Homosexual Activists Want to Silence Nation's Youth

CNSNews.com ^ | 4/08/02 | Michael L. Betsch

[kattracks]

(CNSNews.com) - School kids across America may have their first encounter with homosexuality this week and there's little parents or teachers can to do stop it from happening.

The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), a homosexuality advocacy group, is asking students nationwide to take a nine-hour vow of silence on Wednesday, April 10, to recognize and protest the plight of homosexual students.

Instead of speaking up in class, students ranging from sixth grade to college level are expected to distribute information cards, sport stickers and wear t-shirts that promote the pro-homosexuality message from GLSEN.

School faculty and administrators at "participating" schools can expect to receive cards stating:

"Please understand my reasons for not speaking today. I am participating in the Day of Silence, a national youth movement protesting the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies.

My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by harassment, prejudice, and discrimination. I believe that ending the silence is the first step toward fighting these injustices.

Think about the voices you are not hearing today. What are you going to do to end the silence?"

Currently, GLSEN estimates that students from more than 1,265 middle schools, high schools, colleges and universities "in all 49 states and Puerto Rico" will participate in the Day of Silence.

However, those numbers do not necessarily represent the number of schools that actively endorse the silent protest.

GLSEN permits a child or adult to "register" their local school or college on the Day of Silence registration page, without the endorsement of the school and its administration.

Silence As A Tactic

According to a 40-page Day of Silence Organizing Manual, silence provides homosexual activists and their allies with a tool that can make a "powerful statement of resistance."

Students participating in the Day of Silence are instructed by the manual to resist and protest what GLSEN calls the gender "norms" established by people who feel threatened by girls that act like boys, or boys that act like girls.

The GLSEN manual also states that disagreement with homosexuality has a "broader and deeper" connection to "oppressions," and tries to equate disagreement with homosexuality with racism, and discrimination against women and people with disabilities.

Homosexual Hit List

Day of Silence organizers suggest that children planning to protest April 10 "brainstorm" to create a list of people "who are likely to stand in your way."

Those people should include teachers, counselors and administrators that have "denied you their support in the past, or who've expressed bias against (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered) people.

It is also suggested that the list include other children, school board members, people in the community and relatives "who have shown intolerance" of homosexuality.

The organizing manual notes that "people who oppose your issue are known as, you guessed it, your opponents."

A Year of Silence?

At least one conservative organization is in favor of keeping homosexual activists and their allies silent in the classrooms year round.

Robert Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute, an affiliate of Concerned Women for America, favors extending the period of silence "indefinitely" so school kids can concentrate on their studies "and not be distracted and misled by homosexual propaganda."

Knight said it's wrong for children to be told the traditional values taught by their parents and churches are a form of hatred

"It's hateful in and of itself to suggest such a thing, and it's a way to silence people who disagree with homosexuality," he said.

Kids who favor marriage and family, Knight said, are being called 'bigot,' 'homophobe,' 'right-wing nut' and 'fundamentalist extremist' by homosexual activists.

While the name-calling against people who disagree with homosexual behavior continues, GLSEN complains that homosexual students are being harassed with terms like 'faggot' and 'dyke.'

Knight said he knows of a more productive way to stop the name-calling, and suggested schools place greater emphasis on teaching manners instead of promoting homosexuality.

"You can teach civility in the schools without promoting homosexuality as normal and healthy," he said. "They're saying you must promote homosexuality in order to make the schools safe for confused kids who might be abused by their peers.

"You can tolerate behavior that is wrong, but to accept and promote (homosexuality) goes beyond tolerance," Knight said. He clarified that events such as the Day of Silence are "aiding and abetting," homosexuality by using children "as their front line troops."

Knight asked, "How about leaving the kids alone?"

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[Cinderella-Scarlett]

Those are public schools, though. My private school can do whatever it wants in regards to the "straight pride" stuff, right?