Posted on 10/31/2002 12:09:10 PM PST by xzins
Renew Call for Big Brothers-Sisters to Rescind Policy 'Homosexual Mentors' Bad News for All Concerned -- Especially Kids, Group Says By Allie Martin and Jody Brown October 31, 2002
(AgapePress) - Officials with a prominent pro-family ministry say it's time for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America to reverse a decision made this summer which allows homosexuals to mentor children.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA), an organization that describes itself as "the expert in youth mentoring," announced this summer that it was going to require local agency directors to match homosexuals with children in the BBBSA program, or risk losing affiliation. [See Earlier Article] Numerous pro-family groups expressed outrage at the move, calling attention to the dangerous consequences of pairing men who have same-sex attractions with young boys starving for male attention.
Now comes word from a Philadelphia television station that a volunteer for the mentoring program was arrested this week for sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy. That tragedy follows a report earlier this month in which another homosexual Big Brother in Ohio raped a 12-year-old boy.
One of the many groups that voiced outrage at the original BBBSA pronouncement was the Mississippi-based American Family Association, a long-time monitor and critic of the influence of the homosexual movement in the United States. AFA chairman Don Wildmon says Big Brother Big Sisters needs to revert to the way things were.
"I think this is a clear indication as to why [BBBSA] should immediately rescind their July decision to allow homosexuals to mentor young children," Wildmon says. "We warned BBBSA of the consequences of their actions, and now two little boys have paid the price."
Randy Sharp, director of special projects at AFA, echoes that call. "This is simply an indication that the policy is bad for Big Brother Big Sisters, it's bad for America -- and it's especially bad for America's children," he says.
Sharp says corporate America should take a long, hard look at the organization. "Corporate sponsors of Big Brothers Big Sisters should take a very serious look at withholding their donations to this organization until they can, without a doubt, make sure that our children are safe," Sharp says. "And the best way to do that is to have avowed homosexuals prohibited from serving as mentors."
Wildmon says that when the policy was forced on BBBSA's local affiliates, he contacted several corporate sponsors, asking them to withhold funding as a way to send a message that children's best interests should take precedence over a homosexually driven agenda. He notes letters from two of those companies -- Verizon Communications and United Parcel Service (UPS) -- that defended the policy and assured that BBBSA had precautions in place to prevent child abuse.
"We know of two families whose lives have been turned upside down by a program funded by UPS and Verizon," he says. "I suspect there are more and will continue to be more victims as long as BBBSA allows homosexuals to spend time with little boys and girls."
In an action alert to AFA supporters, Wildmon encourages people to once again appeal to Big Brothers Big Sisters to prohibit homosexual men and women from serving as mentors.
© 2002 AgapePress all rights reserved.
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You simply don't pair an adult with someone to whom he is sexually attracted. It's insane.
Interesting how he used the same phrase as the BSA uses: "Avowed homosexuals". I wonder if he's taking his cue from National Council?
How does the Big Brother program work, anyway? In the BSA, an adult is not allowed to be alone with a kid (save blood relatives). Are Big Brothers and Sisters allowed to be alone with the children they're mentoring? What are the age ranges of such children?
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