http://www.frc.org/insight/is99l1hs.html
The Facts About "Just the Facts"
THE FACTS ABOUT _JUST THE FACTS_
Timothy J. Dailey, Ph.D., and Crystal Roberts, J.D.
In an ambitious attempt to pressure public schools
into promoting homosexuality, a homosexual advocacy
group has sent an authoritative-looking pamphlet
replete with distortions and thinly veiled legal
threats to every school district in the country.
_Just the Facts about Sexual Orientation;
Youth_ was produced by the Gay, Lesbian, and
Straight Educational Network (GLSEN), which
aggressively promotes instruction about the homosexual
lifestyle in elementary schools. A speaker at a 1998
GLSEN-sponsored conference in Boston, for example,
advocated indoctrinating children as young as
kindergarten age to accept homosexuality.
If schools are cowed into implementing the
recommendations of _Just the Facts_, children
will be encouraged to enter a lifestyle associated
with disease and early death, one which has been
condemned by every major religion and virtually
all cultures from time immemorial. An evaluation of
the assertions found in _Just the Facts_
reveals that the booklet is more opinion than fact.
_Just the Facts_ claims, "Sexual orientation develops
across a person's lifetime; different people realize
at different points in their lives that they are heterosexual,
gay, lesbian, or bisexual."
Many people would find bizarre the suggestion that
they are at different times alternately
heterosexual, gay, lesbian, or bisexual.
The origin of this peculiar notion is the infamous
zoologist-turned-sex researcher Alfred Kinsey,
whose influential 1948 work _Sexual Behavior in
the Human Male_ theorized that all humans existed
somewhere on a fluid continuum between exclusively
heterosexual and exclusively homosexual.
Kinsey's work, however, is riddled with errors and
pseudo-science. His data on the sexuality of children,
for example, relied upon the scientifically dubious
criminal experiences of a child molester.
Kinsey himself has been exposed as a homosexual
masochist and sexual anarchist driven by his antipathy
towards traditional religion.
Armed with bad science, GLSEN proposes that
elementary schools assume children are sexually
ambiguous, and would have teachers encourage their
presumed innate tendency towards homosexuality.
_Just the Facts_ claims, "Despite
the unanimity of the a mental health professions on
the normality of homosexuality, the idea of 'reparative
therapy' has recently been adopted by conservative
organizations and aggressively promoted by the
media."
The professional associations touted in _Just
the Facts_ as accepting homosexuality take
their lead from the American Psychiatric Association
-conspicuous by its absence from the list-
which in 1973 "normalized" homosexual
behavior. Dr. Irving Bieber, who played a key role
in the APA debate, has written that the decision was
"not simply arrived at after carefully considered
judgment by a group of psychiatrists. It was the
climax of a sociopolitical struggle involving what
were deemed to be the rights of
homosexuals."
Ronald Bayer, whose treatment of the APA decision
is sympathetic, nevertheless concurs, "The
result was not a conclusion based on ... scientific
truth as dictated by reason, but was instead an
action demanded by the ideological temper of the
times." In fact, only 37 percent of the APA's membership
actually voted on whether to normalize homosexuality,
with 5,834 members backing the decision and 3,810
opposing it.
In 1977, _Medical Aspects of Human Sexuality_
published the results of 2,500 replies to a survey
sent to psychiatrists in the United States. Fully
69 percent of those responding answered
"yes" to the following question: "Is
Homosexuality usually a pathological adaptation
(as opposed to a normal variation)?" Only 18
percent said "no", with 13 percent
uncertain.
So much for the "unanimity" of mental
health professionals. Yet radical homosexual
organizations such as GLSEN continue to perpetrate
the myth that professional disagreement with their
agenda does not exist.
_Just the Facts_ claims, "The promotion of
'reparative therapy' and 'transformational ministry'
is likely to exacerbate the risk of harassment, harm,
and fear."
In an age of tolerance, one viewpoint is being
systematically suppressed: that through counseling,
homosexuals can experience genuine modification in
their behavior. Homosexual activist organizations
such as GLSEN emphatically deny that such change is
possible.
