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People For the American Way
Right Wing Watch
Religious Right Slams
the
Purportedly
"Homosexual Message”
of Anti-Bullying
Efforts in California Schools
By Brian, Created Feb
3 2011 - 8:12am
With greater awareness among
policymakers about the problem of pervasive anti-gay bullying in schools, the
Religious Right has stepped-up their efforts to misleadingly label anti-bullying
policies as “homosexual propaganda.” Focus on the Family warned of
“activists who want to promote homosexuality in kids,” David Barton dismissed
accounts of bullying and condemned alleged “homosexual indoctrination,” and the
Minnesota Family Council blamed the LGBT community for bullying by endorsing an
“unhealthy lifestyle.”
Now, the California Family Council (CFC) is escalating its own attacks against
anti-bullying initiatives in schools. The CFC is affiliated with Focus on
the Family and was highly involved in the campaign to pass Proposition 8.
The CFC is now turning its attention to combating what it calls the new “cause
célèbre of homosexual activists,” implementing anti-harassment policies.
The CFC’s Rebecca Burgoyne spoke to the American Family Association’s news
service OneNewsNow about their work fighting anti-bullying policies under the
guise of protecting free speech:
A pro-family activist is taking
to task a prominent homosexual-rights group for camouflaging its true agenda
behind the banner of "bullying" in public schools.
Rebecca Burgoyne, research analyst with California Family Council, tells
OneNewsNow that children across The Golden State are being indoctrinated
with a pro-homosexual message. She maintains that the Obama
administration and homosexual lobbyists are advancing an agenda that
silences religious speech and the rights of parents.
"For many years, maybe a decade or so, gay activists in California have been
making a big to-do about 'bullying' because of sexual orientation -- or even
perceived sexual orientation," she explains. And the term "bullying,"
she argues, has become the elementary-level word for "hate speech."
January 24-28 marked "No Name-Calling Week" in public schools across the
nation -- a week-long observance designed for fifth- through eighth-grade
and sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN).
While the observance claimed to be a week of educational and creative
activities "designed to address bullying and end name-calling of all kinds,"
Burgoyne explains that the agenda behind it contains a decidedly
pro-homosexual slant.
"Nobody wants a child to be bullied," she acknowledges. "Nobody wants
a child to [be] hurt. Most people say 'Oh, great! We're teaching
our children not to bully each other' -- which is a good thing. But
it's being used instead to push the homosexual message."
In an article published on her group's website, Burgoyne notes that a young
adult book featured during the week is The Misfits. The book, authored
by an open homosexual, normalizes same-sex attraction, one character being
an "openly homosexual seventh-grader who sees nothing wrong with being
attracted to the boy who sits next to him in class."
The CFC research analyst contends that through such events as "No
Name-Calling Week," homosexual activists are seeking to make same-sex
attractions acceptable to young children -- while at the same time silencing
the voice of other viewpoints.
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