David French, attorney for MSU social work graduate Emily Brooker, is blogging at National Review Online about the Brooker v Missouri State University case:

There is a good article in this morning’s USA Today regarding the Alliance Defense Fund’s lawsuit against Missouri State. I have been giving several interviews about the case, and I am consistently asked two things: (1) are you saying that students can refuse assignments?; and (2) is this case “just” an academic-freedom dispute, or is it more than that?

First — to clear up any confusion — this is not a case about a student who is merely asked to play “devil’s advocate” in a classroom exercise. Of course teachers can ask you to debate and discuss various ideas from all sides of a dispute. During law school, several of my professors presented hypothetical cases and then asked us to write the majority opinion and the dissent in the case. The plaintiff, Emily Brooker, was not merely asked to think about all sides of an issue or argue different sides in class, she was asked to make an ideological argument in a contentious cultural issue to the state government. Moreover, she was supposed to argue for a position that violated her religious beliefs.

And this gets us to the real heart of the case: the magnitude of the constitutional violation. This is not “just” an academic-freedom dispute but instead represents an attempt by an academic department to pass into the “final frontier”…of university indoctrination. For more than 20 years now, conservative, libertarian, and even many liberal critics of the academy have decried the tendency of universities to silence dissenters. Many of these same critics have also decried one-sided course instruction and a faculty culture that leans overwhelmingly left. By silencing dissent and ensuring that only one side is heard, the university certainly “indoctrinates” students (as that term is commonly understood). But this case is something more. Here, the university goes beyond censorship, beyond one-sided instruction, and invades the student’s most basic right to freedom of conscience. It is not enough to silence students. Instead, the department must force individuals to voice their agreement with the governing ideology.

It is no exaggeration to call this system “Orwellian.” At the end of 1984 (spoiler alert for those who haven’t read the book), Winston Smith not only says that he loves Big Brother; he means it. Missouri State was going to force Emily Brooker to publicly support the campus’s reigning leftist ideology, and the punishment that resulted from the Star Chamber hearing was entirely designed to make sure that she meant it. After all, how could Emily follow the university’s command to “lessen the gap” between her own beliefs and the so-called “ethics” of the social-work profession but by changing her mind and heart?

Excerpted from School ‘Ethics’ Group Punishes Student for Opposing Homosexual Adoption, by Jim Brown, published Nov 1, 2006, by Agape Press:

…According to news reports, Dr. Frank Kaufman — an assistant professor in MSU’s School of Social Work on the Springfield campus and a member of the Faculty Senate at MSU — assigned his students a project promoting homosexual foster homes and adoption. The students were required to write and individually sign a letter to the Missouri legislature in support of homosexual adoption. Emily Brooker says she refused to sign the letter because of her religious convictions, and alleges she was punished for taking that stand.

Brooker says the school subjected her to a grievance hearing where school officials told her she had violated three of the “Standards of Essential Functioning in Social Work Education”: diversity, interpersonal skills, and professional behavior. The social work student is now suing the university for a violation of her First Amendment rights. Her attorney, David French with the Alliance Defense Fund, claims his client was interrogated for two-and-a-half hours by faculty members about the matter.

“She was brought into a hearing where she was denied any access to a recording of the hearing, any advocate in the hearing, and subjected to a grilling,” says French. The attorney says Brooker was asked questions like “Do you think I’m a sinner?” and “Do you think gays and lesbians are sinners?”

French describes the entire situation as “really an amazing case.” He explains that at the December 2005 hearing she was “punished, forced to undergo close monitoring for the rest of her career at the university, and forced to write things, again, that she disagreed with in order to graduate.”

The ADF attorney says many public universities are requiring student to adopt leftist positions in order to obtain a social work degree. “The social work programs are saying that, in order to be a social worker, in order to get a degree, you’re going to have to agree with the university’s stance on various issues,” he shares, “including issues regarding homosexual ‘marriage,’ including issues regarding the entire diversity-tolerance agenda.”

Continue reading at Agape Press…

Question for parents:
Is this book in your child’s classroom?

From our friends at Minnesota Family Institute:

Against one mothers wishes, 7 and 8 year old children were forced to sit through the reading of “Asha’s Mums,” a book depicting a child with two mothers, and listen to their teacher tell them that he and his same-sex partner planned to adopt a child.

Click HERE to view KSTP news clip.

