Few parents send their kids to school to be force-fed pro-homosexual messages day in and day out. Yet, that's exactly what's happening in an increasing number of schools across the nation. How are gay activists getting around parents and into America's classrooms?
To find out, I attended a conference sponsored by one of the nation's largest gay-advocacy groups -- the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) -- which boasts of having more than 3,000 pro-homosexual clubs in middle and high schools. The April 29 event was presented by GLSEN's Boston chapter.
Particularly interesting was a workshop led by GLSEN's national communication director, Joshua Lamont, who gave talking points on how to overcome "resistance from various stakeholders."
It quickly became clear who these troublesome "stakeholders" were -- parents and school board members who dared to oppose the gay agenda. While GLSEN publicly claims to respect "every member of the school community," privately it's holding training sessions on how to undermine the members with the most vested interest in public education -- taxpaying moms and dads, and the people they've elected to represent them.
"We need to take the power back," Lamont told the audience.
Tactic 1: Broaden the debate
Lamont's audience that day included gay and lesbian teachers, as well as an "adjustment counselor" and a school librarian.
Lamont gave them an "umbrella" talking point he said was developed with the help of the National Education Association: "Addressing anti-LGBT harassment in schools creates safer and better schools for all students."
Teachers were advised how to use that talking point to justify things such as pro-gay curricula and GLSEN's student clubs.
But one gay activist in the audience objected: Why do we have to give in to the "other side's" argument by putting the emphasis on "all" students? Why can't we just be up front about wanting to focus on gays and lesbian kids?
Lamont's response was revealing: Most students in GLSEN's 3,000 clubs are actually heterosexual, he said. And the majority of complaints regarding homosexual-related harassment come from "straight" kids.
So, "use this tactic of broadening" to "every child," he said.
It's a smart strategy: Not only does it mask the fact that there aren't enough gay students to warrant the immersion of entire student bodies in pro-gay propaganda, but it also gives GLSEN convenient heterosexual student "allies" who put themselves in the role of defending perceived gay "victims."
How to respond:
As good as this tactic is, it's still possible for parents to counteract it by exposing it as a Trojan horse, said Caleb Price, a research analyst for Focus on the Family.
"Make it a fairness issue," he advised. "While it's true that every child needs a safe school, there's no need to create a special class of citizens who get more protection than others. Parents can point out that approximately 80 percent of school kids experience some form of bullying at school -- so why not give attention to all children who need protection -- including those who are overweight, wear glasses, etc."
For more on this approach, see the legislative testimony presented by the Family Research Council's Peter Sprigg.
Even Brenda High, whose son committed suicide after being bullied, has opposed safe-school policies that create special categories for homosexuals.
"The efforts to include definitions of classes of victims, also excludes other victims, making it more difficult to protect ALL kids," she said.
Parents can also expose GLSEN's true agenda -- one of its student manuals, for example, mentions having homosexual themes "fully integrated into curricula across a variety of subject areas and grade levels."
Tactic 2: Make it personal
Lamont also revealed that GLSEN put together focus groups of kids to determine which messages resonated most powerfully.
The conclusion? Moms and dads have the most influence. After that, "the most effective tactic proved to be personalization" -- i.e., stories kids hear from their peers or other people who are personally affected by homosexuality.
To illustrate the point, Lamont related what happened when researchers showed the group a video featuring Judy Shepard, whose son, Matthew, was murdered in 1998 in Wyoming.
"I'm glad I was behind glass, because I almost fell out of my chair," Lamont said.
The very first comment from a focus group kid was, "How much did that [profanity referring to Judy Shepard] get paid?" Lamont remembered. "Because to them it looked like a paid celebrity preaching to them."
But when researchers replaced the video with the "personalization" method, he said, "one of the kids even came out in the focus group."
"Wow, that's powerful," one teacher commented.
Which is why GLSEN is working tirelessly to get gay speakers into public schools.
How to respond:
If your school invites a homosexual speaker, challenge the school to open the forum to other perspectives, including ex-gays.
To find local ex-gay speakers, contact Exodus International.
There is solid legal backing for this approach: At least one federal court has ruled that school districts are illegally engaging in "viewpoint discrimination" by excluding ex-gay and conservative perspectives when addressing homosexuality.
Tactic 3: Threaten lawsuits
"This is almost our trump card," Lamont told his audience. "Make it a money issue."
When all else fails, he said, warn schools they're "legally liable for not protecting young people."
"In all the cases brought, to date, the student either prevailed after trial or achieved a settlement," according to a handout distributed at the workshop.
How to respond:
But what GLSEN doesn't tell schools is that, rather than deflecting lawsuits, they may actually become more vulnerable to them by adopting policies and curricula that single out gay and lesbian individuals, said Mike Johnson, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a legal group based in Arizona.
"Schools are better off using blanket-protection policies," he said, "that shield all students from bullying or harassment."
The dark side of sexual-orientation policies advocated by GLSEN, Johnson said, is that they often trample on the free-speech rights of students with opposing viewpoints.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
To learn more about the Alliance Defense Fund, visit its Web site.
(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.)