However, in his evaluation of reparative therapy
efforts, Dr. Warren Throckmorton, past president of
the American Mental Health Counselors Association,
concluded that "efforts to assist homosexually
oriented individuals who wish to modify their
patterns of sexual arousal have been effective, can
be conducted in an ethical manner, and should be
available to those clients requesting such
assistance."
Similarly, in a study published in the _Journal
of the American Psychoanalytic Association_,
H. MacIntosh
"reported a survey of 285 psychoanalysts who
analyzed 1215 psychoanalytic gay and lesbian
clients (824 male; 391 female). The survey
respondents reported that 23% of their gay
and lesbian clients changed to heterosexuality.
Also a 84% of the clients reported significant
benefits from analysis."
Sex research pioneers Masters and Johnson reported
an impressive 79.1 percent success rate for their
clients who attempted to discontinue their homosexual
practices, with a 71.6 percent follow-up success
rate after five years.
In a recent survey, the National Association of
Research and Therapy of Homosexuality found that
33 percent of the homosexuals who had undergone
therapy perceived themselves as exclusively or
almost entirely heterosexual. Only 13 percent
perceived themselves as exclusively
homosexual.In addition, "99 percent of respondents said
they now believe treatment to change homosexuality
can be effective and valuable."
The strident rhetoric of homosexual advocates cannot
alter the fact that many homosexuals have
experienced genuine modification in their behavior,
and that there exists a proliferation of organizations
dedicated to assisting those who wish to change. One
such organization, Exodus International, publishes an
updated list of nearly 150 chapters in 38 states that
assist people in leaving the homosexual lifestyle.
Homosexual activist organizations like GLSEN would
deny public school children the opportunity to
learn the other side of the story.
_Just the Facts_ claims, "Many
deeply religious people and a number of religious
congregations and denominations are supportive and
accepting of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people."
GLSEN is quick to quote the official statements of
various organizations in support of its contention
that homosexuality should be considered normal
behavior. However, GLSEN ignores Christian
denominations' official denominational positions
regarding homosexuality.
The list of religious denominations that are
signatories to "Just the Facts" becomes
less impressive when it is realized that GLSEN
misleadingly includes those who support only the
right of homosexuals "to be protected from the
discriminatory acts of others." A statement
against discrimination does not necessarily translate
into a moral endorsement of homosexuality.
The reason for such obfuscation is simple: Some
denominations support special legal protections for
homosexuals, but in spite of concerted efforts by
homosexual activists over the past two decades,
no major denomination in the United States has given
its blessing to the morality of homosexual
behavior.
It is unconscionable that homosexual organizations
such as GLSEN should be permitted to give public
school children false information about what
religious denominations teach regarding homosexuality.
_Just the Facts_ claims, "School
officials should be deeply concerned about the
validity and bias of materials or presentations that
promote a change to a person's sexual orientation
as a 'cure' or suggest that being gay, lesbian, or
bisexual is unhealthy.
One of the most irresponsible and frankly preposterous
assertions of _Just the Facts_ is that
school officials should be "deeply concerned"
about the suggestion that "being gay, lesbian,
or bisexual is unhealthy".
In truth, school officials should be extremely
concerned about encouraging a lifestyle that is
inherently unhealthy and even deadly. Consider this:
No effort has been spared to warn young people about
the dangers of smoking, which _The New England
Journal of Medicine_ estimates reduces life
expectancy by up to 7.3 years. Yet the health risk
to young men entering the homosexual lifestyle is
considerably greater.
A study in the _International Journal of
Epidemiology_ estimates that homosexuals may expect
a reduction in life expectancy of up to 20
years. According to the Centers for Disease Control, HIV
infection was the seventh leading cause of death
among persons aged 15-24 in the United States in
1997. Homosexuals are at manifold greater risk for
contracting what a recent Gay Men's Health Summit
called a veritable "alphabet soup of
viruses", many of which remain incurable.
The lack of information regarding the dangers and
negative health effects of homosexuality constitutes
an inexcusable omission on the part of _Just
The Facts_, and in itself should preclude its
use in any public school concerned with protecting
students against behavior that is unhealthy and
life-threatening.
_Just the Facts_ claims, "Public
school[s] may not promote religion, endorse
particular religious beliefs or seek to impose such
beliefs on students."