FeLicia McCorvey Preyer, mother of second graders twins, said she met the teacher and school officials before the start of the school year. “I mentioned,” she said, “that I did not want my child hearing this information” about gay issues. Preyer said that instead of supporting her parental rights and authority, she was treated with disrespect and even arrogance. “They treat me as if my beliefs are the problem,” she said.

Gena Bounds, a parent of one of the second-graders said, “Now Darriell (her daughter) thinks the school is telling her she needs to believe that two daddies or two mommies is the same thing as a mom and a dad.”

When the parents met with the principal, they were told their children could not be reassigned to another class. Principal Laura Bloomberg [phone (612) 752-7100 or e-mail laura_bloomberg@wmep.k12.mn.us] said the mission of the school is to build “a partnership of diversity, community and technology.” She said parents were free to object to the school board or withdraw their children from the school.

Minnesota State Statue states that parents have the right to review curriculum and request their children be excused from parts of it.

“This kind of curriculum is becoming the norm, not the exception,” said Chuck Darrell, director of communications for Minnesota Family Council. “Parents need to speak out or they too will find themselves at the whim of arrogant school officials who do not respect their simple requests, such as removing a 7-year-old child from being subjected to homosexual propaganda,” he said.

Excerpted from Gay British teenage male becomes carnival queen, published Oct 6, 2006, in the pro-homosexuality Washington Blade:

Wearing a tiara and flowing dress, 15-year-old David Bridge was cheered by thousands as the Blackberry Carnival queen in Axbridge, England, wire services reported.

[Click HERE to see the boy’s photo]

…The carnival committee was reportedly stunned by Bridge’s drag-themed audition, but was won over. “We had to decide which would offend people least, including David,” said carnival chair Robin Goodfellow, 66. “It was felt we couldn’t eliminate him just because he was male. This was the best solution on the day.”

Continue reading in Washington Blade…

One gay activist reportedly declared that he is not concerned about winning the battle in the courts because he is confident that indoctrinating the present generation of children will result in societal acceptance of homosexuality in 10-15 years.

Excerpted from New Children’s Book: Does God Love Michael’s Two Daddies? by Brad Harrub and Dave Miller, published Sept 2006 by Apologetics Press:

…The books appearing in various school libraries around the country are legion, including:

• And Tango Makes Three
• Heather Has Two Mommies
• Daddy’s Roommate
• Jack and Jim: Picture Book
• One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dads
• The Sissy Duckling
• Who’s in a Family?
• Molly’s Family
• It’s Perfectly Normal
• Best, Best Colors
• My Two Uncles

[NOTE: At several of the Amazon links above, you can read a portion of the respective books.]

Imagine what America is going to be like 10-15 years from now when the children nurtured by such books are adults.

The ongoing, historic commitment of Apologetics Press has been to offer competent Christian responses to the most critical moral issues confronting our culture. For 27 years, A.P. has sought to provide the church and the nation with effective tools for counteracting the anti-Christian forces threatening our way of life. In that tradition, we are delighted to announce the release of a timely, incredibly relevant children’s book:

Does God Love Michael’s Two Daddies?

This tremendous volume is a cogent contribution to the effort by parents and grandparents to insulate and prepare their children and grandchildren to cope with the sinister forces seeking to captivate their youthful spirits. Brilliantly and professionally illustrated, this landmark book beautifully balances the Bible’s forthright condemnation of same-sex marriage with the compassion and love of God. Indeed, this book is cutting-edge, unique, and unprecedented. It deserves to be distributed across the nation—and we predict that it will be. It is that good and that deserving. Look for a review of the book in the September issue of the American Family Association’s Journal.

Continue reading at Apologetics Press…

A woman who grew up with a same-sex-attracted father has launched an effort to help similar people deal with the pain they experience.

Excerpted from New Website Offers Support For Adult Children of Homosexuals, by Gail Besse, published Oct 8-14, 2006, in National Catholic Register:

She had every daughter’s natural need for affirmation,
but that was something her homosexual father just couldn’t give his little girl.

Now in her 40s, Dawn Stefanowicz knows there are others like her — others who as children ached with silent hunger for that missing connection. To help them, she has set up the first website that specifically addresses the impact of homosexual parenting from the adult child’s perspective.

“It pierces the inside of you when you know the truth. Men who struggle with their own masculinity cannot affirm femininity,” she said. “Six-year-olds cannot tell you how they’re being impacted. We can’t comprehend what we went through until we’re adults.

“People aren’t comfortable sharing this, but keeping it hidden hurts children,” she said. “The secular media is not carrying the message that this impacts children long-term.”

