Tolerance = gay agenda [Archive]

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Uncle Tat

08-11-2003, 12:46 PM

Just sort of curious what the gay, lesbian, transexual, bisexual, etc... community is looking for.

Clearly there's a difference between Tolerance and Acceptance.

Tolerance usually translates to, "I don't mind homosexuals, if they get within 5 feet of me or my son, I'm going to beat them silly."

Acceptance means, "I don't mind if my son realizes he's gay."

What is the community aiming for?

Right now it seems Tolerance is by law, but people don't need to be accepting.

kimpossible

08-11-2003, 12:51 PM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Uncle Tat @ Aug 11 2003, 10:46 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Acceptance means, "I don't mind if my son realizes he's gay because of exposure to other homosexuals."

[/b][/quote]
Because of exposure to other homosexuals?

*sigh*

frcegrl

08-11-2003, 02:33 PM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Hello_Hapa @ Aug 11 2003, 10:51 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> </div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Uncle Tat @ Aug 11 2003, 10:46 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Acceptance means, "I don't mind if my son realizes he's gay because of exposure to other homosexuals."

[/b][/quote]
Because of exposure to other homosexuals?

*sigh* [/b][/quote]
i agree....sad

frcegrl

08-11-2003, 02:42 PM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Uncle Tat @ Aug 11 2003, 10:46 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Just sort of curious what the gay, lesbian, transexual, bisexual, etc... community is looking for.

Clearly there's a difference between Tolerance and Acceptance.

Tolerance usually translates to, "I don't mind homosexuals, if that fag gets within 5 feet of me or my son, I'm going to beat him silly."

Acceptance means, "I don't mind if my son realizes he's gay because of exposure to other homosexuals."

What is the community aiming for?

Right now it seems Tolerance is by law, but people don't need to be accepting. [/b][/quote]
ask any minority group if they are looking for tolerance or acceptance. isn't the answer obvious?

hmmm...i'm starting to wonder if your asian... :lol:

if you're truly trying to understand us as a community... i can respect that. but the comment which makes it sound as if homosexuality can rub off is truly ignorant. wait...so maybe you should watch out. you might become gay by spending too much time in this forum...haha

Faithless

08-11-2003, 03:05 PM

Discussed this issue in general terms, here:

http://forums.yellowworld.org/index.php?showtopic=9469

etcj

08-11-2003, 04:33 PM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Uncle Tat @ Aug 11 2003, 01:46 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>Right now it seems Tolerance is by law, but people don't need to be accepting.[/b][/quote]
You are entirely correct with that line. Legislation and codification can only go so far. The law cannot tell you how to think and how to act. It serves as a guideline. Therefore, I would like to have both; I would like our community to searching for both of these goals.

Haha, I know that I cannot stand on both sides of fence. :rolleyes:

Uncle Tat

08-11-2003, 08:11 PM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (frcegrl @ Aug 11 2003, 03:33 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> </div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Hello_Hapa @ Aug 11 2003, 10:51 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> </div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Uncle Tat @ Aug 11 2003, 10:46 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Acceptance means, "I don't mind if my son realizes he's gay because of exposure to other homosexuals."

[/b][/quote]
Because of exposure to other homosexuals?

*sigh* [/b][/quote]
i agree....sad [/b][/quote]
Sorry but in my opinion homosexuality IS something that's "rubbed off" as you put it.

Nature vs. Nurture.

I think most behavior, including sexual preference, is based on nurture. In my opinion people aren't born gay, they choose to become gay. Maybe some people are more inclined to be gay genetically, but I think social pressure has something to do with it.

If there was a society where there was NO open source of homosexuality...be it gays, movies about gays, jokes about gays, gay bars, etc etc etc...I don't think people would be gay.

MAYBE bisexual because even monkeys in the wild will have buttsex to calm each other down, but not flat out gay since the ultimate goal of life is to reproduce.

Ignorance is bliss. If people aren't aware of homosexuality, they might not explore it.

I didn't mean that homosexuals somehow emit "gay waves" into young men's minds to join their club...like in some sort of bad B movie way.

Eesh you guys (YW people) are really defensive!

Uncle Tat

08-11-2003, 08:11 PM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (ChottoMatte @ Aug 11 2003, 04:05 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Discussed this issue in general terms, here:

http://forums.yellowworld.org/index.php?showtopic=9469 [/b][/quote]
Thanks for the link.

