Excerpted from School Accused of Promoting Homosexuality, by Lisa Black, published Mar 7, 2007, by Chicago Tribune:

Some parents have accused Deerfield High School of promoting a homosexual agenda by allowing gay students to speak before freshman classes about their personal experiences, cite research and invite questions.

Taking place in classrooms this week, the panel sessions are scheduled during a class called freshman advisory, which seeks to help students adjust to high school. The class is mandatory, but parents can choose to remove their child on days the lessons concern them, school officials said.

But Deerfield resident and parent Lora Sue Hauser, who heads a group called North Shore Student Advocacy, wants to see the panel discontinued, saying it delves into complex issues of sexuality that are better addressed by parents and trained counselors. She said the panel is one of several ways that Deerfield High and other schools treat homosexuality as morally acceptable without presenting the viewpoints of those who disagree.

“The school makes heterosexuality and homosexuality equivalent, and our country is deeply divided on that,” said Hauser, who said dozens of parents belong to the advocacy group but fear they will be labeled as haters or religious fanatics if they speak out.

“You can’t dump that on a 14-year-old,” Hauser said. “These are really difficult waters to navigate.”

Continue reading at Chicago Tribune…

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…

A quote from GLSEN’s founder and executive director Kevin Jennings — the same GLSEN which designated this week (Jan 22-26, 2007) as No Name Calling Week, an opportunity for homosexual activists to influence your children.

TAKE ACTION — Make your school administrators aware of the origins of No Name Calling Week and of Kevin Jennings’ comments which reveal his character and (in)sincerity about tolerance/diversity…and then demand that GLSEN be refused access to students in your community.

Excerpted from When Silence Would Have Been Golden, by Peter LaBarbera, published April 10, 2006, by Concerned Women for America:

GLSEN’S JENNINGS: !&%#! THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT!
Addressing a church audience on March 20, 2000 in New York City — just days before “Fistgate” — GLSEN Executive Director Kevin Jennings offered a stinging (and quite intolerant) assessment of how to deal with religious conservatives:

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—] ’em!’ which is what I want to say, because I don’t care what they think! [audience laughter] Drop dead!⁹

It should be noted that GLSEN and Jennings make heavy use of the words “respect” and “tolerance” in their public rhetoric and in descriptions of their programs.¹⁰

Continue reading at CWA…

What the NEA (National Education Association) refuses to admit as it (again, below) recommends pro-homosexual “anti-harassment training” is that such training invariably undermines the firmly-held beliefs of Christian and other students who believe homosexual behavior is wrong. “Anti-bias” and “gay”-inclusive “bullying” programs rely on the very jaundiced work of groups like GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network), which have a long track record of assailing and distorting Christian and conservative teachings on homosexuality.

Why can’t schools simply ban all “bullying” or abuse of ANY students without getting into the homosexuality promotion business? — Peter LaBarbera

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From NEA’s website:

Rights Watch

Teaching Tolerance or Attacking Religion?

How far can schools go in teaching tolerance for gays and lesbians? Two federal courts tackle this thorny question.

It’s the latest battleground in the culture wars. In the wake of several high-profile cases holding school districts liable for failing to protect gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered (GLBT) students from peer harassment, many schools have adopted training programs intended to reduce harassment and promote acceptance of GLBT students.

Some parents find these programs objectionable because they conflict with their deeply held religious belief that homosexuality is sinful, and they don’t want the schools to undermine their parental authority by teaching a contrary lesson.

Federal courts in Maryland and Kentucky recently struggled to resolve this conflict, with differing results.

In a dispute that is still ongoing, the Montgomery County (Maryland) Board of Education last year adopted a health education curriculum designed to teach tolerance of gays and lesbians. Among other things, course materials described as a “myth” the belief that “homosexuality is a sin” and characterized certain Christian religions as “intolerant and Biblically misguided” because they are “opposed to homosexuality.”

In a lawsuit filed in May 2005 by two groups of parents and citizens, a federal district court issued an injunction prohibiting the Maryland school district from implementing the curriculum. The court found that the course materials violate the Constitution by attacking the views of certain religions, while promoting the views of other religions that “are more friendly towards the homosexual lifestyle.”

The school district has agreed to revise the controversial curriculum. That process is still underway.

In the Kentucky case decided in February, a federal district court ruled that parents don’t have the right to have their children opt out of mandatory “student diversity training” designed to stop the harassment of GLBT students.

The program adopted by the Board of Education of Boyd County, Kentucky, consists of a one-hour video, followed by comments from an instructor and questions from students. Students who refuse to attend receive an unexcused absence.

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.

