(A3e1d) advice to parents

As of this date, 07-02-18, this folder contains 4 items. ******* item 1 HOW "GAY" FRIENDS MAY INFLUENCE OUR KIDS ******* item 2 DR. MEG MEEKER: TEEN SEX IS KILLING OUR CHILDREN ******* item 3 PARTWAY GAY? ******* item 4 LINDA HARVEY'S COMMENT ON ITEM 3 ******* item 4 NORTHFIELD TEACHER TELLS HOW TO LURE STUDENTS INTO HOMOSEXUAL EVENTS ******************************************************************************************************************** ******* item 1 HOW "GAY" FRIENDS MAY INFLUENCE OUR KIDS ******* Date: Sat, 11 Oct 2003 21:13:39 -0500 ******* by and from: "Linda Harvey" and Mission America ******* A question came up recently from a concerned parent: �How might a homosexual friend influence my child?� This has been an issue in a number of situations we�ve encountered over the past few years, in discussions with both parents and students. ******* While we recognize that young people who have homosexual feelings are really in need of heterosexual friends, and it�s a delicate matter to try to split up friendships once they form, there are very real risks if the friendship is a close one. The first line of defense is to separate your child from the friend, if you can do it without open rebellion. ******* Sometimes this isn�t possible if your son or daughter is an older teen or in college, so other alternatives need to be considered. There may be some things that you can make your own son or daughter aware of if they are open to the discussion. ******* Because there are increasing numbers of kids who are �out,� I am advising every parent to prepare a student in advance when�not if�they have a relatively close association with someone who is a declared homosexual. ******* A situation may arise tomorrow where the resident of the dorm room next door, or a lab partner, or the person who works the same shift at the pizza parlor, or the brother of your child�s best friend, may announce he or she is �gay.� What are the risks? And, are there any opportunities as well? ******* SEXUAL INVOLVEMENT. ******* The first thing you need to decide is whether there is any risk of sexual involvement, and rule this out (hopefully). If it�s a same sex friend this is of course more risky, because the friend who confesses a �crush� on your son or daughter may really mess with his or her mind or emotions, particularly if it�s a vulnerable time in your child�s life. The relationship may start as an attempt to �help� the homosexual friend, or may mask an attempt to demonstrate sophistication and a lack of bigotry among peers. ******* But depending on how close the friendship is, some real dangers exist, particularly if your child is not a Christian or is not well-grounded in the faith. Several parents have called us and tearfully related their experiences about a child who was eventually drawn into a homosexual relationship this way, when there was no previous sign of same sex attraction. There is even more vulnerability if the homosexual is a few years older and viewed as a mentor of some kind. And of course, you should never allow your child to become close to an adult who is a homosexual, even if that person is a relative. The role modeling alone sets a poor example. ******* However, even if the homosexual friend is of the opposite sex, there are still some very serious dangers. Some women, for instance, are drawn to homosexual men as friends. There�s even a name for women who have lots of male homosexuals in the �gay� community�the �fag hag.� Men with gender identity issues are sometimes drawn to women as friends, and your daughter may be the tender-hearted person who responds. However, just because a guy declares himself to be attracted to men does not mean he is incapable of having sex with women. In fact, ex-homosexuals I know relate that it�s extremely common for �gay� men to sometimes have sex with women, either �straight� or lesbian. (This is just one more of the many testimonies to the fact that no one is �born� gay). ******* Why does this happen? The reasons could be loneliness, or his �once last chance� attempt to prove masculinity, or an attempt by the female to �save� him from these desires by her intense love. And your son or daughter may have a secret crush on this person, believing that eventually the �gay� friend will love them in the same way. Alcohol is often a factor that may suddenly transform the friendship into a hook-up, just like it�s happening among heterosexual students. ******* But the issues with a �gay-straight� encounter are enormous. Not just the usual pregnancy concern, but the sexually transmitted disease risks can be great. Young men who have homosexual attractions have usually done something about it by late high school and certainly by college. This may have involved casual sex readily available at �gay� bars, or even encounters in public parks or restrooms. The encounter may have been with an older, possibly HIV-infected male. Girls who have lesbian feelings may have already had sex with both males and females, since early sexual initiation is common among lesbians. For your son who may be infatuated with this person, she may have an STD or could become pregnant. ******* Gender Identity. But let�s say you are very sure that no sexual attraction or risk exists in this friendship. Still, there are other reasons to be wary. A casual relationship may pose little risk, but the closer the friendship, the more influence this person will have on your son or daughter�s beliefs about homosexuality, and about masculinity and femininity. I have talked with many teens in youth groups, high school classes, etc. and have been told by loyal friends of homosexuals that they really believe their friends� claim that he or she was �born that way.