YuheiCarreau

08-11-2003, 09:54 PM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Uncle Tat @ Aug 11 2003, 10:11 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Sorry but in my opinion homosexuality IS something that's "rubbed off" as you put it.

Nature vs. Nurture.

I think most behavior, including sexual preference, is based on nurture. In my opinion people aren't born gay, they choose to become gay. Maybe some people are more inclined to be gay genetically, but I think social pressure has something to do with it. [/b][/quote]
Oh yeah, I remember all the "be gay" peer pressure I got in high school. WTF are you talking about, man?

kimpossible

08-11-2003, 10:12 PM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Uncle Tat @ Aug 11 2003, 06:11 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> </div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (frcegrl @ Aug 11 2003, 03:33 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> </div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Hello_Hapa @ Aug 11 2003, 10:51 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> </div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Uncle Tat @ Aug 11 2003, 10:46 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Acceptance means, "I don't mind if my son realizes he's gay because of exposure to other homosexuals."

[/b][/quote]
Because of exposure to other homosexuals?

*sigh* [/b][/quote]
i agree....sad [/b][/quote]
Sorry but in my opinion homosexuality IS something that's "rubbed off" as you put it.

Nature vs. Nurture.

I think most behavior, including sexual preference, is based on nurture. In my opinion people aren't born gay, they choose to become gay. Maybe some people are more inclined to be gay genetically, but I think social pressure has something to do with it.

If there was a society where there was NO open source of homosexuality...be it gays, movies about gays, jokes about gays, gay bars, etc etc etc...I don't think people would be gay.

MAYBE bisexual because even monkeys in the wild will have buttsex to calm each other down, but not flat out gay since the ultimate goal of life is to reproduce.

Ignorance is bliss. If people aren't aware of homosexuality, they might not explore it.

I didn't mean that homosexuals somehow emit "gay waves" into young men's minds to join their club...like in some sort of bad B movie way.

Eesh you guys (YW people) are really defensive! [/b][/quote]
Defensive or just confident enough in our own sexuality to know what we are and that we're not going to 'catch' homosexuality through proximity or exposure? Sorry man, but you could stick me in a whole town of lesbians for years on end and I'm still going to like dick.

ChinaLama

08-11-2003, 10:19 PM

i also think most people are born bisexual and then through social influences, we swing one way or another.

this is the way i look at it:

acceptance is, whatever, everything's cool.

tolerance is: i know you're gay and i don't like it but i won't say to your face that i don't like you cuz you're gay.

kimpossible

08-11-2003, 10:31 PM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (ChinaLama @ Aug 11 2003, 08:19 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> i also think most people are born bisexual and then through social influences, we swing one way or another.

this is the way i look at it:

acceptance is, whatever, everything's cool.

tolerance is: i know you're gay and i don't like it but i won't say to your face that i don't like you cuz you're gay. [/b][/quote]
I never thought about acceptance like that before. I do have a whatever attitude towards homosexuality but it's just because it's a non-issue for me. I never saw anyone else's love life as my business or of any real interest, gay or straight (outside of porn I should say). I always thought the don't care attitude was tolerance and acceptance was like woo-hoo gay is cool.

But the way you put it makes more sense. I think for the most part all that most people are asking for is tolerance.

kimpossible

08-11-2003, 10:44 PM

Sorry but in my opinion homosexuality IS something that's "rubbed off" as you put it.

Studies have shown that posting in this forum will make you gay. It's too late Tat. Welcome to the Family.

Eros

08-11-2003, 11:04 PM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Uncle Tat @ Aug 11 2003, 09:11 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Sorry but in my opinion homosexuality IS something that's "rubbed off" as you put it.

Nature vs. Nurture.

I think most behavior, including sexual preference, is based on nurture. In my opinion people aren't born gay, they choose to become gay. Maybe some people are more inclined to be gay genetically, but I think social pressure has something to do with it.

If there was a society where there was NO open source of homosexuality...be it gays, movies about gays, jokes about gays, gay bars, etc etc etc...I don't think people would be gay.

MAYBE bisexual because even monkeys in the wild will have buttsex to calm each other down, but not flat out gay since the ultimate goal of life is to reproduce.

Ignorance is bliss. If people aren't aware of homosexuality, they might not explore it.

I didn't mean that homosexuals somehow emit "gay waves" into young men's minds to join their club...like in some sort of bad B movie way.

