many sexual transmitted diseases (STDs) occur more often among gay men than in the general population. Several factors contribute to this difference: Gay men have the opportunity to engage in sex with more people than do most heterosexual men, and some practices common among gays — especially rimming [anal-oral intercourse] and anal intercourse — are highly efficient at transmitting disease. (Gay Sex: A Manual for Men Who Love Men, Allyson Books, 1998, pp. 212-213)

There are countless other credible resources I could cite documenting the health risks of homosexual behaviors. (See Dr. John Diggs’ paper, “The Health Risks of Gay Sex.”)  Are the GLBT and “questioning” students at WVHS made aware of these risks? Do parents know about them? (I was told by [a Waubonsie Valley HS official] that a student can attend Identity meetings without his or her parents’ knowledge or approval.) Moreover, because I have personally met or interviewed dozens of former homosexuals, I do not view this as an issue of “civil rights.” (There are no ex-African Americans or ex-Latinos.) In fact, I am concerned that homosexual activist groups like GLSEN — the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network, an acronym which you failed to define in your web posting about the Day of Silence — are strongly prejudiced against tradition-minded students and their parents.

Consider this highly “intolerant” and bigoted quote disparaging religious conservatives from GLSEN founder Kevin Jennings made in a church in 2000:

“Twenty percent of people are hard-core fair-minded [pro-homosexual] people. Twenty percent are hard-core [anti-homosexual] bigots. We need to ignore the hard-core bigots, get more of the hard-core fair-minded people to speak up, and we’ll pull that 60 percent [of people in the middle] … over to our side. That’s really what I think our strategy has to be. We have to quit being afraid of the religious right. We also have to quit — … I’m trying to find a way to say this. I’m trying not to say, ‘[F–k] ’em!’ which is what I want to say, because I don’t care what they think! [audience laughter] Drop dead!” (Source: audiotape from event, cited in a paper I wrote for Concerned Women for America, “When Silence Would Have Been Golden”)

When schools delve into the promotion of one side of a controversial moral issue like homosexuality, or join with controversial groups like GLSEN, it naturally discriminates against students on the other side.  Several weeks ago, I attended a District 204 Diversity meeting dealing with gay issues. I voiced concern about the biased nature of the presentation — which was reliant on information provided by GLSEN — hardly an objective source and in fact one that has a record of radical activism. Here are just two more black marks on GLSEN’s record (please forgive the graphic content, but this is what pre-teen children were exposed to):

1) GLSEN-backed 2000 “Fistgate” scandal in Massachusetts: (see http://massresistance.org/docs/issues/fistgate/massnews.html) At a GLSEN-sponsored conference at Tufts U., on March 25, 2000, three homosexual activists employed by the Massachusetts Departments of Health and Education led a youth workshop titled “What They Didn’t Tell You about Queer Sex & Sexuality in Health Class” — part of the annual Boston-GLSEN “Teach Out” conference held at Tufts University. The “Queer Sex” session, advertised to “youth only ages 14 to 21,” was attended by Massachusetts family advocate Scott Whitemen, who taped it while standing in the back of the room.

In the workshop, instructor Michael Gaucher, prompted by a teen’s question, verbally guided the students on the mechanics of “fisting” — a homosexual slang term for a sadistic sex act in which a man inserts his hand and arm into another person’s anal cavity. Another instructor, Margot Abels, said fisting “often gets a really bad rap,” and described it innocuously as “an experience of letting somebody into your body that you want to be that close and intimate with.” Abels and Gaucher also guided the students on techniques of oral sodomy and lesbian sex.

[NOTE: I think I am correct that GLSEN never issued an apology to the public for sponsoring this heinous event that corrupted innocent children.]

2) At GLSEN’s conference in Arlington Heights, IL [a suburb of Chicago], in 2000, all participants, including dozens of high school-aged kids, could pick up a homosexual “Visitor’s Companion” — which advertised Chicago’s gay “leather” bars, a gay sex club and a homosexual bathhouse (where men go for anonymous sexual liaisons with other men) called “Steamworks,” which was advertised as a “24-hour men’s gym/sauna.”

If GLSEN were a conservative or Christian group and committed such reckless acts endangering youth, do you think they would still be promoted as a credible source by public schools? Were you aware of GLSEN’s scandals? Do you think Naperville and Aurora parents would countenance any WVHS involvement with GLSEN if they know of this organization’s reckless and radical track record? (For more information on GLSEN’s 2000 conference, click on this link: http://www.geocities.com/sirokai/shininglight/gradeschoolkids.htm.)

Frankly, I am stunned that after another concerned 204 parent and I voiced our objections to District 204’s bias on homosexual issues at the 204 Diversity meeting, you have chosen to so blatantly promote an activist pro-homosexual event like the DOS that has angered parents across the nation.

We regard your promotion of GLSEN’s Day of Silence event as educational malpractice and the misuse of your authority granted to you by tax-paying and voting parents (most of whom probably have no idea that Waubonsie VHS is being used for this pro-gay social protest tomorrow). By promoting this massive, in-school distraction, despite claims that this is merely about “tolerance,” you are harming the educational process and directly undermining parents’ rights to guide their own children’s understanding on this important moral question.

Please also consider this document by the Citizens for Community Values on the “Legal Liability Associated with Homosexuality Education in Public Schools.”

