All 16,000 public school superintendents in the U.S. will be receiving a copy of Just the Facts about Sexual Orientation and Youth, a 24-page booklet that concludes homosexuality is a "normal expression of human sexuality."
“What’s so scary and dogmatic about this report is that it communicates that religious-based viewpoints are harmful, and even dangerous," said Candi Cushman, education analyst for Focus on the Family Action.
The pamphlet is endorsed by more than a dozen professional mental health and counseling organizations, education associations and one liberal religious group. The theme: Schools are only allowed to provide one message about homosexuality — that it's normal and should be embraced.
Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International, said he knows that’s not true.
“Allowing people to choose what is best for their lives is respectful, it’s tolerant, it’s everything that the other side uses as their mantra, but really fails to respect and live up to," he said.
The publication ends with a warning: "Schools should be careful to avoid discussions of transformational ministry in their curriculum.”
Brian Raum, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, called that a thinly veiled threat.
“What they’re trying to do is create a fear factor here," he said. “There’s nothing in the Constitution that would prohibit a teacher from presenting to a student all of the programs that are available, without endorsing or promoting any particular one.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Visit Exodus International and Love Won Out online.
(NOTE: Referral to Web sites not produced by Focus on the Family is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily constitute an endorsement of the sites' content.)
