From Focus on the Family's CitizenLink.org August 7, 2006
(Commentary in
Bold, most
other effects also mine)
-Remember, these are ONLY highlights of the article.
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What GLSEN Doesn't What You to Know (sic)
-(Read that title again if you didn't catch it the second time)
by C. Sulley Cushman
Learn how a leading gay-activist group works to get in public schools.
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.
-so you went to a “conference” to find out precisely “What GLSEN Doesn't What You to Know?” (still sic)
-please, do go on...
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.
^Plot point..
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Tactic 1: Broaden the debate
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."
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.
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.""
-Got that?
Lamont: “Most students in GLSEN’s are heterosexual.”
Reporter Cushman’s assessment of that: “there aren't enough gay students to warrant [GSA’s, but phrased as:] the immersion of entire student bodies in pro-gay propaganda.
Thus:
1. Less than most, is EQUAL to insignificant/negligible.
2. The active protection of ‘less than most’ (GSA’s), is EQUAL to ALL students being bathed in “pro-gay propaganda.”
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Lamont: “And the majority of complaints regarding homosexual-related harassment come from "straight" kids.
Reporter Cushman’s assessment of that: “it also gives GLSEN convenient heterosexual student "allies" who put themselves in the role of defending perceived gay "victims."
So the argument against PROTECTING VICTIMS of “homosexual-related harassment,” is BASED on the idea that most of them are not gay.
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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.
That link does NOT go to the source of the "testimony" but to a copy of it on the FRC website.
The Family Research Council is an organization that routinely attempts to portray sexually transmitted diseases as a unique phenomenon of homosexuality itself.)
From the "legislative testimony" link:
“Reports of gay teen suicides also appear to have been exaggerated.”
Implying that all legitimate gay teen suicides are PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE.
Let’s review a recent incident shall we...: One fact, two lies. One lie to refute the fact, a second lie to justify the first lie. (lies courtesy of Focus on the Family)
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Parents can also expose GLSEN's true agenda -- one of its
for example, mentions getting homosexual themes
"fully integrated into curricula across a variety of subject areas and grade levels."
I could not locate that quote. Granted I sped read through the file, but if-that’s-the-WORST reporter Cushman found, then that’s three more lies.
-One for not providing it’s location in the file.
-Two for not providing it’s context in THIS article.
-And Three for implying that FOTF reporter Cushman should be trusted without question!
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Tactic 2: Make it personal
Lamont related what happened when researchers showed the group a video featuring Judy Shepard, whose son, Matthew, was murdered in 1998 in Wyoming.
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."
Which is why GLSEN is working tirelessly to get gay speakers into public schools.
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How to respond:
If your school invites a homosexual speaker, challenge the school to open the forum to other perspectives, including ex-gays.
-So the existence and fate of gays is SO insignificant, that NOT even gay-related harassment of straights should be acknowledged, yet the testimony of "ex-gays" is PERFECTLY LEGITIMATE.
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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, threaten a lawsuit. 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," read a handout distributed at the workshop.
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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.
-Translation: Protecting gay and lesbian students against harassment and bullying infringes on the freely CHOSEN BEHAVIOR of others to harass and bully them in Jesus' name.
In other words "sexual-orientation [protection] policies" discriminate against blanket harassment.
Or as they like to put it: “The power of Christ compels them.”