Eesh you guys (YW people) are really defensive! [/b][/quote]
If it's true that it's totally nuture then homosexuality shouldn't exist because there wouldn't be a first homosexual to teach it. Unless it's just some practical joke that's gone horribly wrong. Plus, there are gay animals, especially common in mammals. Last thing, that logic that it's a learned behavior doesn't make sense in why people are attracted deep down to someone of the same sex. Granted, there is some nurture to the extent, but it does not explain the primal sources of it. Gay people are attracted to members of the same sex in the same way the heterosexuals are attracted to members of the opposite sex. Granted, people may not admit they are homosexual if they are repeatedly told it's wrong but that is repression not nonexistance.

And, in case you need an reason why nature would want homosexuals, there are two good ones. The first is that it's a natural form of population control. Oddly, the percentage of homosexual activity in an animal population does seem to rise with it's population (granted, not at the same rate). Second, that all people are bisexual but it's a spectrum such that some people lean one way and some people lean the other.

If you want proof that it's not "rubbed off", start asking gay people if they realized they were gay before they met homosexuals. Or even exposed to a lot of homosexual media.

Faithless

08-12-2003, 12:22 AM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (ChinaLama @ Aug 11 2003, 08:19 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> i also think most people are born bisexual and then  through social influences, we swing one way or another. [/b][/quote]
Social influences? No one pressuring me to like women. But I know I do. Have had crushes on girls ever since early grade school. And have been rejected a number of times, but still kept trying to have some girl like me in return. :frown:

From what I have read or heard of personal accounts of gay and lesbian kids, they kind of had the feeling that they were different or gay, early on, too. They see the same sex and feel attracted.

Where's the social influence in that?

frcegrl

08-12-2003, 02:02 PM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Uncle Tat @ Aug 11 2003, 06:11 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> bI think most behavior, including sexual preference, is based on nurture. In my opinion people aren't born gay, they choose to become gay. Maybe some people are more inclined to be gay genetically, but I think social pressure has something to do with it.

If there was a society where there was NO open source of homosexuality...be it gays, movies about gays, jokes about gays, gay bars, etc etc etc...I don't think people would be gay.

MAYBE bisexual because even monkeys in the wild will have buttsex to calm each other down, but not flat out gay since the ultimate goal of life is to reproduce.

Ignorance is bliss. If people aren't aware of homosexuality, they might not explore it.

I didn't mean that homosexuals somehow emit "gay waves" into young men's minds to join their club...like in some sort of bad B movie way.

Eesh you guys (YW people) are really defensive! [/b][/quote]
wait...there are "social pressures" to be gay? this is a joke right? let me see...i want to be part of the "cool" group at school so let me be gay. what the hell?

and i choose to be gay? i guess you mean, i choose to create that unspoken rift between me & my parents. i choose to be looked at differently just walking down the street. i choose to have ignorant fools throw slurs at me. *on & on & on*

NO DAMN WAY. i never got asked if i wanted to be straight or gay. i AM gay. but i DO CHOOSE to put rainbow stickers on my car (cuz hell ya...i am proud). and i do choose to be who i am and not hide my true self.

btw...i don't think we're defensive. maybe a little surprised that such comments are still being made.

skatergrl

08-12-2003, 05:52 PM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Uncle Tat @ Aug 11 2003, 06:11 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>
Sorry but in my opinion homosexuality IS something that's "rubbed off" as you put it.

Nature vs. Nurture.

I think most behavior, including sexual preference, is based on nurture. In my opinion people aren't born gay, they choose to become gay. Maybe some people are more inclined to be gay genetically, but I think social pressure has something to do with it.

If there was a society where there was NO open source of homosexuality...be it gays, movies about gays, jokes about gays, gay bars, etc etc etc...I don't think people would be gay.

MAYBE bisexual because even monkeys in the wild will have buttsex to calm each other down, but not flat out gay since the ultimate goal of life is to reproduce.

Ignorance is bliss. If people aren't aware of homosexuality, they might not explore it.

I didn't mean that homosexuals somehow emit "gay waves" into young men's minds to join their club...like in some sort of bad B movie way.

