There is a growing expression of concern across the nation in the wake of the recent reports of gay teen suicides that happened in connection with bullying and harassment. Some educational administrators and law makers are actually talking about taking action that goes beyond appropriate expressions of regret. Well guess who is upset over the prospect that something might change.
As More Bullying Victims Commit Suicide, Right-Wing Groups Decry Anti-Bullying Policies As ‘Gay Agenda’ Ploy
Many states across the country are taking laudable steps to enact measures that bolster administrators’ ability to protect students who face such harassment. However, despite the evidence supporting the need, right-wing lawmakers and activists insist that anti-bullying measures are nothing more than insidious tools of the "homosexual agenda":
Here a few choice example of the brave warriors from the "family" values crowd.
– The American Family Association of Michigan has spent years decrying a proposed anti-bullying measure as "a Trojan Horse to sneak [homosexual activists'] special rights agenda into law" and to "legitimize homosexual behavior" which is "a practice scientifically proven to result in a dramatically higher incidence of domestic violence, mental illness, illegal drug use, promiscuity, life-threatening disease, and premature death." The bill "died in 2008 in the state Senate because senators could not agree" on whether to address bullying based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the measure.
– The right-wing Christian media ministry Focus on the Family is attacking an anti-bullying standard on the federal level. Insisting that bullying prevention is being "hijacked by activists" who are "politicizing or sexualizing the issue," Focus on the Family’s Candi Cushman claims that the anti-bullying bill currently before Congress "cater[s] to a narrow political agenda" that "becomes a gateway for homosexuality promotion in school." In their current back-to-school guide "equipping" parents with tools against the "sneaky" gay agenda, Cushman told parents to look out for bullying seminars, diversity lessons, and "cute little pictures of furry animals" as "red flags" signaling the "gay agenda."
One of the reasons that school personnel often avoid getting involved in bullying situations is the neutrality policies that have been pushed through by right wing education crusaders. It is not enough to prohibit the teaching of evolution. They attempt to prohibit schools from presenting information about LGBT citizens that might cast them and their civil rights in any sort of possitive light. These of course are also the same people who are opposed to abortion but don't think that teens should be given information about contraception. They want the rest of us to live in their psychotic world.
This is what we are up against in the effort to create a world in which LGBT kids have an equal chance to grow up to be healthy and useful adults. One of the fundamental problems is that the opponents of a decent balanced education are claiming to act in the name of religion, the holy grail of political opinion. American political culture clings to the outdated notion that anything that is labeled as religious is some how entitled to be treated with respect. We should not pass laws that offend people's religious sensibilities.
It is time for this society and our leaders to take a stand that when those religious sensibilities promote harm to other people they deserve no public respect. As far as I am concerned groups like Focus On The Family and Concerned Women For America are no better than snake worshipers. We might just as well turn rattle snakes loose in the schools as to let them to continue to exert control over the information given to kids about human sexuality.
It is time to stand up and fight back. LGBT advocacy groups need to target this issue and some of them such as Get Equal are doing just that. Let it be known that the GAY AGENDA is promoting safety and dignity for lesbian, gay and trans kids.