Family Watch Maine Newsletter

A MUST READ! Family Watch Maine Newsletter January 22, 2010 Anti-bullying Week Can Disguise Homosexual Indoctrination

Dear Supporter of the Family, 

All parents of school children in Maine, especially those with children in middle school and high school, need to be aware of what their local schools might be doing to observe �No Name Calling Week� next week, January 25-29. This observance week was created by and is sponsored by the Gay Lesbian Straight Educational Network (GLSEN). No parent should be surprised, then, that the recommended reading material, suggested teacher lesson plans, recommended activities, topics for classroom discussion, and every other aspect of the material provided to help �observe� this week is heavily biased in favor of treating homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle. 

This observance week and the material associated with it is simply another example of homosexual activists trying to co-opt a legitimate concern that we all have, trying to prevent bullying in schools, to advance their social policy objectives. Certainly, everyone can agree that we must do whatever might be necessary to make schools a safe and positive place for all students. But we can also certainly agree that we can accomplish this without indoctrinating students with misinformation about homosexuality at the same time. 

There are many problems with this suggested material, especially what is provided for the upper grades, and I encourage you to check it out yourself at the Web site, No Name-Calling Week There you will note, for example, that one of the recommended readings for children as young as fifth grade introduces them to the concept that they or classmates might be homosexual. (No child in fifth grade has any idea what their sexual orientation might be!) Material for high schools suggests educating students as young as ninth graders on �LGBT� terms so they are familiar with them and even provides a handout. 

It is especially important to note that GLSEN provides suggested material for a whole range of subjects including art, literature, social studies and reading that is more or less homosexuality-oriented. So your children could be exposed to it in a number of different ways. Some of the problems with this material are more subtle, but they make it fundamentally flawed in a way that can be dangerous for students. Implicit in all of it is the idea that adolescents �know� what their true sexual orientation is and that homosexuality is innate and immutable, or in other words, that homosexuals are �born that way.� 

This is not accurate, of course, but homosexual activists promote this misconception because it supports their demands to put �sexual orientation� and �gender identity and expression� on the same level with characteristics such as race and true gender that truly are innate and immutable. The fact is that some confusion about sexual orientation is common among adolescents. The vast majority of those who might think they experience same-sex attraction in fact develop heterosexual attractions as they mature. But if the schools, society, peers, the media or homosexual activists convince these adolescents who are questioning their sexual orientation that they are, in fact, same-sex attracted, they can actually become just that. That can be dangerous for a number of health reasons because research shows that, as a group, homosexuals, have significantly higher levels of physical and mental health problems. 

Research shows, for example, that for every year an adolescent postpones self-identifying as homosexual the risk of suicide deceases by 20 percent. It appears that some school districts in Maine are formally observing �No Name Calling Week� while others are not. We suggest that you contact your own schools and see if they are observing it and how. If they are, you may want to take whatever action you might feel is appropriate. 

These actions could range from expressing concern about using this biased material, opting your children out of participating in any related activities or having discussions with them about what they might be exposed to. Since what is happening in our schools on sex education-related issues is one of the projects that Family Watch Maine will be focusing on, we would also appreciate it if you would email us and let us know if your school is participating. Just drop us an email
. 
Sincerely, 

Eileen Quinn President,
Family Watch Maine  
P.S. We encourage you to forward this on to other parents to alert them as well. 

(Editors note: Post under verification.)