Merry Christmas to all of our readers! Please consider making a year-end, tax-deductible gift to Americans For Truth. There’s a reason liberal-left groups like People for the American Way are monitoring AFTAH’s every move: they don’t want the radical “gay” agenda that endangers and corrupts children exposed. We need your help to keep standing for truth, as exemplified by the heartwarming story below…

The stakes of the cultural battle over homosexuality are never made clearer than when God reaches down from heaven to bring radical change in a person’s life — in the case below, a gender-confused suburban Chicago high school student who has recovered his masculine identity through Christian rebirth (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Only a sophomore in high school, “John” last year went by the name “Joanna” and was known in school for his feminine behaviors, like putting on women’s make-up. (We will not use his real name or identify his school to protect his identity as a minor.) He was headed towards living a life as a female-imitating, “transgendered” she — when God intervened and John was “born again” through faith in Jesus Christ, he told his student newspaper.

Now “transgender” Joanna is no more and John is reestablishing his true, God-given male nature at his high school. His newfound reality is precisely the sort of story that homosexual/transsexual activist groups like GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network) do not want other teenagers to hear. Because GLSEN knows that such stories undermine the “gay” myth that people are born GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered), and that such aberrant identities are mere natural and innocuous “orientations.”

In GLSEN’s “gay” activist world, “Joanna” deserved to be recognized and celebrated based on his/her “transgendered” lifestyle. GLSEN encourages teachers and school counselors to confirm highly impressionable youth in gender-confused identities: in fact, it’s quite common now to hear teachers of young students identify gender non-conforming children as future “transgendered” adults.

GLSEN’s warped ideology has become official policy at many schools across the country.

But, of course, change is possible, because God is in the business of changing repentant sinners. If the Christ of Christmas can turn around the lives of drug addicts, murderers, and drunks, He certainly can save men and women — and adolescent children — trapped in gender confusion and homosexuality.

As you read this story, say a prayer of praise and thanks to God for working in the life of this young man. Merry CHRIST-mas, John! — Peter LaBarbera

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The following is excerpted from an article that appeared in “John’s” high school newspaper in the fall of 2006; we have changed his name and omitted source identification to protect his identity as a minor for now:

Comments left on the Myspace website of [John] displayed messages such as “Why are you moving?” and “Please don’t move away!”

Despite concerns that [John] might not begin his sophomore year at [unnamed Illinois high school], he is back, armed with a new wardrobe.

“All my friends were afraid that I was moving away. I’m not moving. Joanna [his female persona’s name] is moving,” said [John].

At the end of last year, [John] was concerned with properly applying eyeliner and picking a lip gloss that matched his belt.

[John] sold his old clothes and is now clad in [male] outfits from his new favorite stores…

The decision to change his appearance wasn’t a quick transition. Losing his feminine appearance took [John] the entire summer.

He became inspired after becoming more involved with religion and his church. [John] calls himself a “born-again Christian.”

“I started reading passages from the Bible this summer and I finally understood messages that didn’t make sense to me when I was younger,” [John] said. “Now I realize I can be who I want to be. Everybody can be who they want to be.”

…He also will remain active in his church because he feels that religion helped him decide what kind of changes to make in his life.

According to [John], although the start of the school year was “exciting” for him, he is disappointed that he received negative feedback about his changes from some of his friends.

“Mostly they say things like ‘Whoa, what happened?’ I understand that they might be shocked by my new look or that they don’t necessarily like it, but it doesn’t matter what they think,” [John] said.

According to [John], he spent “too much time” allowing his [Joanna — female] persona to be teased and mistreated last year.

“People couldn’t decide if they were going to accept me then, so I’m cautious of people who are eager to meet the new me,” [John] said.

Despite mixed reactions during the first days of school, [John] feels that his family and “true friends” have been accepting and encouraging of the changes he decided to make.

“I feel that the blessings have been pouring down on me recently,” [John] said. “Now I can finally be who I’m meant to be.”

And to that we at Americans for Truth say, Amen!

From our friends at MassResistance: A letter to the editor from a Massachusetts United Church of Christ “pastor” who is responding to Tom Mountain’s article about a GLSEN activist/grade school social worker explaining “transgender” to a class of third graders, without their parents’ permission.

Likewise, here in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago, “Parish Minister” Julie Denny-Hughes of Palatine’s Countryside Unitarian Universalist “Church” passionately defended the use of “Perks of Being a Wallflower“ by teachers in District 214. “Perks” is written at a third or fourth grade reading level, but was planned for a high school class. Should you find this “book” on your child’s required or recommended reading list, you might be interested to know that it offers quite an education in masturbating with a hot dog, forced oral sex, forceable sodomy, voyeurism, attempted drunken sex with a dog, and so on. (Read the excerpts for yourself.)

We’ve heard quite enough from the UCC and Unitarian leaders. Where are the Bible-believing pastors and youth ministers (the ones like Pastor Vincent Fields)? Their voices are sorely needed. — Sonja Dalton

New low in narrow-mindedness
By Reverend Richard Malmberg/ Guest column
Published Nov 15, 2006, in Newton Tab

Flaunting his biases with characteristic reliance on hearsay information, Tom Mountain accused Franklin School Principal Cindy Marchand of overreacting to an irate parent. As a Franklin parent, I know her to be a competent and knowledgeable principal. She was right to defend her staff, especially such a dedicated and professional social worker as Laura Perkins. Further, Ms. O’Shea should have been reprimanded for humiliating a Franklin family and attempting to derail a school meeting to press her own agenda. Other parents present at Curriculum Night confirm that Ms. Marchand handled an awkward situation calmly and capably. I generally try to ignore Tom Mountain’s weekly bitter tirades. They do little to edify, and nothing to enhance the civility of public discourse in Newton. At the risk of responding in kind, I have to say that his column in the Nov. 8 TAB reached a new low in mean-spirited narrow-mindedness.