� ******* The heartfelt assertion that this is just �who I am� may make your child doubt anything you may tell him or her. Particularly for girls, it may influence your daughter to buy into some very negative feminist ideology as well and may influence her concept of her own femininity. ******* Being close friends with an opposite sex homosexual may begin to influence the type of members of the opposite sex your son or daughter chooses to date. Will your son begin to choose more aggressive women? Will your daughter prefer more passive or feminized males? Spending time with a gender-confused person may create very distorted ideals and expectations in your child that may not be readily apparent. ******* Christian Faith. The biggest danger is what this friendship will do to genuine Christian faith. Your child will hear the assertion over and over that the friend is not only well-adjusted, but sure that he could never be anything other than homosexual. This is certainly a firm belief, but it�s not based on reality. The long-term evidence is that homosexuality arises out of dysfunction, including experiences like child sexual abuse, poor relationships with parents (especially the same sex parent), and peer difficulties. An introspective personality, and the availability of pornography may then turn a slight attraction into obsessive fantasies. ******* The claim once made about the elusive �gay gene� has been quietly dropped by most of the pro-homosexual organizations, because it can�t be supported by science. Instead, the approach has begun to be, �Well, it doesn�t matter�if this is what we want, it must be natural and okay.� But dangerous behavior that arises out of unhappy, unhealthy circumstances does not call for affirmation. It cries out for a solution. Rather than blessing anal sex between 14- year- old boys�which is what the homosexual advocacy groups support�most parents readily see that this is tantamount to insanity. ******* The Bible�s position is that homosexual behavior is something that paganized commonly people do, along with lots of other very destructive things. We are become a paganized society and, sure enough, all types of sexual (and other) bad behavior is becoming more commonplace. Rather than being just a set percentage of people, homosexuality is instead one of a cafeteria selection of behaviors that adolescents especially are now trying. As we grow further separated from the truth of God, we are �exchanging the truth of God for the lie� (Romans 1:25) and worshipping ourselves and our own instincts, wherever they take us. ******* The homosexually-inclined teen or college student invariably has a distorted version of faith. Sometimes it�s a New Age philosophy, sometimes lately even wicca or witchcraft. More commonly, it�s a compromised �christianity� that doesn�t believe Christ was our Saviour and maintains that there are many versions of truth. They will often have adopted the convoluted justifications for homosexuality that have been recently developed by homosexual-friendly churches. Along with this is usually an ample dose of hostility toward Christians who believe the truth, including you as your child�s hateful, repressed and obviously uninformed parents. Is this what you want your child to hear over and over? ******* This friend may do this all the while they are smiling in their encounters with you. My daughter had a friend who is not (to my knowledge) a lesbian, but has very pro-homosexual attitudes. She would call our house and very perkily ask for my daughter and was always greet me very pleasantly. On one occasion, I remember one such friendly call from her to my daughter. I was therefore quite surprised when I opened our local paper the next day, to see a letter to the editor from her discussing me by name and calling me a bigot. This was my first clue about what she really believed. My daughter then reported to me that this friend never missed an opportunity to mock my beliefs to my daughter and in front of others. Luckily, this friend did not have much influence on my child or the damage could have been disastrous. ******* Yet such a friendship can be an opportunity for witnessing to your child and teaching them the truth of the Gospel. First it�s important to do the research. Learn a lot about homosexuality and then how it is really presented in the Bible. The more I researched the current trends about what actually goes on among homosexuals and what their claims are, the more clear the Gospel became. Its timeless truth became evident and that much more hopeful and beautiful for all of us. ******* This can be an opportunity for your child to reach out�but only if he/she is very, very strong in faith and otherwise in a secure place along the rocky road of adolescence. And, only older teens should be allowed this option. Younger children are still at too much risk in those formative years. But older, strongly �grounded students can share the Gospel with a homosexual friend, being careful not to condone their behavior, nor to discredit other Christians who believe what God�s Word teaches. ******* Even the strong desires of homosexuals are not beyond the power of God to change, completely. First, though, we must trust Him, believe Him, and not put ourselves�-nor