Eesh you guys (YW people) are really defensive! [/b][/quote]
:lol: you're really funny.........you know that. social pressure? right....right....i almost forgot..........all the cool people are gay and that's why i supposedly choose that lifestyle. it just kinda rubbed off..........hmmmm.............let's see......from my really cool jock friends in high school, that did nothing but gay bash. uhmmm......HELLO!!!! Wake up dude. You must be on another planet.

achtungbaby

08-21-2003, 02:17 PM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (ChinaLama @ Aug 11 2003, 09:19 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> acceptance is, whatever, everything's cool. [/b][/quote]
I wonder why some people find this standard so hard to live by...

Fireblade

08-21-2003, 02:45 PM

Just something I want to put out...

I know that people have touched upon the subject of fag hags and such. Well anyway, I know a friend who's a fag hag, who's constantly surrounded by gay men. She went to SOTA (School of the Arts) and was constantly surround by a gay community that she allowed herself to be absorbed in. Anyway, it just so happens that during a small period of her life, her gay friends kept on trying to tell her "you're gay! you're gay! you're gay!". I'm serious here. This kind of stuff you can't make up. Anyway, she got pissed off that here she was, supporting her friends with their choices in sexual preference, and yet they didn't support hers. I found it odd, because it literally fustrated her that these people were trying to pressure her into being someone who she isn't.

Like I've said before, you'll always find exceptions in SF.

Faithless

12-26-2004, 08:58 AM

A quote about "tolerance":

No man has a right in America to treat any other man "tolerantly" for tolerance is the assumption of superiority. Our liberties are equal rights of every citizen.

Wendell L. Willkie (http://www.worldofquotes.com/author/Wendell-L.-Willkie/1/index.html)

cmar

12-27-2004, 10:50 AM

I would like acceptance, but for now I will settle for tolerance. I don't think acceptance is likely in the current climate of anti-gay rhetoric from places like the White House and the Vatican. As long as politicians and organized religion can make a buck from scaring people about evil homosexuals destroying their families, acceptance is not going to happen until human beings evolve to a higher level and reject such hate speech.

"I hope we all realize that, as of November 2nd, gay rights are officially dead. And that from here on we are going to be led even closer to the guillotine. Almost 60 million people whom we live and work with every day think we are immoral. 'Moral values' was at the top of many lists of why people supported George Bush. Not Iraq. Not the economy. Not terrorism. 'Moral values.' In case you need a translation, that means us." -- Veteran gay activist and author Larry Kramer speaking at New York City's Cooper Union, Nov. 7.

Faithless

12-27-2004, 04:42 PM

I would like acceptance, but for now I will settle for tolerance. I don't think acceptance is likely in the current climate of anti-gay rhetoric from places like the White House and the Vatican.
Tolerance. That's the best you're gonna get. :rolleyes:

How does that work in reality, when one just tolerates your (or any "offensive" group's) being? In public? At work?

I guess it means that they probably won't be beating on any asses with a bat -- because they've learned to keep their tolerance just so.

But the current climate of anti-gay rhetoric can only lower this tolerance. Hopefully not.

Tolerance, first, I guess, to keep the peace. Followed constantly with vehicles for acceptance. The only hope for humanity.

cmar

12-27-2004, 04:59 PM

Tolerance. That's the best you're gonna get. :rolleyes:

How does that work in reality, when one just tolerates your (or any "offensive" group's) being? In public? At work?

I guess it means that they probably won't be beating on any asses with a bat -- because they've learned to keep their tolerance just so.

But the current climate of anti-gay rhetoric can only lower this tolerance. Hopefully not.

Tolerance, first, I guess, to keep the peace. Followed constantly with vehicles for acceptance. The only hope for humanity.

Yeah, I can not control what someone thinks about me, but I expect them to treat me with the same respect and fairness as anyone else. Tolerance. Acceptance will require a lot more work and education. In the current climate, I don't anticipate this happening anytime soon.

yuuteya

01-12-2005, 11:47 PM

In Japan they have a few celebrity "okama" (fems) on TV and they are treated normally. I think that th "flaming drag queen" girly type of "gay" people are openly accepted and doesnt bother anyone at all. I was surprised in the beginning to see like these strange looking drag queen types on TV alot. But it seemed like no one else really cared. I guess the general public are pretty accepting of it

Hapa Meister

01-13-2005, 08:29 AM

MAYBE bisexual because even monkeys in the wild will have buttsex to calm each other down.

WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!? What channel was this on?

asvenus

01-14-2005, 06:32 PM

grrrr i hate that tolerance word...cool quote CM it sums up how i feel...
when i was studying at uni i worked in a gay/les bar and many of the customers remarked at how 'accepting' i was and it always used to annoy me as i think who the hell am I to be accepting of anyone u kno or tolerating them...the way i see it we are all here together and have to deal with eachothers shit equally no one should be seen as 'accepting/tolerating' anyone else...
i'd rather be shot than be accepted or tolerated i tell thee!!

yuuteya

01-16-2005, 02:16 AM

The problem is that people feel they need to "be" gay or need to "be" straight. If people would just relax and not try to thinking about any of that stuff, try not to be anything, try not to declare anything, try not to identify anything. Then sex will end up just being something fun you do, not something you are forever. To much over thinking and trying too hard, and not enough living.

Faithless

06-19-2005, 03:27 PM

Editorial note: Noticed there was this thread about tolerance vs. acceptance. I leave it to the mods to meld the two.
http://forums.yellowworld.org/showthread.php?t=8772

Man, I can just hear it now. Namby-pamby school parents who whine like their children about having to accept something about their schools.

"Toleraaaaaaaaaaance. Waahhhh! I don't want my kids to learn about toleraaaaaance. It's too confusing to us -- I, I, I mean them."

Fuckahs. Admit it Red state mommies and daddies, the concept of tolerance is too confusing to yah-alls. I mean, if you listen to your kids, if left to their own rationals, they tend to accept their classmates in a tolerant sort of way.

Public schools: The next battleground over homosexuality? (http://www.floridabaptistwitness.com/4462.article)

Published June 16, 2005

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--As illustrated children's books go, King & King starts off innocently enough: "On the tallest mountain above the town lived a queen, the young prince, and the crown kitty. The queen had ruled for many long years and she was tired of it."

The queen, it seems, wanted to step down so that her son could become king. First, though, she wanted him to find a wife. So a search ensued -- far and wide -- for the perfect princess.

But in the end he chose none of them, instead opting for another prince. (Yes, a prince.) The short 29-page book ends with a "gay wedding," the proverbial kiss, the queen shedding a tear of joy and, the reader is told, the two men living "happily ever after."

King & King, a slick colorful book aimed at children 6 and up, was at the heart of a controversy in North Carolina earlier this year when a first-grade girl checked it out of her public school library -- much to her parents' dismay.

"I was flabbergasted," her father, Michael Hartsell, told the Associated Press. "My child is not old enough to understand something like that, especially when it is not in our beliefs."

And conservatives say the book is only the tip of the iceberg in the nationwide debate over homosexuality in the public schools. Homosexual activists have made significant inroads in recent years, and their advances have come in both big- and small-town America. For instance:

-- More than 3,000 schools in all 50 states have Gay/Straight Alliance Clubs, student-led groups set up to promote homosexual issues within the schools. Many are in middle schools. The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), a national homosexual activist organization, is the primary catalyst.

-- The public school system in Boyd County, Ky., allegedly forced middle and high school students to participate in diversity and tolerance training, telling them homosexuality cannot be changed and warning them not to say otherwise. The Alliance Defense Fund, a pro-family legal organization, filed a federal lawsuit in February on behalf of concerned parents.

-- The Montgomery County, Md., public school system developed sexual-education curriculum for eighth- and 10th-graders which claimed that Jesus "said absolutely nothing at all about homosexuality" and that being homosexual is similar to being left-handed. It also noted that some Baptist churches once defended racial segregation -- implying that conservative Baptists today are wrong in opposing homosexuality. The pro-family legal group Liberty Counsel filed suit on behalf of two conservative groups and concerned parents, and in May a federal judge ruled against the school system, preventing the course from going into effect.

"Many of the leaders of the homosexual lobbying groups have admitted that they're targeting public schools," Mike Johnson, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, told Baptist Press. "That is where they're trying to change society's perception of their activities and their behavior. That's the best place to do it -- to go to the next generation. That's how you change minds and that's how you affect the culture. Sadly, they've had some success there."

The cases, Johnson said, are "spreading gradually like mushrooms across the country."

Two homosexual groups -- GLSEN and the Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays (PFLAG) -- have led the charge in pressuring schools to allow Gay/Straight Alliance Clubs and introduce homosexuality-friendly curriculum. When schools don't respond favorably, liberal groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal often file lawsuits.