I have had kids in Franklin School for more than eight years, and had numerous contacts with the family whose presence seems to so outrage Mr. Mountain and Ms. O’Shea. It might surprise them both that my first conversation with the parent who underwent gender reassignment took place at a Little League game. Our sons were on the same team. As we sat in our folding chairs, we had a friendly and stimulating conversation. When I told him I was a minister, the conversation turned to Biblical scholarship. He (then still living as a man) was obviously quite well-read and genuinely interested in the subject. I learned that he is an active lay leader in his own church.

Only after the “teachable moment” Mr. Mountain described did I learn through the Franklin grapevine that this other Little League dad was going through a gender reassignment. I confess that for a while after that, I felt a little awkward – my problem. I regret not being more openly supportive during what must have been a difficult time for their family. I admire the quiet dignity and courage they display through it all. They have not allowed the self-appointed sexuality police to harass them out of full participation in the community. Newton is fortunate to have such solid citizens, active in their congregation, supporting their kids, their school and pursuing happiness in our midst. Their modest refusal to hide makes our city safer for diversity.

I find it interesting that Mr. Mountain, champion of traditional family values, hints at snarky disbelief that this couple remained married after gender reassignment. With divorce rates what they are in our society, he should celebrate a durable commitment and intact family. Mindless devotion to a “Leave It to Beaver” mirage of “traditional family” is simply idolatry. Our fixation on an imagined norm undermines our ability to value real families whatever shape they take. We endanger the actual relationships that sustain us, while damaging our psychic and spiritual well-being. Consider the tragically self-loathing, self-destructive Rev. Ted Haggard. He crusaded against gay marriage in public, and engaged in risky gay sex and drug abuse in secret. This man of deep faith and extraordinary charisma was twisted by intolerant theology that had no room for the man God created him to be.

From our good friends at Mission America…

An eyewitness describes the “Healing the Hurt“ GLSEN conference for youth held two weeks ago in White Plains NY:

“On Nov.14, I attended the 8th Annual Healing the Hurt Conference, in White Plains, NY. What I thought was a bad situation in our schools, I observed to be worse than I could have imagined.

“Over 500 kids, gay and straight, were given a day off from academics to be indoctrinated with an agenda that clearly normalizes homosexuality, undermines parental control, and encourages in some subtle and not so subtle ways, rebellion against traditional religious beliefs and governmental laws that do not propagate the homosexual agenda.

“The theme of Dani Newsum‘s keynote address was the ‘Ally’ concept, getting straight kids to support and fight for homosexual ‘rights.’ She states that heterosexist thinking (that all people are born heterosexual) is ‘sick, unhealthy, not accepted.’ She called Colorado’s Amendment 2- ‘obscene violence to the Constitution.’ She added, ‘Southern Baptists will apologize in 100 years to LGBTQ people.’

“In a later workshop, ‘Seeking the Inclusive Spirit – Journeys into Faith,’ an ordained, openly homosexual minister, stated, ‘I am not waiting 100 years,’ referring to an apology. He called Jesus a ‘felon,’ in his attempt to encourage rebellion against existing authorities, and states he will not settle for civil unions but only marriage for gays. He says he was ordained not to be ‘part of an institution,’ but to change it. And this was the underlying message of the conference: a rally for students to take up the cause to change the laws.

“Another workshop,‘Youth speak out on being LGBT in School,’ was an open mic format where I discovered that many of the students attending this workshop were there and their parents did not know it. One girl confessed to forging the permission slips, and many students laughed and clapped for her determination to attend the conference.

“The LGBT current events and activism workshop, ‘Red Cross, ROTC, and Rainbows, Oh MY!,’ promoted activism for gay issues and called for the high school kids to rally with college kids for the cause of homosexual ‘rights.’ The moderator stated, jokingly, ‘I do not want to turn you into anarchists, but cheers.’ The kids were told, ‘Canada is a good place to be’ and to push for DASA (Dignity for All Students Act) and gave the website: Empire State Pride Agenda.

“Parents, be aware of this presence in your schools and beware of its influence. Conservativism is viewed as homophobic. Parents, you are a bigot and a heterosexist if you do not agree with them.

‘Malicious and cultural bigots injecting their bigotry into our lives’ — Dani Newsum

Hence the push for a ‘cultural shift.’ They call for the students to be ‘freedom fighters,’ but lead them into bondage. And they have an elementary and middle school agenda already in a school near you. Confer, speak up and do something before it is too late.

“The Lord, He is still good.”

Jeanne S.