our children�-needlessly in harm�s way. ******************************************************************************************************************** ******* item 2 DR. MEG MEEKER: TEEN SEX IS KILLING OUR CHILDREN ******* From: "Linda Harvey" ******* Phil Brennan Monday, Feb. 3, 2003 http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/2/3/173601.shtml ******* Every day a silent epidemic strikes 8,000 American youngsters, warns Dr. Meg Meeker, and it is killing and physically and psychologically crippling hordes of America�s children. ******* Dr. Meeker, author of the new book "Epidemic," told a rapt C-PAC audience Friday that she was speaking "on behalf of the millions of American teen-agers who cannot speak for themselves, who cannot articulate how to preserve the sanctity of their lives as they are being crushed amidst our culture which is so toxic to their sensibilities and their sensitivities to their psyches, to their bodies, to their sexuality." ******* "In 2003 we are living in the midst of a public health epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases amongst 12 to 18-year-old children, and an epidemic of depression related to much of the promiscuous sexual activity amongst our youth." ******* The epidemic has been "caused by our silence as sit by and allow big businesses to use sexual advertising to our children to sell their stuff," she charged. ******* "Selling sex to our children makes a lot of money for a lot of businesses. There�s one reason why we live in the most promiscuous nation on the face of the earth. There�s one reason why we allow sex to be sold to our children: money." ******* The results are horrifying. "We live in the midst of an epidemic of diseases, bacteria and viruses which are making their way up to the beautiful and tender reproductive tracts of our children and strangling them towards infertility and cancer and threatening their very lives. ******* "What I have seen in my beautiful quiet and suburban northern Michigan practice is occurring nationwide, and when I turned to the medical literature two years ago to see if what I was experiencing was unique I found that the Center for Disease Control talks about the hidden epidemic of 15 million Americans getting a new sexually transmitted disease every year and two thirds of them being in people under 25, my patients, your children, the kids on your kids� basketball teams and soccer teams and ballet recitals." ### According to the New England Journal of Medicine, one in five Americans 12 years and older test positive for genital herpes. ### Forty-six percent of young teen-age girls after just one episode of intercourse contracts human papilloma virus (HPV), and 14 percent of them will go on to develop signs of cervical cancer, and more women�s lives are given over to cervical cancer every year than to HIV and AIDS. ******* This, she warns "is not a time for mothers and fathers and doctors and teachers and politicians to be silent about the sanctity of the life of our teen-agers." ******* What has been our answer to this out-of-control scourge, she asked. Condoms. "We have taught 14, 13, 12 year-old kids to put condoms on bananas. We have done this for 15 or 20 years." ******* In 1960 there were just two sexually transmitted diseases, syphilis and gonorrhea. After 20 years of teaching our kids how to use condoms, we now boast 30 or more sexually transmitted diseases among 12 to 18 year-old children. Condoms have failed as an answer. ******* "A little over a year ago the National Institutes for Health reviewed all the best condom literature available in the world. They found that condoms, if used 100 percent of the time correctly, may reduce the risk of HIV by 87 percent in men and women, and it may reduce the risk of gonorrhea in men, but for all of the other sexually transmitted diseases which infect beautiful heterosexual children across the country there is insufficient evidence that condoms work at all. ******* "Yet we are still teaching condoms and more condoms in our schools. As a physician I consider it malpractice to hand one of my patients a condom and tell them that they will be safe when the NIH doesn�t say so. ******* "We have the answer. It is abstinence education. Many opponents of abstinence say it doesn�t work - it does work � all the time. The kids are willing to learn it. Are we willing to teach it?" ******* Sex among girls is leading to an epidemic of cancer, she revealed. "The 14 or 15 year old girl�s cervix cannot handle bacteria and viruses. They flourish and turn into cancer much more quickly than in a 25 year old." ******* All of this promiscuous sexual activity among youngsters is having another deadly effect: serious depression and sometimes suicide. ******* "We are living in an epidemic of depression, where one out of three American teen-agers have thought of killing themselves, much of this related to sexual activity. ******* "Are we willing to tell teen-agers that sexual health trumps sexual freedom?" she asked, adding that we�d better be. ******************************************************************************************************** ******* item 3 PARTWAY GAY? by Laura Sessions Stepp, Washington Post Staff Writer ******* January 4, 2004 ******* For Some Teen Girls, Sexual Preference Is A Shifting Concept ******* Move over, Ellen DeGeneres, and make way for the younger girls. Way younger, actually, and way different from what most people think of as lesbians. ******* You can see this new trend