The National Education Association also has been at the forefront of the homosexual movement, although public outcry has prevented it from going further. At its annual meeting in 2001, the NEA -- in the face of protesters -- backed off a resolution that would have encouraged teachers to adopt homosexuality-friendly curriculum, including teaching students that homosexuality cannot be changed. The resolution did not receive a vote. But the NEA hasn't remained silent regarding the homosexual agenda, and last year gave GLSEN co-founder and Executive Director Kevin Jennings an award for promoting human rights.

Conservatives assert that school systems mask homosexuality-friendly curriculum in words like "tolerance" and "diversity" in an attempt to avoid controversy. But the curriculum often is one-sided.

"[I]t's not really about tolerance. It's about political correctness, and it's about forced acceptance of homosexuality as a valid alternative lifestyle,"

Scott Davis, director of Exodus Youth at Exodus International, told Baptist Press. Exodus International is a Christian organization that teaches that homosexuality can be changed.

"[The curriculum] is really confusing our kids -- kids at a very vulnerable stage," Davis added. "... It's encouraging them to explore and experiment ... at a time that is just developmentally inappropriate."

Educators often defend homosexuality-friendly curriculum by saying it is necessary in order to protect students from violence. But Warren Throckmorton, an associate professor of psychology at Grove City College in Pennsylvania, said the curriculum is not needed to discourage violence and bullying.

"I've gone into public schools myself and spoken against bullying. I tend not to identity victim groups, and I think that the best bullying policies don't do that," he said. "I think we should make it clear that schools should be safe for all. ... The schools have mistakenly believed that you have to promote one view of homosexuality ... in order to try and get an environment of tolerance and respect. And that's just not the case."

Throckmorton said the biblical view -- that homosexuals can change -- is mostly ignored.

"The theory about homosexuality that most schools put forward is that homosexuality is inborn, that it's a hard-wired trait and that in high school you can know who you are by your sexual feelings," he said. "Kids are told who they are and who they'll always be. But that's a theory. That's not a fact."

The legalization of "gay marriage" likely would make matters only worse for conservatives.

"I think Massachusetts is a pretty good example of that," Throckmorton said.

In Lexington, Mass. -- where "gay marriage" is legal -- a kindergarten class was given a bag of books earlier this year with the goal of teaching the children diversity. One of the books was "Who's In a Family," a 29-page illustrated children's book that includes illustrations of homosexual parents. In one scene, two men and a little girl are preparing to eat dinner. The reader is told: "Robin's family is made up of her dad, Clifford, her dad's partner, Henry, and Robin's cat, Sassy." In another scene, a young girl and boy and two women play outside in the pool, under the caption, "Laura and Kyle live with their two moms, Joyce and Emily, and a poodle named Daisy."

Alarmed by what his son was being taught in the Lexington, Mass., school, one father met with school officials and then was arrested after he refused to leave the building. He said officials declined to let him have a say in the matter.

"I think parents are often surprised by what they find at school," Throckmorton said.

Homosexual groups promote their agenda in other ways as well. Teachers friendly to the homosexual movement often place inverted pink triangles in their classroom, identifying their room as a "safe zone" for homosexuals. In addition, each year GLSEN sponsors the "Day of Silence," a day when thousands of students nationwide take a vow of silence to protest what they see as discrimination against homosexuals.

This year the Alliance Defense Fund countered with the "Day of Truth," allowing Christian students to stand up for their beliefs. Participants wore T-shirts stating, "The Truth Cannot Be Silenced" and passed out cards expressing their viewpoint. It was held the day after the Day of Silence.

Johnson, the Alliance Defense Fund attorney, said much can be done to oppose homosexual curriculum in public schools, although little can be done to prevent Gay/Straight Alliance Clubs from forming.

"You can't really oppose it if we're going to maintain equal access," he said of the clubs. "If we target those groups, then they'll target the Bible clubs and the Christian groups."

But, Johnson and other conservatives say, parents do have a great deal of influence in deciding what their children are taught. The Maryland case, they say, is one example.

"Parents have a tremendous amount of power within the public schools," Davis said. " ... Parents have the authority and the rights legally to go in and investigate the curriculum to find out exactly what their kids are being taught. I would encourage any parent to ask their kids what they're being taught about this. I bet they'd be surprised."

Said Throckmorton: "Their options range from fighting the school district on this to bringing this to the school district's attention all the way to considering other educational options. We've seen some parents win some battles."

Chris

06-20-2005, 12:26 AM

Merged with previous thread.