Now an accountant and home schooling mother of two, Stefanowicz and her husband of 22 years live in Ontario.

Her website, http://www.dawnstefanowicz.com, went online in early September. It outlines her childhood story, which includes being exposed to nude beaches, “gay cruising” sites and sexually transmitted diseases. The website lists scientific studies and news articles, secular and religious support groups, and confidential contact information.

Her Christian faith and counseling helped Stefanowicz come to terms with her past and with the biological father whom she loved but lost to AIDS.

In the past three years, she has testified in the United States and Canada on behalf of marriage protection laws, and she appeared Sept. 21 on EWTN’s “Life on the Rock.” Her autobiography, Out from Under: Getting Clear of the Wreckage of a Sexually Disordered Home, will be out in 2007.

She went public because children’s voices were one dimension missing from the same-sex “marriage” debate. Adults who as children had first-hand experience of the “gay” lifestyle could speak for them…

A host of parental problems can challenge children raised by those who act out same-sex attraction, according to Dale O’Leary, a writer and researcher for the Catholic Medical Association and author of ­ The Gender Agenda: Redefining Equality. For example, boys reared by two “mothers” face hostility toward their masculinity within the lesbian community.

“Same-sex attraction is the tip of the iceberg,” O’Leary said. “Many such people were victims of sexual child abuse themselves and have multiple problems. Many have suicidal impulses, anger management issues, drug and alcohol abuse, a high level of partner change, serious depression and mental illness. The scary thing is, when children are raised by dysfunctional parents, they often think the problems are their fault,” she said.

Even adult children hesitate to discuss their pain for fear of hurting their parents, Stefanowicz said. Some become promiscuous, when they are really seeking love. Others become perfectionists, seeking a sense of identity through their profession.

She hopes her website will be a vehicle for mutual support and healing, and a resource to uphold marriage as the union of a man and a woman for the sake of all children.

Continue reading in National Catholic Register…

By Sonja Dalton and Peter LaBarbera

The October 1, 2006, “Oprah” program was entitled “Wives Confess They Are Gay.” (Click on that link to read about or watch the show online.)

After years of suppressing her sexuality, Chris decided to come out to her husband, Joe…

“I said, ‘Joe, I think after lots of soul searching and lots of reading and lots of praying I do believe that I’m a lesbian,'” she says. “It was very painful to do.”

But Chris wasn’t alone…

Joe says he was supportive of Chris because he loved her…and because he was also gay! Four years after his divorce, Joe followed Chris’s footsteps…

Chris now has a lesbian partner, Libby, and Joe has a homosexual male partner, Paul, who was also formerly married and who has children. Oprah calls the foursome “One Big, Happy Family.” Her audience applauds, as though there is something to be happy about in this tangled mess.

According to Oprah, they “are now living [their] best life.” According to God, however, they are deluded, deceived – given over to sexual impurity and degrading of their bodies, given up to dishonorable passions, abandoned to a debased, depraved mind (see Romans 1 in the New Testament).

So much for the broken homes, broken hearts – and broken promises before God. Oprah, we ask: where is your compassion for the children whose families are shattered, and the husband who said he cried every day, with anguish over the destruction of his marriage and family that, he said, almost killed him?

Excerpted from “Same Sex Marriage Harms Children’s Rights” Marriage Symposium Hears, published Sept 21, 2006, by LifeSite News:

Louis DeSerres, co-founder of Preserve Marriage – Protect Children’s Rights, addressed the issue of harm to children’s rights resulting from same-sex marriage at symposium on marriage held at Brigham Young University Law School last week. The ‘What’s The Harm? How Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage Will Harm Society, Families, Adults, Children and Marriage’ symposium was jointly sponsored by The Marriage and Family Law Project at Brigham University Law School and The Marriage Law Project at the Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law. The symposium was held on September 15-16, 2006.

DeSerres asked if there is a more natural and self evident birth right for a child than to have a mother and a father. More specifically, while nature creates every child with two biological parents, same-sex marriage leads to the creation of fatherless and motherless children, taking away one of the child’s natural parents.

…Man-woman marriage provides the child with many benefits, said DeSerres enumerating fourteen such benefits which are all lost with same-sex marriage.

Some of the harms caused by same sex ‘marriage’ are irreversible, suggested DeSerres. “Unfortunately, the harm is permanent as no legal authority can bring back the missing biological parent of a child born from an anonymous sperm donor or a surrogate mother. Only prevention can protect children’s rights to a father and a mother.”

Continue reading at LifeSite News…