In our post entitled Deerfield High School: Required Class for Freshmen Advocates Pro-”Gay” and Pro-”Trans” Propaganda, Lora Sue Hauser is quoted speaking of a card game with sexually deviant terms (Genderqueer, Intersexual, MSM, Transgender, Transsexual, Sex Reassignment Surgery, Transphobia, Down-Low, Cross Dressers, etc.).

That “game” is part of GLSEN’s “Lunchbox 2” which GLSEN advertises as: “A Comprehensive Training Program for Ending Anti-LGBT Bias in Schools.” Their political agenda for your children is clear — from their website:

…The GLSEN Lunchbox 2 is a way for us to begin to nourish the spirits of those who have lived with bigotry and rejection their entire lives. By offering educators a regimen of tools for breaking the silence and stereotypes around lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) issues, The GLSEN Lunchbox 2 brings us one step closer to a balanced and healthy school environment for all…

The GLSEN Lunchbox 2 is a comprehensive training program aimed at providing educators and community members with the background knowledge, skills, and tools necessary to make schools safer and more affirming places for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students.

This material is not intended only for high school student (which would be objectionable enough):

There are activities that will be particularly helpful for anyone who works in elementary school communities, others that will be helpful for members of middle school communities, and still other activities most appropriate for high schools.

TAKE ACTION — Is this material being used in your school? You have a right to know and to exclude your child from exposure to it. Ask nicely, and if you don’t receive an open and complete response, file a Freedom of Information request asking for copies of any GLSEN materials used in the school. And let us know what you find…

From our good friends at Culture Campaign and North Shore Student Advocacy (Illinois), originally published Feb 24, 2007:

Deerfield High School: Required Class for Freshmen Advocates Liberal and Pro-Gay Propaganda

As Culture Campaign reported last week, a letter to the editor in the Thursday, Feb. 15, issue of Deerfield Review has prompted some scrutiny of the curriculum being used in a freshman class called Freshman Advisory in District 113 (Deerfield and Highland Park High Schools).

According to Lora Sue Hauser, School Issues Advisor from Illinois Family Institute and parent in the Deerfield High School District, Freshman Advisory is a required class for freshmen in which a vast amount of time is devoted to exposing students to pro-homosexual propaganda:

This is a whole class designed for the “gay” agenda during the second semester as well as other liberal causes. In addition to the “gay” panel, last year’s curricula included movies (Common Threads, Bloodlines, Philadelphia), displaying the AIDS quilt, promoting Day of Silence, etc.

And even worse, this year parents cannot get even this much information. We have no idea what is actually being taught about sexual orientation. The teachers are not required to give full disclosure as to the content in their lesson plans.

How does this happen? It’s a simple formula: “gay” activist teachers = liberal curricula. In Deerfield, and other schools around the country, “gay” activists are in a position to choose curricula and they have no intention of staying neutral on these highly debated topics. They do not present alternative viewpoints even though they claim to welcome diverse views. We have repeatedly asked for a panel to speak on the subject of homosexuality from a moral and medical view but have been denied.

We are trying to get a copy of the 2007 Freshman Advisory Diversity curriculum, with specifics as to what is being taught but we’re hitting a brick wall.

Last year, there was a whole Diversity Packet including a Heterosexism Unit that was ghastly. It included playing a card game with all the sexually deviant terms (Genderqueer, Intersexual, MSM, Transgender, Transsexual, Sex Reassignment Surgery, Transphobia, Down-Low, Cross Dressers, etc.) and students had to match the definitions.

It was followed by discussions asking such questions as “What questions or confusion do you have around language describing lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender people?” or “In your experience, has LGBT terminology been understood and used properly at Deerfield High School.” Of course, all this material comes from GLSEN.

The curriculum also included a Social Justice Education Unit teaching “Power Over & Power Under ” ideologies with Whites, Males, Heterosexuals, Christians/Gentiles, and the Rich being those with “Power Over.” During the lesson plan, they change the wording to be “Non-target” and “Target” stating that the “Power Over” group target people for mistreatment. This kind of teaching sets the ideological stage for anyone who tries to question the curriculum. We are the ones who “Target.”

This is nothing short of propaganda to the youngest students in a high school.

