Pro-Homosexual Booklet Sent to School Superintendents

Special Report - February 29, 2008
The belief that homosexuality is unhealthy, and sexual orientation can be changed through therapy and/or through religious faith should not be welcome in public schools, according to a primer mailed earlier this month to the nation’s 16,000 public school superintendents. The 24-page booklet, Just the Facts About Sexual Orientation and youth: A Primer for Principles, Educators and School Personnel, was originally published in 1999 but has recently been updated by a coalition of mental health, education and religious organizations in response to what these groups consider to be “inaccurate information on the issue of sexual orientation.” Originally created by the pro-homosexual Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), Just the Facts is endorsed by 13 organizations, including the American Psychological Association, the National Education Association, and the Interfaith Alliance Foundation.

According to the updated version of Just the Facts, its purpose is “to provide you, as principals, educators, and school personnel, with accurate information that will help you respond to a recent upsurge in promotion of efforts to change sexual orientation through therapy and religious ministries. This upsurge has been coupled with a demand that these perspectives on homosexuality be given equal time in schools.” Using safety as its theme, the primer encourages educators to make schools more “open” and “positive” for gay, lesbian and bisexual students, arguing that doing so will help decrease the high rates of substance abuse, depression and suicide among these youth. At the same time, it contends that religious and mental health groups that teach that that individuals can leave the homosexual lifestyle through faith and therapy actually put youth at risk. It states, “The promotion in schools of efforts to change sexual orientation by therapy or through religious ministries seems likely to exacerbate the risks of harassment, harm and fear for [gay, lesbian, and bisexual] youth.”

The primer includes position statements from several mainstream health organizations on the issue of sexual orientation change, noting: “The idea that homosexuality is a mental disorder or that the emergence of same-sex attraction or orientation is in any way abnormal or mentally unhealthy has no support among any mainstream health and mental health professional organizations.”

Just the Facts concludes by warning educators that allowing a diversity of viewpoints about sexual orientation to be presented to students could bring lawsuits. “The legal mandate of equality for gay and non-gay students alike is not limited to circumstances of harassment—it applies to all decisions a public school official might make that would treat lesbian, gay, and bisexual students differently based on their sexual orientation,” it states.

“The message of Just the Facts is simple: any viewpoint other than one that embraces homosexuality as normal is no longer welcome at school,” said Bill Brooks, President of the North Carolina Family Policy Council. “They may preach tolerance, but homosexual activists and their allies only want students to hear one perspective—their own. They don’t want students to hear about the thousands of men and women who have left homosexuality through religious faith and/or professional therapy. Nor do they want them to hear from mental health professionals who support the use of reparative therapy to change sexual orientation, such as members of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH).”

Brooks continued, “Just the Facts is just another example of ongoing efforts by homosexual activists and their allies to indoctrinate young people with the dangerous message that homosexuality is normal, and to silence anyone who says otherwise.”

HB 1366-School Violence Prevention Act would require local school boards to amend their existing anti-bullying and harassment policies to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity or expression.” If it passes, legislation currently pending in the General Assembly could make it easier for homosexuality to be promoted in North Carolina schools and lead to the silencing of opposing viewpoints. The bill is part of a national effort by homosexual activists to use the safety issue to pressure states and local school boards to enact anti-bullying and non-discrimination policies that open the door for the positive discussion of homosexuality, bisexuality and transgenderism in the classroom.

In response to Just the Facts, the Family Research Council is offering an alternative resource for educators and parents called “Homosexuality in Your Child’s School.” It can be downloaded free from the FRC web site. You can also download several NCFPC resources on the topic here.

Copyright © 2008. North Carolina Family Policy Council. All rights reserved.