on Friday nights outside Union Station, sweethearts from high schools around the Washington area, some locking lips, others hanging out in their tight blue jeans and puffy winter parkas, talking on their cell phones. ******* You can see them in the hallways of high schools like South Lakes in Reston, Magruder in Rockville or Coolidge in the District. In 2002 at Coolidge, a teacher got so fed up with girls nuzzling each other in class and other public places that he threatened to send any he saw to the principal's office. He admitted to students that he wouldn't report boy-girl kisses, setting off a furor among a student body that, the year before, had chosen a lesbian pair as the school's cutest couple. ******* These girls pack Ani DiFranco concerts and know tATu lyrics by heart. Their attention is usually directed exclusively at each other but not always: A group of girls at a private school in Northwest Washington charge boys $10 to watch the girls make out in front of them. At one school dance earlier last year, a chaperon had to break up a group of guys circled around two girls kissing, according to other girls who were there. ******* Maybe the teenage exhibitionists were just yanking guys' chains, or hoping to prove how sexy they are, or copying Britney and Madonna. But it's also possible they were enjoying themselves. There's no way for an outsider to know, for in the protean world of young female sexuality, where all forms of expression are modeled, nothing is certain. ******* Social scientists say that 5 percent to 7 percent of young people are gay or lesbian, and that teenagers are starting at younger ages to have same-sex sexual experiences: 13 for boys, 15 for girls. ******* But those figures don't begin to tell the full story about today's girls because girls, more often than boys, experiment with their sexuality and resist being placed in any particular group. ******* Chanda Harris, a junior at High Road Upper School in Beltsville, is one of these girls. She's standing outside Union Station on a cold Friday night, waiting for her girlfriend and holding three giant helium balloons in celebration of her friend's birthday. ******* The girls around her from various high schools -- Bladensburg in Maryland, Anacostia, Ballou, Cardozo and Coolidge in the District -- converge to hear what she has to say. ******* She started going out with girls when she was 14, following a breakup with her boyfriend. ******* "At first I thought going out with a girl was nasty," she says. "Then I went to a club and did a big flip-flop. I've been off and on with girls and guys since then." ******* Another girl, a junior at Anacostia High, says her first love was a guy now in the Marines and stationed in North Carolina. She dated Kenny for two years and his picture adorns her bedroom wall. ******* But now she's dating a female high school basketball player. "Whoever likes me, I like them," she says matter-of-factly. ******* A world away, on the campus of Brown University, Chloe Root, a sophomore with a penchant for bright-colored, funky skirts from secondhand stores, also prefers to keep her options open. ******* She had her first crush on a girl at age 12 but dated guys, including one with whom she thought she was in love, until her senior year in high school in Ann Arbor, Mich. Then she fell in love with a girl a year behind her in school and has been going out with her ever since. ******* "If something happened to my relationship with Julie, I could see myself with a boy again," Root says. "There are some days I notice I'm thinking girls are pretty, and other days I'm thinking there are a lot of good-looking guys at this school." ******* So are these girls bisexual? Perhaps. But they prefer descriptions like "gayish," questioning, even "queer" -- an umbrella description so broad, according to Root, that it encompasses straights as well as gays. ******* Try this on, Mr. and Mrs. America: These girls say they don't know what they are and don't need to know. Adolescence and young adulthood is a time for exploration and they should feel free to love a same-sex partner without assuming that is how they'll spend the rest of their lives. ******* "I like women only right now," says Cary Trainor, also a Brown sophomore and a self-defined lesbian since high school. "But who knows where I'll be in 25 years?" ******* Even gay rights veterans such as David Shapiro struggle to explain such equivocation. ******* Shapiro is head of the Edmund Burke School, a private, college-preparatory program in Northwest Washington. In 2002, Burke held a "diversity day" assembly in which students and teachers stood together in a circle. An adult leader took the group through various exercises, and in one of those, participants were asked to move inside the circle if they defined themselves as gay or lesbian. ******* One female teacher stepped forward, but no students did. ******* Then the leader called for those who thought of themselves as bisexual -- the broadest label offered. Out of the approximately 60 pupils in the group, 15 obliged: 11 girls and four boys. ******* Shapiro says he was "astounded" at the number of kids who stepped into the bisexual group. As he thought about it, he concluded that "kids today know the difference between behavior and orientation. ******* They say, 'I may be behaving in this certain way, but I'll make up my own mind about who I am in my own time.' " ******* He searches for a comparison. "It's like saying, 'Mom, Dad, I'm going to take some