According to the North Shore Student Advocacy Group (NSSA):

1. District 113 Superintendent, George Fornero, and school board members have been unwilling to meet with parents and concerned taxpayers. Dr. Fornero, new to District 113, was acting superintendent in Ann Arbor, MI where his school district, Ann Arbor Public Schools, was sued for not allowing a student to present an alternate viewpoint on a panel of those supporting homosexual behavior. The district lost the suit.
2. Last year, adult gay author Alex Sanchez was brought in by the Straight and Gay Alliance (SAGA) to speak to students after school. He promoted his sexually graphic books and website (which links to forty-five gay bars, fetish groups and even a ‘leather’ group — ie, sado-masochism).

It is a violation of state law and school policy for teachers to promote sexual behavior. It is also a violation of the Equal Access Act for SAGA advisors to be in anything other than a custodial role for non-curriculum extracurricular groups.

Deerfield High School has some explaining to do…

From our good friends at Culture Campaign and North Shore Student Advocacy, originally published Feb 19, 2007:

A recent letter to the editor [.PDF] in the Thursday, Feb. 15 issue of Deerfield Review reveals a troubling agenda at Deerfield High School. A parent was denied permission for a one-time visit to observe a class called Freshman Advisory. She had become concerned about the content of the class after her daughter was mocked, called ‘anti-semitic’ and ‘homophobic’ for openly disagreeing with the pro-homosexual message presented. Student members of the Straight and Gay Alliance (SAGA) drew pictures of her with devil horns on her head…

Here is the letter in its entirety:

Parent Denied Class Visit

I have seven children who have either attended or are currently attending Deerfield High School. As a parent, I have the right to know what they are teaching my kids, how they are teaching my kids, and why they are teaching my kids certain information. I recently asked for the first time to visit a class to hear what they are teaching in Freshman Advisory.

I was surprised to receive a letter informing me that I would not be allowed to visit. They told me that they would send me a taped copy of the class.

First, how would I know if the tape had been edited? Second, I am an adult, I pay taxes for my kids to attend this school, and I should be able to sit in on one class to see what they are teaching my fourteen-year-old.

I have instilled morals and values in my kids, and I believe that some at DHS are trying to change my child’s beliefs to conform to theirs.

Tolerance is one of the values that I have instilled in my kids, but it is clear that tolerance is not a value shared by the Straight and Gay Alliance (SAGA) at DHS. I was shocked to learn that when one of my children openly disagreed with SAGA’s position on homosexuality, she was called anti-Semitic and homophobic. In addition, certain individuals in SAGA drew pictures of my daughter with devil horns on her head.

Shockingly, none of this was solved, and no one was punished for these intolerant and distasteful acts. I feel certain that if the tables were turned, my daughter would have been punished. Intolerance is clearly an issue at DHS. Unfortunately it is those with a non-traditional agenda who are the intolerant ones. Some students and certain staff members make it uncomfortable for more conservative students to disagree with the belief that homosexual behavior is moral.

I will do whatever I can to ensure that my children and their beliefs are tolerated. Furthermore, I do not want my children taught anything at school that should be taught only at home. Teachers should teach English, math social studies, science, and foreign languages.

The class I asked to observe is a Freshman Advisory class in which gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgender DHS students discuss their sexual orientation with all freshmen. If they are allowed to share this information with freshmen, parents should be allowed to hear their presentation also.

If they are uncomfortable with a parent sitting quietly in the back of the class, then perhaps the presentation is not appropriate for the public school.

I do not want teachers having some students announce their sexual orientation to my children as part of a classroom presentation, and I do not want teachers even suggesting that my children accept the view that homosexual behavior is right behavior. This is not what I send my kids to school to learn. Something needs to change.

Ellen Waltz
Deerfield

Deerfield High School has some explaining to do…

More and more it is becoming clear that the homosexual agenda cannot succeed without censorship and trampling over other people’s rights. Can you imagine the can of worms that this legislation would open up? California is reaping the whirlwind of Christian apathy in the face of evil (masquerading as tolerance). If conservatives, churches and parents don’t pull their heads out of the sand soon and stop this juggernaut, California will deserve the oppressive fate that it gets. — Peter LaBarbera

Note: For some additional background on Sheila Kuehl, click HERE.

——————————-

From Legislator Introduces Outrageous Homosexual Bill, published Feb 26, 2007, by Christian Newswire:

SB 777 a serious assault on religious freedom in schools

[California] State Senator Sheila Kuehl has introduced legislation that will ban textbooks and teachers from any instruction that “reflects adversely” upon homosexuality, transgenders, bisexuals or those with perceived gender issues.