This statement is true but irrelevant. _Just the Facts_ creates
the false impression that the Establishment Clause of the U.S.
Constitution requires public schools to be purged of all but the
most inconsequential forms of religious expression. This is a
distortion of current law. Prohibiting speakers from discussing the
homosexual lifestyle simply because they have religious beliefs or
are affiliated with a religious organization may actually be
viewpoint discrimination, which is prohibited under the First
Amendment. If the claim were relevant, _Just the Facts_ would have
to be excluded from public schools because one of its supporting
organizations, the Interfaith Alliance Foundation, is religious and
because the booklet includes a religious viewpoint. Public schools
are under no legal obligation to invite outside speakers to discuss
a particular topic. When schools choose to do so, however, they
create a public forum for the limited purpose of engaging in that
speech for which the school has opened the forum.Upon doing so, a
school may not then discriminate against specific speakers simply
because the school or a student disagrees with the speakers'
particular viewpoint.Therefore, if a school chooses to invite a
speaker who supports the homosexual lifestyle, it may not then deny
a similar opportunity to those who opposes the homosexual
lifestyle: "The state may not exclude speech where its distinction
is not 'reasonable in light of the purpose served by the forum.'"
Transformational ministries and similar groups provide valuable
information concerning the physical, emotional, and psychological
harms associated with the homosexual lifestyle. Their presence in
public schools serves the educational purpose of exposing students
to facts about the dangers of homosexual behavior and information
that may persuade them not to engage in this harmful lifestyle. It
also exposes those already engaging in the lifestyle, or who may in
the future, to assistance available to them if they no longer wish
to live such a lifestyle. Schools that allow such speakers do not
endorse the group's or the individual speaker's religious beliefs,
nor do they coerce students to accept these beliefs. Rather, the
schools provide students access to information about the effects of
a particular sexual behavior, including competing viewpoints within
a religiously neutral environment. By prohibiting opposing
viewpoints, schools will deprive students of valuable information
about the life-threatening risks of the homosexual lifestyle.
School officials should not ignore the fact that this is the very
justification that school districts nationwide use to teach
students about similar harms arising from sexual behavior and
integrate abstinence programs into their curriculum.
_Just the Facts_ claims, "Because of the religious nature of
'transformational ministry', endorsement or promotion of such ministry
by officials or employees of a public school district in a
school-related context could raise constitutional problems."
Through its use of vague legal descriptions and its failure to
state accurately the facts of current law, _Just the Facts_
encourages the reader to accept a fictional interpretation of the
First Amendment that insists that the very presence of religion in
public schools is itself an Establishment Clause violation. The
U.S. Supreme Court has never reached such a conclusion. In fact,
the Court has upheld the use of federal funds by religious groups
assisting abstinence education programs against an Establishment
Clause challenge similar to those implied by _Just the Facts_: "We
see no reason to conclude that the AFLA [Adolescent Family Life
Act] serves an impermissible religious purpose simply because some
of the goals of the statute coincide with the beliefs of certain
religious organizations.
"Neither do transformational ministries advance religion:
On an issue as sensitive and important as teenage sexuality, it is
not surprising that the government's sexual concerns would either
coincide or conflict with those of religious institutions. But the
possibility or even the likelihood that some of the religious
institutions who receive AFLA funding will agree with the message
that Congress intended to deliver to adolescents through the AFLA
is insufficient to warrant a find that the statute on its face has
the primary effect of advancing religion."
Clearly, educating students about the potential long-term harmful
medical and psychological effects of the homosexual lifestyle
serves a secular purpose. Religious and non-religious individuals
alike are deeply concerned about the dangers associated with
homosexual behavior. Exposing students to the truth about these
harms serves the state's legitimate interest in preserving the
health of all its citizens. It is under such an interest that
schools justify sex education in the first place.
_Just the Facts_ claims, "School officials should follow the
law by ensuring that the factor of real or perceived sexual
orientation does not result in a decision that treats these students as
less than equal to other students, or that otherwise discriminates
against gay, lesbian, and bisexual students on the basis of sexual
orientation."