courses in science but I'm not sure I want to be a doctor." ******* A Changing Model ******* Outside of conservative religious circles, the common understanding for years has been that homosexuality is largely genetic, based on physical attraction, and unchanging. Though an easy model to understand, if not accept, it has a major flaw: It is derived almost exclusively from male subjects. ******* Recent studies of relationships among women suggest that female homosexuality may be grounded more in social interaction, may present itself as an emotional attraction in addition to or in place of a physical one, and may change over time. Young women also appear to be more open to homosexual relationships than young men are. In one recent national study, more than twice as many girls as boys reported being attracted to the same sex at least once. ******* Girls may be reacting, in part, to relationships gone sour with guys. Root has been surprised by the number of gay women she knows who say this. "They say that when you're with a guy, there is often a feeling that you're always going to be in a narrow feminine role," she says. "They say that guys treat them as less capable, overly emotional, or too hungry to be attached." ******* The Union Station girls are more blunt about it. ******* "Girls understand how girls think," Chanda Harris says. "You can tell a girl, 'I think I'm falling in love with you' and she'll listen. A boy will slough that off, or run away. Besides, the young boys around me are into making money, selling weed and stuff. That's not what I'm about." ******* A Bladensburg High senior, Kateria Rhodes, who says she has dated girls for five years, overhears Harris. "It's not the sex," she says. "Girls are there for you emotionally. Sure, they cheat sometimes, but I've found [dating girls] is better for me mentally. Actually it's better on every level." ******* She says she has friends who used to date girls and now date guys, and that her mother keeps telling her she'll change, too. ******* Harris doesn't feel that parental pressure: "My mother prefers me to be with girls than guys. She says I'm happier." ******* Lisa Diamond, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Utah, is one of a handful of researchers altering the way some people think about girls such as Harris and Root. ******* "Starting in graduate school, every study I found sampled males only," she recalls. In 1994, Diamond launched a longitudinal study of women ages 16 to 23 who said they were attracted to other women. ******* In the eight years she has been following these women, almost two-thirds of them have changed labels. "They've gone from unlabeled to bisexual, lesbian to bisexual, lesbian to 'heterosexual and getting married but may be attracted to women in the future,' " she says. Another word she heard was "heteroflexible." ******* "The reason one person ended up gay might be very different from another person," she continues. "One might know at 4, another at 30." ******* Diamond's research, reported in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, among other publications, confirms the experience of Diane Elze, who has counseled gay and lesbian youth for two decades. ******* "Women who come out as lesbians but lived most of their lives as heterosexuals -- does that mean they were always lesbian? I don't think so," says Elze, assistant professor of social work at Washington University in St. Louis. "Probably we're going to find out there are multiple pathways to homosexuality and that could vary by gender." ******* Testing the Waters ******* What Diamond calls "passionate friendships" among adolescent girls, nonsexual but highly affectionate, are a staple of life in late elementary, middle and high schools. Hugs, kisses and back rubs are the coin of the realm. ******* But as it becomes more acceptable to be gay or gayish, will heterosexual girls in such friendships wonder whether they're gay, feel pressure to act gay or even shy away from same-sex relationships for fear of being seen as gay? ******* Ritch Savin-Williams, a Cornell University professor who has written extensively about gay youth, doesn't think so. "The natural affection that most young girls see around them probably protects them from assuming that their desires to touch, hold and kiss mean 'being gay,' " he says. ******* He doesn't rule out the possibility of some confusion. ******* "Boys with these feelings say these attractions are homosexual but 'I'm not a homosexual.' Girls are less likely to say that, less able to separate their personal identities and sexual selves. ******* "They may say, 'I'm not totally heterosexual,' and unlike guys, tell someone almost immediately. It's > 'Ring, ring, ring -- hey Sally, I must be bisexual.' > " > > Bladensburg High's Rhodes says that among the group > at Union Station, peer acceptance does play a role. > "Most of these girls aren't gay," she sniffs. > "They're just doing it because their friends are > doing it." > > Girls aren't as forthright in swank, upper Northwest > Washington, where being gay -- or gayish -- is still > a scary proposition. > > At Edmund Burke, which has the reputation of being > one of the Washington area's more liberal schools, > no student is officially "out," not even those who > joined the bisexual circle on Diversity Day. After > that workshop, a couple of girls approached Gianna > D'Emilio, a junior and a member of the Gay-Straight > Alliance, and talked to her about being bisexual. > "They felt more