SB 777 is almost identical to last session’s highly controversial SB 1437, which passed the legislature but was vetoed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“SB 777 is designed to transform our public schools into institutions that disregard all notions of the traditional family unit,” said Karen England, Executive Director of Capitol Resource Institute. “This reverse discrimination is an outright attack on the religious and moral beliefs of California citizens.”

SB 777 not only affects textbooks and instructional materials for kindergarten and grades 1-12, it also affects all school-sponsored activities. School-sponsored activities include everything from cheerleading and sports activities to the prom. Under SB 777 school districts could potentially be prohibited from having a “prom king and queen” because that would show bias based on gender and sexual orientation.

“Pushing this radical homosexual agenda in California schools will inevitably conflict with the religious and moral convictions of both students and parents,” continued England. “The full ramifications of this sweeping legislation could affect the entire nation as most textbook companies tailor their material to their number one purchaser: California.”

“The term ‘reflects adversely’ is too nebulous and susceptible to broad interpretation,” said Meredith Turney, Legislative Liaison for Capitol Resource Institute. “For instance, does it reflect adversely upon homosexuals to report statistics on the rate of AIDS infections in America, including the homosexual community? And would the terms ‘mom and dad’ or ‘husband and wife’ be considered discriminatory?”

“Last session thousands of Californians called their legislators and the governor opposing the very same piece of legislation,” continued Turney. “In fact, legislators publicly stated that they received more constituent complaints about this legislation than any other bill. It proves that when a out-of-touch group has a radical agenda to push forward, they will ignore the will of the people.”

CRI is committed to opposing legislation that uses our children as social-experiments and tramples upon long-standing traditional family values.

Read SB 777

Listen Online

Monday, January 22, 2007 — MBN’s Jon Gauger interviews Laurie Higgins, a staff member at an affluent suburban Chicago area high school, regarding normalization and celebration of homosexuality in public schools. Mrs. Higgins offers cogent reasoning that you can employ with your local school administrators and your church leaders. This radio programs presents a rare opportunity to hear from a professional who has really made a difference in one of the most politically and morally liberal communities in Illinois.

(This interview is in hour 1, segment 2, and starts approximately 4 minutes into the audio. The segment is 4 minutes in duration.)

TAKE ACTION — Listen and then keep Laurie Higgins in your prayers.

Americans For Truth’s Sonja Dalton offers a few thoughts on the San Francisco Chronicle story below about four “transgender” girls:

• “Real women” have two X chromosomes, and they do not have a male sex organ;
• Adult homosexual and “transgender” activists, like lesbian writer Chris Beam, often affirm confused “GLBT” youth in dangerous and wrong behaviors;
• Nothing is sadder to see than a confused young person who has been deceived into renouncing his God-given identity and sexuality;
• Churches need to prepare to intervene with vulnerable boys and girls (kids from dysfunctional, broken, or abusive homes; kids that don’t “fit in”; kids that have been molested). Godly men and women need to come alongside vulnerable kids, put their arms around them, reinforce their God-given identity, and motivate them with a vision of the fulfilling life they can enjoy.

——————————

The following is excerpted from Shaking Up Transgender Assumptions, a book review by Julie Foster, published Jan 7, 2007, by the San Francisco Chronicle:

Transparent: Love, Family, and Living the T with Transgender Teenagers
by Cris Beam

Real women can have penises. And “the brain and the heart are the only organs with a gender, and … all genital modification or lack thereof is simply a personal aesthetic choice.” These are some of the titillating ideas explored in “Transparent,” Cris Beam’s first book.

…In 1998, [Cris Beam] was a freelance magazine writer with spare time. She began volunteering at a high school in Los Angeles for gay and transgender teens.

After 2 1/2 years Beam burned out and quit. But she loved her students, even with “their attitudes, and the occasional danger and regular tragedies,” and she maintained contact with several of the kids.

“Transparent” is the result of those meetings, which occurred from 1998 through the summer of 2005. Beam found her way into this nuanced world through the lives of four transgender girls, Christina, Domineque, Foxxjazell and Ariel, genetic males living as females…

It hasn’t always been so. Beam reveals the “rich history of transsexuality — or cross-gender behavior — documented back to the pre-Christian era.” She cites examples from early American Indian cultures, including the Mohave, Navajo and Lakota, which seem to have not been so hung up on the male-female dichotomies. “For these tribes, there weren’t just two genders posted at opposite ends of a field, with a rule against hanging out in the middle.”