Permitting a speaker in schools who is opposed to homosexual
behavior does not "discriminate against gay, lesbian, and bisexual
students on the basis of sexual discrimination". By that logic,
_Just the Facts_ discriminates against heterosexual students by
promoting "gay, lesbian, and bisexual" behavior. Gay, lesbian, and
bisexual students are not being denied equal access to schools,
school facilities, or programs. No student has a right to exercise
a heckler's veto in order to silence an opposing viewpoint. Again,
by employing vague legalistic terms and an _ad hominem_ argument,
_Just the Facts_ encourages readers to accept an incorrect legal
theory.
School districts must be careful not to restrict, especially on
such a flawed basis, the speech of individual students who speak
out in opposition to homosexuality. Students' First Amendment
rights follow them into their public school building, and their
exposure may not be restricted to only those ideas that the school
wishes to communicate. Students are free to engage in religious
speech to the same extent that non-religious speech is allowed.
It is the school's obligation to ensure that such speech does not
either disrupt its educational mission or pose a risk of physical
danger to other students. Schools are free to regulate the time,
place, and manner of such speech to achieve this end. However, a
school may not discriminate against a speaker only because his or
her message communicates a disfavored viewpoint. School officials
should be mindful that "undifferentiated fear or apprehension of
disturbance is not enough to overcome the right to freedom of
expression."
CONCLUSION
In their consideration of _Just the Facts_, schools would do well
to heed the admonition found in the pamphlet itself: "Finally, it
is important to note that public schools may determine ... not to
disseminate information to students when that information is not
well-founded, or is inadequately researched, scientifically unsound
or biased in some way." By its own standards, _Just the Facts_
fails the test for implementation in schools. School districts
would be negligent in their responsibility toward their students
and the public if they permitted homosexual advocacy groups, in the
guise of a scholarly-appearing pamphlet, to impart false,
misleading, and dangerous information to those in their charge.
***
Timothy J. Dailey is a senior writer and analyst for the cultural
studies department at the Family Research Council. Crystal Roberts
is a legal policy analyst at the Family Research Council.
ENDNOTES
Brian Burt, "Gay Leader Says Dream is to 'Promote Homosexuality'",
_Lambda Report on Homosexuality_, January/February 1998.
Alfred C. Kinsey, Wardell B., Pomeroy, and Clyde E. Martin,
_Sexual Behavior in the Human Male_ (Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders
Company, 1948).
Judith Reisman, Ph.D., _Kinsey, Crimes & Consequences: The Red
Queen & the Grand Scheme_ (Arlington, Va.: The Institute for Media
Education, Inc., 1998), pp. 167-170; James H. Jones, Ph.D., _Alfred
C. Kinsey: A Public/Private Life_ (New York: W. W. Norton &
Company, 1997), pp. 506-513.
Kinsey Institute Director John Bancroft has admitted that Kinsey's
conclusions about the sexuality of children and newborns was based
upon the work of a single pedophile, an elderly man who died in
1955. _See_ Charles A. Donovan and Robert H. Knight, "Questionable
Research on Child Sexuality", _Indianapolis Star_, March 3, 1996.
_See_ Reisman, _ibid_, and Jones, _ibid_.
Irving Bieber, M.D., "On Arriving at the American
Psychiatric Association Decision on Homosexuality",
_NARTH Bulletin 7_ (April 1999): 15-23.
Ronald Bayer, _Homosexuality and American Psychiatry:
The Politics of Diagnosis_(Princeton, New Jersey:
Princeton University Press, 1987), pp. 3-4.
Bieber, _op. cit._, p. 22.
_Ibid_.
Warren Throckmorton, Ph.D., "Attempts to Modify Sexual
Orientation: A Review of Outcome Literature and Ethical
Issues", _NARTH Bulletin 20_ (October 1998): 283-304.
H. MacIntosh, "Attitudes and experiences of psychoanalysts
in analyzing homosexual patients", _Journal of the
American Psychoanalytic Association_ 4 (1992): 1183-1206.
Mark F. Schwartz and William H. Masters, "The Masters and
Johnson Treatment Program for Dissatisfied Homosexual Men",
_American Journal of Psychiatry_ 141 (1984): 173-181.
"New Survey Shows Change is Possible", _NARTH Bulletin_
(August 5, 1999).
