Posted on 02/22/2002 2:35:45 AM PST by kattracks
CNSNews.com) - Schools should let their students know that the differences between the homosexual and heterosexual cultures are many and profound, contrary to assertions by homosexual advocacy groups who seek to portray homosexuality as something innate and essentially without risk, a leading psychological group said.
Indeed, a same-sex male couple rarely stays together if the partners are not open to permitting each other to have outside sexual contacts, the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) said in a recent mailing to 15,300 public school superintendents around the United States.
The mailing "seeks to correct the misinformation that is being promoted by these homosexual advocacy groups that have an incredible influence on the public education system," said Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, president of NARTH and a proponent of reparative therapy for homosexuals who want to change.
"What we're trying to say to school supervisors is, 'don't just rely on pro-gay information sources to make your decisions.' All our stuff is well grounded scientifically," he said. NARTH is a non-religious scientific organization whose 1,000 members include psychologists, psychiatrists and therapists.
Homosexual advocacy groups, however, denounced the mailing as a misinformation campaign that will destroy families and hurt children.
"It hurts families," said Wayne Besen, a spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign. "It keeps families separated, it confuses people who need to accept themselves, and it promotes misinformation and outdated theories that are against what every leading medical and mental health organization in the nation says."
The mailing goes out to the same school officials who were targeted in 1999 with a pamphlet entitled "Just the Facts," written by a coalition that included the American Psychological Association (APA).
The APA pamphlet encouraged schools not to inform students that therapy exists to diminish homosexuality and not to refer such students to counselors who will reflect their own family's deeply held values.
"NARTH was so incensed by the misinformation and untruths provided in the APA pamphlet that it immediately took on the task of raising the necessary funds required to compile, print and distribute" the mailing, Nicolosi said.
"Homosexual advocacy groups have been masterful in their ability to reframe what is essentially a health issue to a human rights issue, and when you talk human rights, everyone gets paranoid," he said.
"When you introduce the possibility of change, you introduce the possibility of freedom to choose, and when you do that, you undermine the foundation of the gay agenda," he added.
Homosexual high school students were more likely than non-homosexual students to have engaged in high health risk behaviors, including alcohol, cocaine and inhalant use.
By the age of 30, some 30 percent of homosexual men will be HIV positive or dead of AIDS; by the age of 50, about 50 percent of homosexual men will be HIV-positive, NARTH said.
NARTH estimates the homosexual population in the United States to be between 2 percent and 2.5 percent. Nicolosi said it was difficult to estimate the number of ex-homosexuals, people who once considered themselves homosexual and changed their orientation through reparative therapy and are now leading lives as heterosexuals.
"These are people who still are ashamed to come forward because our society doesn't understand or appreciate their struggle," he said. Ex-homosexuals should be encouraged to come forward and tell their stories, he said.
E-mail a news tip to Lawrence Morahan.
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For the sake of argument however, lets assume that a 'gay' gene is found. SAD then falls into the area of other genetic diseases like alcoholism. Just because an alcoholic is genetically predisposed to the disease should society excuse his self-damaging behavior and let him drink as much as he wants? NO! Society demands that he control his behavior and stay sober in order to be a member of respectable society. Drunks aren't welcome in most places including most places of business.
Likewise, if SAD is genetic, the SADs should be shut out of respectable society until they control their behavior. This includes shutting them out of any place where children or respectable people will be. Socially repugnant behavior is socially repugnant whether it is genetic or not.
But that's not what pro-homo web sites are telling impressionable kids. For example:
A Link to Oasis Magazine from Youth.org:
I don't want to be lesbian or bisexual. Why should I go through this?:
"Hi Chris,
How can one decide whether or not they are bi or straight. It's not something I asked for. Where does the line between natural adolescent curiosity and, and bisexuality begin. It's not like anything I've ever had to figure out before. But, if I'm just bi, can't I just push it away, like any other emotional baggage. Why should I put myself through the hell of hurting my parents and getting disowned my half my family. Can't I just push it away like any other problem. A lot of people just push parts of themselves away, so is this any different?
Debra
"Hi Debra,
You have quite a road in front of you, Debra, and it's better to get started on it sooner, rather than later. The fact is, you don't get to decide whether you're gay, lesbian or bisexual. That was decided by the time you were born, and is an innate part of you, and here to stay. So, you can either fight it, and live an unhappy life where you are afraid all the time that people are going to find out about your "secret," where you deny yourself the happiness that comes from expressing your true self and finding someone as a friend or partner who is like you. Or you can find a path to accept, and then celebrate, this gift that you have been given, and live life openly.
If you are bisexual, the thing is it is not emotional baggage (and I hope you realize that it's not a good idea to just push away emotional baggage, either -- it's something that is usually best dealt with, confronted, and resolved). It is, rather, a biological and genetic part of your very being, of who you are. And just like being born with a particular skin color, that might make it harder to get by in some areas, or finding out that you're left handed and living in a right-handed world, you will do best to just get over it, and deal with it.
Why do you assume that you will be putting your parents through Hell? Why do you think they will disown you? It may be that they will have a hard time with it, some parents (but not most), do. But if they love you, they will find a way, they will work to get the education they need about what it means to be queer, and how to help you live a happy life. Because, for most parents, that's what they want most for their kids.
I recommend starting with the book "Free Your Mind" by Ellen Bass and Kate Kaufmann. Then "Outing Yourself" by Michelangelo Signorile. Those are both great "primers" on being gay, and Signorile's book takes an excellent, step-by-step approach to coming to terms with yourself -- which is the essential first step -- and then leads you to the point, which could take many months, where you can finally look in a mirror, say "I'm happy that I'm gay" and then take the next step out the door to tell your family and friends.
When you're ready for the next steps, you may want to find a gay youth group in your area, or go to your school GSA. Talking with other guys and girls like you, who have confronted similar issues, can often help you get through this more easily."
Take care,
Chris"
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