I would like to request a meeting to discuss this matter … Also, I would request any data you have on GLBT students being harassed at WVHS in this and the past few years. If there is truly a problem of WVHS administrators and teachers being unable to protect gay-identified kids, the public deserves to know about it.  For the record, our position is that no child should be abused or harassed, but that schools can safeguard all kids without reference to any special criteria such as “sexual orientation.”

Thank you for your urgent consideration of this matter. Needless to say, it is no small thing for us to intentionally pull our child from school, but we feel that you have given us no choice by endorsing this activist, pro-gay protest.

Sincerely,

Peter LaBarbera

Naperville, Illinois parent

Why Parents (or Are They Nazis?) Should Pull Their Kids from School on April 18th (Day of Silence)

Thursday, March 29th, 2007

By Peter LaBarbera

rick_garcia.jpg 

Iliinois homosexual activist Rick Garcia equates advocates for concerned parents with Nazis 

Americans For Truth has joined the pro-family coalition NotOurKids.com — calling on parents across the nation to pull their kids from school if the school endorses or encourages the pro-homosexual “Day of Silence.” The annual event is the brainchild of the radical group GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network), of Massachusetts “Fistgate” notoriety.

Day of Silence is a propaganda exercise for schools designed to engender sympathy toward GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender) lifestyles. Many schools now officially back this disruptive, pro-homosexual event — so we’re calling on parents to pull their children out of school that day (Wed., April 18 this year). How did we get to the point in our society where schools would be used to promote acceptance of immoral homosexual behaviors and gender confusion (transgenderism)?

Many schools — especially in metropolitan areas — have become PC propaganda centers, and it’s way past time for parents to take a stand. Promoting unhealthy, changeable and immoral behaviors like homosexuality and bisexuality — especially to vulnerable teens (even middle schoolers!) –– lacks compassion.  Click HERE for a list of schools likely to be (or potentially) participating in the “Day of Silence.” 

Beware: it can be tricky to nail down a school’s policy on DOS because administrators will often claim that they are NOT endorsing the pro-homosexual event, yet then they will still allow students to remain silent that day — an obvious acquiescence to politicized behavior that disrupts the educational process.

For an idea of how GLSEN-friendly teachers use the classroom to promote the “victimhood” of homosexuals as a minority, click HERE to view a GLSEN document, “Lesson Plan: The Silencing Effect of Anti-LGBT Name-Calling.”  From the “Lesson Plan”:

“Instruct students to freewrite about one or both of the following topics: 1) How it feels to silence oneself and be silenced by others; and/or 2) What the Day of Silence means to them, and why they do or don’t think the Day of Silence is necessary in their school.”

Folks, this isn’t education, it’s ‘Gay’ Advocacy Training 101!

Concerned Parents = Nazis?

Rick Garcia, Illinois’ top homosexual activist, responded to the “Not Our Kids” press release below by saying that our pro-family coalition is advocating “animosity and bigotry” rather than a healthy school environment. Garcia told the Naperville [Illinois] Sun: “These people sound like they’d be perfect for Nazi Germany…Let’s burn books so our perfect children are not tainted. Not our kids, well they are your kids. If they think they’re going to keep their kids from gay people or a discussion of homosexuality anywhere, they are delusional.”  (Click HERE for ex-“gay” and Not Our Kids spokesman Steve Bennett’s response to Garcia’s nonsense.)

Nazi Germany? Burning books? Delusional parents?  So much for the homosexual advocates’ “no name calling” campaign. Can you see why your children are more likely to be indoctrinated than educated when the “gay” agenda elbows its way into their school? 

Americans For Truth and NotOurKids.com will have more information on the Parent/Student Pullout of the Day of Silence (Wed., April 18th) and practical information on what you as a parent or taxpayer can do in future e-mails.

List of Middle & High Schools Likely Participating in ‘Day of Silence’: Check Your State

Tuesday, March 27th, 2007

THIS ARTICLE IS OBSOLETE: there is no reliable published list of schools participating in the Day of Silence in 2009. For more information, go to Illinois Family Institute’s website at www.illinoisfamily.org.

My friend Linda Harvey of Mission America has done so much over the years to educate parents across America about the homosexual (GLBT: gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) activist agenda in schools. Below is Linda’s compilation of potential (likely?) middle and high schools participating in the GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) “Day of Silence” on Wed., April 18th.

Check the list below or check Mission America’s updated online list of schools, understanding that it is NOT a comprehensive list because the other side no longer widely publicizes which schools are taking part, as it did in years past.– Peter LaBarbera

Linda writes:

Parents: Here’s something you can do about the pro-homosexual Day of Silence

Protect your kids — keep them at home!

Boycott the DAY of SILENCE!

Parents: Keep your kids home if your school is officially holding, or benignly allowing, this pro-homosexual event.

Scheduled for April 18, some schools are observing it on other days, so check with your local school. Ask your child also–they probably know!

From the information we have based on current homosexual clubs as well as past Day of Silence participation and school homosexual activism, the following schools are those participating.

(Note: If we have listed a school in error, we apologize, and will issue a correction immediately. Please e-mail us with your correction, at editor@missionamerica.com.)

This is the list as of late afternoon, Tuesday, March 28. GO TO MISSION AMERICA’s WEBSITE (www.missionamerica.com) TO SEE THE UPDATED LIST.

Schools removed from this 2007 posting …


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