comfortable once they had been in > the circle," D'Emilio says. > > A group of junior and senior girls at another > private school in Northwest Washington, all of whom > say they're straight, say that they'd rather have a > gay guy as a friend than a lesbian. How about a > bisexual girlfriend? > > "That's too confusing," says one. The girls say > they'd be mortified if their names, or the name of > their school, were used. > > The Either/Or Conundrum > > > How easy it would be to chalk gayishness up to the > influence of TV and the movies (although most of > Hollywood's gay characters are white males). > > Comedian Ellen DeGeneres came out when girls who are > now seniors in high school were in third grade. > Girls have grown up with shows like NBC's "Will & > Grace" and recently saw Karen, the show's bisexual > socialite secretary, plant a 14-second kiss on the > straight Grace. > > "Kissing Jessica Stein," a 2001 romantic comedy > about two young women falling in love, became a cult > movie. One evening last month, three shows with > lesbian themes aired on UPN. > > More and more schools march in this parade as well, > shepherding students into gymnasiums for assemblies > on tolerance, posting rainbow stickers on classroom > doors and allowing teachers to come out to their > students. > > Many young people, in particular young women, are > making their own push for more sexual latitude and > more understanding. > > The number of student-organized, gay-straight clubs, > formed to promote understanding of sexual > orientation issues, jumped from 1,200 in 2002 to > 1,970 in 2003, according to reports filed with the > Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, a > national organization that works with schools on > behalf of gay youth. In poll after poll, > proportionately more young people than old people > (and more girls than guys) say they accept > homosexuality as a legitimate lifestyle, whenever it > occurs. > > That understanding often doesn't emerge until the > late teens or early 20s, however. Michelle Lettiero, > 23, who now works at the Department of Housing and > Urban Development, remembers a girl at her Catholic > high school near New Haven, Conn., who ran around > with about a half-dozen other girls. The little > clique drove the Sisters of the Sacred Heart crazy > by dying their hair, piercing their noses, wearing > knee-length boxer shorts under their schoolgirl > skirts and claiming to be lesbians. > > The girl went to Providence College with Lettiero. > "As soon as she got there, she started having > boyfriends. She dated guys all four years," Lettiero > says. > > Lettiero says the group's antics seemed weird to her > and her friends at the time. "We were so boy-crazy. > But I would hope we're more accepting now." > > Romantic changeability between females is hardly a > new thing in this country. Nineteenth-century women > workers who lived together in the settlement houses > of New York City wrote as passionately about their > friendships with other women as they did about the > poor whose lives they changed -- before they moved > out and got married to men. First lady Eleanor > Roosevelt, a powerful woman in the 20th century, > enjoyed a close, 30-year relationship with > Associated Press reporter Lorena Hickok. > > But that was then and this is now, a politically > charged, risk-averse time when Americans crave > definition in order to contain what they perceive to > be chaos. A loose definition of female-female love > makes people especially uncomfortable. > > It upsets parents who like to fit their children > into easily recognizable boxes ("Do you like men or > women? Pick one"). Older gay rights activists get > nervous about the political consequences, because if > young women adopt a homosexual lifestyle assuming > it's temporary, couldn't they also choose to abandon > it? > > "As gays, we have predicated our acceptance by the > culture on something we can't change," psychology > professor Diamond says. "We say, 'Oh look at us! We > can't help it!' That's what the straights want to > hear." > > Older lesbians who came out in the 1970s can be > especially hostile to the idea of flexible > sexuality, she notes, accusing the younger women of > being "either repressed lesbians or curious > heterosexuals who are wasting our time." > > It is the older lesbians who are wasting their time, > according to Savin-Williams. "Identity labels are > over," he says. "This is a cutting-edge issue for > all of us." > > > > � 2004 The Washington Post Company ********************************************************************************************************* ******* item 4 LINDA HARVEY'S COMMENT ON ITEM 3 --- Mission America wrote: > Date: Wed, 7 Jan 2004 12:34:17 -0600 > To: [email protected] > From: Mission America > Subject: Partway Gay -- Wash. Post article on teen > bisexual activity > > The article below reveals --to a point --what we > have been saying for some time. A Mission America > article from 1998 predicted bisexuality would become > the norm first among youth, then among adults, as > homosexual activity was promoted and accepted in our > neopagan culture. > > Our teen boys will be next on the experimentation > bandwagon.The reason is one not covered in this > article: every person who is separated from God's > truth becomes vulnerable to sexual perversion.This > is the lesson God wanted to leave for us in Genesis > 19, Sodom and Gomorrah. > > The irony is that, many religious conservatives are > feeding into the inability of our culture to grasp > what's happening. By insisting that people are > always and inflexibly "gay" or "straight", they have > missed the point about where this is going. Anyone > -- if they are brainwashed enough-- is potentially > able to be involved in these kinds of sexual > activity. So talking about how homosexuals are only > 3% of the population, or some similar statement, is > a very flawed way to look at what's developing. It's > a moving target, and our kids, grandkids, families > and even we ourselves--unless we stay very grounded > in Christ --are vulnerable. ********************************************************************************************************* ******* item 4 NORTHFIELD TEACHER TELLS HOW TO LURE STUDENTS INTO HOMOSEXUAL EVENTS ******* from MassNews Staff, April 1, 2003 ******* Religious Teacher at Northfield Mount Hermon Tells How to Lure Students into Homosexual Events Speaks to Teachers and Students at Annual Fistgate Conference at Tufts ******* In a "jam-packed" session, a religious studies teacher at Northfield Mount Hermon School, told the attendees at one of the Fistgate sessions on March 15, 2003, how to lure the students into homosexual events. ******* The teacher, Robert Linscott, board member of GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network), told how he has accomplished this at the boarding school which was founded in the late 19th century, largely for the children of American missionaries, by American evangelist Dwight L. Moody, who also founded Chicago's Moody Bible Institute. Linscott also serves as the advisor at the gay-straight alliance (GSA) at the school. ******* He explained how he interests teenagers in GSAs when they don't want to be known to their peers as homosexuals and even their straight allies can't get them to come to events. He claimed that the kids don't want that kind of notoriety because other kids sometimes torment those who belong to a GSA. He recommended teachers lure children by using food, fun things and cutting-edge films, because otherwise the kids won't come to the events. ******* Luring Them to a Cross Dresser's Dance ******* Linscott told the audience that he usually includes all GSA student members, both heterosexual and homosexual, in GSA activities. However, once a year he has a separate activity for the "straight" students and a separate activity for the "gay" students. ******* Linscott told about a GLBT dance at Northfield called the "Cross Dresser's Dance." It was the GSA kids' idea to have the dance, but almost nobody went because none of the kids wanted to be known as transsexuals. ******* So Linscott said, "Let's call it a gender-bender dance and have fun with it, make fun of everything. So they did, and a lot of the faculty at the Northfield boarding school became involved. They took pictures of some of the male faculty members wearing dresses and wigs. So now, all of a sudden, it's the most popular thing in the school and all kinds of teachers and students are involved in it. Linscott showed us pictures of it. He said that's how he got the kids involved. ******* Participants should seek allies among admissions officers, art teachers, custodians, department chairs and head staff, said Linscott. ******* Participants were also advised to conduct a "school climate survey" to determine the frequency of homosexual slurs and the willingness of school personnel to intervene in stopping them. Survey results can later be used to coerce schools into implementing pro-homosexual policy changes. ******* Breaking the Silence Is Always One-Sided ******* The title of Linscott's session was Breaking the Silence: Exploring Your School's Climate Around Sexual Orientation. ******* But observers note that when the "silence" is broken, it is always completely one-sided. There are never discussions about the serious problems associated with homosexuality. People like the famous psychiatrist Robert Spitzer are never invited to stimulate a real debate. Spitzer is the man who spearheaded the movement at the American Psychiatric Association in 1973 to remove homosexuals from the "disordered" list. In the last few years, he has studied hundreds of former homosexuals and now reports that many adults can change their orientation. That would appear to mean that children should not be rushed to accept this lifestyle. But those facts do not appear to be welcome at Northfield or anywhere in Massachusetts. ******* The teacher also told the attendees that whether or not people agree with them, they should agree with the people because that makes those who don't support homosexuality look weak and less credible than those who do support it. It makes pro-homosexuals look more level-headed, fair-minded and tolerant than their opponents. He also said that one way to normalize homosexuality is by mentioning contributions from GLBT authors and scientists and to assign papers on them, etc. During the session, participants discussed elements that homosexual students require in school environments, including: ******* Open, supportive teachers.?******* Adults who speak out.?******* Pro-active administrators to help create a safe and healthy environment around sexual orientation.?******* Tolerance and diversity training at an early age (in elementary school or earlier) incorporated into the whole curriculum.?******* Friends and allies.?******* A harassment policy.?******* Respect.?******* Visible "gay" role models.?