Ibid.
That list may be found at:
http://www.messiah.edu/hpages/facstaff/chase/h/helplis.htm.
See Gayle White, "Gays and God", _The Atlanta Constitution_, June
7, 1998. The homosexual activist organization Human Rights Campaign
published a report on the current attitudes of major religious
denominations toward homosexuality. Those investigated included
the Roman Catholic Church, Southern Baptist Convention, United
Methodist Church, National Baptist Convention USA Inc., Church of
God in Christ, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA),
Presbyterian Church (USA), African Methodist Episcopal Church, the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), and several
branches of Judaism. With the exception of two branches of Judaism
(Reformed and Reconstructionist), none of the listed denominations
officially accept the morality of homosexual practice.
Lisa Bennett, "Mixed Blessings: Organized Religion and Gay and
Lesbian Americans in 1998", Human Rights Campaign Foundation, 1999.
Robert S. Hogg, Steffanie A. Strathdee, Kevin J.P. Craib, Michael
V. O'Shaughnessy, Julio S.G. Montaner, and Martin T. Schechter,
"Modelling the Impact of HIV Disease on Mortality in Gay and
Bisexual Men", _International Journal of Epidemiology_ 26 (1997):
657-661; Paul Cameron, Kirk Cameron, and William L. Playfair, "Does
Homosexual Activity Shorten Life?" _Psychological Bulletin_ 83
(1998): 847-866.
"Trends in HIV-Related Sexual Risk Behaviors among High
School Students- Selected U.S. Cities," _Morbidity and Mortality
Weekly Report_ 48, United States Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (June 4, 1999).
"Call and Program Announcement", Gay Men's Health
Summit, Boulder, Colorado, July 29-August 1, 1999, p. 11.
"To obey the Establishment Clause, it was not necessary
for the University to deny eligibility to student publications
because of their viewpoint." _Rosenberger, et al v. Rector and
Visitors of the University of Virginia et al._, 515 U.S. 819, 845
(1995).
_Tinker et al. v. Des Moines Ind. Community Sch. Dist. et al._,
393 U.S. 503 (1969); _Police Department of Chicago v. Mosley_, 408
U.S. 92 (1972); _Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches School District_,
508 U.S. 384 (1993); _Westside Community Schools v. Mergens_, 496
U.S. 226 (1990) (upholding the constitutionality of the Equal
Access Act); _Rosenberger, et al. v. Rector and Visitors of the
University of Virginia et al._, 515 U.S. 819, 845 (1995). _Widmar
v. Vincent_, 454 U.S. 263 (1981); _Bender v. Williamsport Area
School District_, 106 S.Ct. 1326 (1986); _Police Department of
Chicago v. Mosley_, 408 U.S. 92 (1972); _Lamb's Chapel v. Center
Moriches School District_, 508 U.S. 384 (1993); _Rosenberger, et
al. v. Rector and Visitors of The University of Virginia et al._,
515 U.S. 819, 845 (1995).
_Rosenberger_, 454 U.S. at 829.
"Like all students, those who are or are perceived to be lesbian,
gay, or bisexual are protected by the Establishment Clause of the
First Amendment, which, among other things requires the separation
of church and state. For example, public schools may not promote
religion, endorse particular religious beliefs or seek to impose
such beliefs on students." _Just the Facts About Sexual Orientation
and Youth: A Primer for Principals, Educators & School Personnel_,
1999, p. 8.
_Bowen v. Kendrick_, 487 U.S. 589, 604, n. 8 (1988). The
Adolescent Family Life Act, 42 U.S.C. Section 300z, provides grants
to public or nonprofit private organizations or agencies "for
services and research in the area of premarital adolescent sexual
relations and pregnancy."
_Id._ at 612.
_Reno v. ACLU_, 521 U.S. 844 (1997).
_Tinker_, 393 U.S. at 511.
_Id._; _Chandler v. James_, 180 F.3d 1254 (11th
Cir. 1999); U.S. Dept of Education, _Religious Expression
in Public Schools: A Statement of Principles_ (1998).
_Tinker_, 393 U.S. at 508.
... Why don't you just hang a sign around your neck that says "STUPID"?
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