She chronicles the tragic homelessness, common to many transgender teens, which exacerbates their already complicated lives. She weaves in the story of Foxxjazell, “a really great drag mother,” and one of the many “transsexuals who have already been living in their rightful gender and are in the position to teach their younger counterparts.”…

Five years after Beam began her interviews, things changed. Beam and her partner, Robin, moved back to New York. Domineque committed a serious crime and was sentenced to time at an all-male prison. And 19-year-old Christina, who by then had become a part of Beam’s family, reached her goal of getting a social outreach job with a Latino AIDS organization…

Continue reading in San Francisco Chronicle…

Press release from our friends at American Family Association of Pennsylvania, published Jan 4, 2007:

Ambridge Area School District Partnership With GLSEN Is a Mistake, Traditional Values Group Says

(Pittsburgh) – The Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) has invited Ambridge Area Senior High School principal Alan Fritz to attend diversity workshops they offer. The American Family Association of Pennsylvania (AFA of PA) has expressed concern with this partnership in a letter to Mr. Fritz.

The AFA of PA, a statewide traditional values group, also provided Mr. Fritz with a copy of anti-bullying curriculum developed by Dr. Warren Throckmorton, Associate Professor of Psychology at Grove City College. GLSEN’s goal is to normalize the homosexual lifestyle and to demonize those who do not agree with that normalization.

In the letter sent to Mr. Fritz, the AFA of PA referred to a March 5, 1995 quote from Kevin Jennings, Executive Director of GLSEN, where he admits to using the ‘safety’ issue as a way of convincing the Massachusetts legislature to adopt a pro-homosexual agenda for their schools. Two years ago the father of a kindergarten student was arrested for objecting to homosexuality being discussed in his son’s class. Is Pennsylvania far behind?

“School boards and school administrators at Ambridge Area School District and beyond, need to be fully aware that it is in their best interest not to partner with homosexual organizations such as GLSEN. Pushing the acceptance of homosexuality ultimately will target the First Amendment rights of those with deeply held religious beliefs which believe that lifestyle is sinful,” Diane Gramley, president of the AFA of PA, noted.

Also mentioned in the letter were books that GLSEN encourages students to read:

• Two Teenagers in Twenty which is a compilation of true first-person ‘coming out’ stories of teens. In the book one boy relates that he has a 23-year-old lover, a homosexual man he met at a subway stop. The boy telling the story is 15 (p. 81).

• In Your Face: Stories from the Lives of Queer Youth has been available for purchase on the GLSEN web site. In this book, a boy named Todd recalled having a 25-year-old male sex partner when he was 16. They met when the boy went to the Sonoma County “gay” youth group (pp.58-59). He shortly began a different relationship with a 27-year-old male, a friend of the first partner (p.141).

• A novel called Rainbow Boys [by Alex Sanchez] is currently available for purchase on the GLSEN web site. In this book, three teen boys are featured as they explore homosexual relationships with each other and others. Besides numerous graphic scenes of masturbation, sex between homosexual teen boys, a 29-year-old “meets” a 17-year-old in an online chat room (p.112). They eventually go on a “date” and teen readers are treated to an explicit sex scene involving anal intercourse without a condom.

“Any school which partners with GLSEN is agreeing with their efforts to normalize homosexuality. A lifestyle which shortens the lives of the male participants by up to 20 years, sees increased substance abuse and psychological and eating disorders.

“GLSEN’s goal is to make Pennsylvania and all states similar to Massachusetts in pushing homosexuality in the classroom. Schools should provide a safe learning environment for all students, but teaching that ‘gay is okay’ is not being truthful about the dangers and could pose potential danger to students,” remarked Gramley.

“It is also a chance
to wholly transform the definition of family
in American culture.

It is the final tool with which to dismantle all sodomy statutes,
get education about homosexuality and AIDS into public schools,
and, in short, usher in a sea change in how society views and treats us.”

— Michelangelo Signorile in I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do,
published May 1996 by OUT magazine (page 30)
(cited by Robert Knight at Talking Points on Marriage)