******* Use GLBT terminology. ******* Linscott showed a half-hour video he shot at Northfield that showed students and parents talking about homosexuality. One of the students in the film said that teachers are beacons of light. Teachers are persons that people can go to with security (as opposed to parents). Most important is having faculty members who are out of the closet. ******* In the video, people said that the sexuality of students or faculty is not hidden by the school. Others said that gay movies and gay literature should be part of the curriculum of the school, that we need to let people know that being gay is acceptable, and that degrading homosexuality can destroy lives. The student class president said that the students voted to allow same-sex couples to live-in dorms to show that it is normal and healthy. The mother of one student said parents need to talk about homosexuality. ******* Linscott's resume on the GLSEN Boston website states, "In addition to his work in the classroom, Bob has dedicated his time to issues of diversity and multiculturalism in education. He is a member of the faculty for the NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools) Summer Diversity Institute. As an "out" faculty member and dorm parent, Bob runs Northfield Mount Hermon's Gay Straight Alliance, one of the school's largest student groups, with a membership of over 80 students. Bob is also actively involved in outdoor education and can be found leading students on treks anywhere from the White Mountains to the Himalayas, or instructing students on a ropes course." ******* An Internet search of Robert Linscott shows a listing in the directory of "campers, staff, board members and friends" of Kabeyun, a summer camp on Lake Winnipesauke for boys aged 7 to 15. ******* Among the "cutting-edge" pro-homosexual films that Linscott recommended were: The Incredibly True Adventure of 2 Girls in Love (described on the Fine Line Features website as "a touching and comic story of first love between two girls in their senior year of high school" where one of the protagonists is "a rebellious tomboy who lives with her lesbian aunt and her aunt's lover in a working class neighborhood.")?******* Common Ground?******* It's Elementary?******* Get Real (described in a Yahoo movie review as "an appealing tale of a teenaged schoolboy coming to grips with his emerging sexuality.")?******* Beautiful Thing?******* Trembling Before God?******* The Sum of Us starring Russell Crowe ******* Overcoming Fear of the �Religious Right�?******* In a seminar called "Overcoming Our Fear of the Opposition," attendees learned how to know their enemy: the Religious Right.?******* Presenter Pam Chamberlain, an "LGBT issues trainer" and consultant with Somerville-based Political Research Associates, told participants that they need to know conservative arguments in order to oppose them. ?******* Participants were asked to share an experience where homosexual opponents had confronted them. At one point, Dr. Laura Schlessinger's name came up, but some of the young people in the room did not know who she was.?******* When one participant expressed the desire to attend a religious right conference, Chamberlain said she could attend a "virtual" one by visiting conservative websites, and she recommended that of the American Family Association.?******* A member of the Westford Academy staff expressed her concern over dealing with a homophobic teacher who actually believes that homosexuals are not born that way, that they can change, and that tax money should be spent for all the children, not just a select few.?[Dr. Robert Spitzer, the well known psychiatrist who led the fight to remove homosexuals from the disordered list of the American Psychiatric Association in 1973, has done extensive research in recent years and discovered that even adult homosexuals are able to change their orientation in many instances if they so desire. This would indicate that confused teenagers should not be advised by teachers. Many say that the schools have a potential liability for large lawsuits if they pursue this course. See MassNews archives and search for "Spitzer."]?******* Chamberlain distributed a handout titled Ground Rules & Tips for Challenging the Right. Among its suggestions:?******* Be alert to evidence of the Right's "new racism."?******* Be careful to respect people's right to hold opinions and religious beliefs that you many find offensive.?******* Stay cool in public.?******* Demand documentation to expose the Right's "false charges and baseless claims."?******* Use the opportunity of public forums to present your position.?******* Avoid slogans, name calling and demonizing members of the Right.?******* Involve clergy and other respected community members in your organizing. *********************************************************************************************************

Links to other sites on the Web

(A3e1d2) (Canadian) United Mothers and Fathers
(A3e1d3) Parents and Friends of Ex Gays and Gays
(A3e1d4) Heartbeat International (pregnancy support)
(A3e1d6) (A) home page

The following warning is a prophetic message given to me, Frank Wagner, in November of 1974. ******* LISTEN TO THE CRY OF THE ABORTED CHILDREN. THEIR CRY IS NO. THEIR CRY IS A CRY OF TERROR. HEED THEIR CRY. ******* This prophecy is now being fulfilled. ******* For details about the source, meaning and fulfillment of this prophetic message go to ******* http://ca.geocities.com/fwagner4/index.html ******* email me at *** [email protected] ***