BACK TO TABLE OF CONTENTS

HOMOSEXUALS BATTLE FOR OUR CHILDREN'S MINDS

Unable to scale the adult world of resistance, homosexual activists have now focused their strategy on influencing our children. It is true that homosexual activists have gained some control of the instruments of power in Canada, such as the Human Rights Commissions and the courts, but even armed with these weapons, they have been unable to win over the hearts and minds of many individual Canadians. Some may be intimidated by these agents of power and reluctant to speak out publicly on the issue, but, nonetheless, in general, the public has not accepted many of the objectives of the homosexual activists.

This wall of resistance braced against the social and legal acceptance of the homosexual agenda has remained impenetrable, despite the best efforts of the secular media, which serve as a propaganda tool for the homosexual cause.

To breach this rampart, the activists have developed a very real and dangerous strategy. Unable to influence a majority of the adult population, instead, they will reach into the impressionable minds of our children by infiltrating the school system with their propaganda. This effort by homosexual activists amounts to the waging of a cultural war on our children's sexual health and moral fiber. Make no mistake. The lines have been drawn.

Framing the Debate

The key to the activists achieving success within the school system is for them to gain control of the debate by framing it on their own terms. They assert that the issue is all about "child safety" and the creation of "safe" schools to increase tolerance and sensitivity to gay students and, at the elementary school level, to teach tolerance for students whose parents are homosexual. The pro-family forces, on the other hand, frame the debate on their terms, which is to oppose the forcing of a gay agenda on children in schools.

Homosexual "Safety" Issues

The homosexual campaign to enter our schools with their propaganda relies mainly on a claim that homosexual youth make up 30% of all youth suicides. The activists seize upon the claim that "homophobia" has created a climate in schools where violence, name-calling and health problems lead to the suicide of homosexual youths. Consequently, students must be taught "tolerance" for others, including homosexual "victims." This argument automatically puts pro-family forces and, and if they don't comply, school boards, on the defensive and makes them appear uncaring and intolerant of the suffering of homosexual students.

The truth is, however, that there is no statistically significant relationship between homosexuality and suicide.

(a) In a 1994 article in the New England Journal of Medicine, Friedman and Downey state:

Three psychological postmortem studies conducted in different areas of the United States have not demonstrated an increased frequency of people identified as homosexual among those who committed suicide.

(b) A 1995 study, which compared 120 of 170 consecutive suicides under age twenty and 147 community, age, sex and ethnic matched controls living in the greater New York area, found that there was not a significantly higher rate of homosexual experience among teen suicides than among the controls;

This article stated:

We found no evidence that the risk factors among gays were any different than those among straight teenagers.

The debate that links homosexuality to suicide may be a distracting side-issue to two real problems; a) some gay teenagers experience significant adjustment difficulties that require precise study and appropriate intervention, and b) suicide is most common in individuals with a psychiatric illness, rather than in individuals with a "hard life."

Teen Suicide Rate in Canada

In Canada, it is significant that the suicide rate among youths in Quebec (which was the first province to include sexual orientation in its human rights legislation in 1977) is higher than that in Alberta, for example, which amended its human rights legislation (as ordered by the Supreme Court of Canada in the Vriend case) a year or so ago.

According to statistics published by Health Canada in "Suicide in Canada, Update of the Report of the Task Force on Suicide in Canada" (1994), Quebec's youth suicide rates rose dramatically between 1977 and 1992. By contrast, Alberta's youth suicide rates slightly decreased in that period.

Further, it is significant that, according to Statistics Canada, Quebec teens have the highest suicide rate in the western world. In 1950, the teen suicide rate in Quebec stood at just two per 100,000 population, about the same as the national rate. Then in 1970, it started rising inexplicably each year, reaching 20 per 100,000 today. By comparison, the teen suicide rate in Ontario is 12 per 100,000 and the national rate is 10 per 100,000. Only Saskatchewan shares a similarly high rate now, at about 20 per 100,000. While unable to explain the increase in Quebec, psychiatrists do not attribute it in any way to so-called "anti-gay" sentiments in our schools.

The Campaign in the Schools

Once the activists have framed the debate in terms of tolerance and safety of the students, they carry out their campaign in the schools using several techniques:

Pro-homosexual changes in the curricula include replacing standard vocabulary in the family life program, such as "husband, wife, spouse," and "marriage," with generic terms, such as "partner, companion, couple, relationships." School sex education programs, in turn, focus on gay-friendly concepts about "safe sex" and AIDS education. This takes the emphasis away from support for abstinence and traditional marriage models, while emphasizing support for tolerance of a permissive, sexually promiscuous lifestyle.

School Libraries

Homosexual activists are making it a priority to make donations to school libraries. They target libraries in order to have them carry titles which actually celebrate the homosexual lifestyle. It is important that we check out our school libraries and raise strenuous objections if we find such propaganda material there.

School Boards

Some school boards have decided to ban unsuitable books, which promote homosexuality as a lifestyle choice. Such decisions are now being challenged in the courts by homosexual activists. For example, the Surrey, BC, School Board decision, which excluded certain pro-homosexual books in kindergarten and grade 1, is currently on appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. (See Reality, September/October 2000, "Religious Views Recognized," p. 1.) The time to appeal the unanimous decision of the BC Court of Appeal, which confirmed that school boards can properly exercise their jurisdiction and refuse controversial books, expired 6 months previously. However, the unabashedly homosexual advocate on the Supreme Court of Canada, Madame Justice Claire L'Heureux Dubé (See Reality, "Speeches by Judge Create Controversy," March/April 2000, p. 16), granted an extension of time to allow an appeal of this case to the Supreme Court of Canada. This appeal is expected to be heard sometime in the fall of 2002. Fortunately, a coalition of faith groups, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC), the Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver, the Catholic Civil Rights League and the Canadian Alliance for Social Justice and Family Values Association, have been granted intervener status in the case.

This coalition will be arguing that the exclusion of religion from the public school system infringes on religious freedom. It will also argue that parents have a right to participate in school board decisions regarding appropriate classroom materials.

Promotion of the Homosexual Agenda

Some examples of homosexual activists promoting their agenda in Canadian schools are as follows:

Ontario

The public Toronto District School Board has introduced a pro-homosexual agenda in its system. (See Reality, "Homosexual Indoctrination in Toronto schools," November/December, 2000, p. 18.) Also, the Peel District School Board (Caledon, Brampton, Mississauga), has adopted a homosexual program in its schools. The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario, representing 65,000 elementary school teachers, voted at its annual meeting in August (500 delegates were present) to lobby all Ontario school boards to set aside funds to "reflect lesbian, gay, and transgender realities." According to the union's president, Phyllis Benedict, the union is "trying to promote a more positive environment in schools."

According to an article appearing in the homosexual newspaper, Xtra, (January 10, 2002) pro-homosexual workshops called "The Human Sexuality Program," are now available to all Toronto public school students - the bulk of them being primary and junior school students. At the beginning of the school year, information on the workshops is sent to each of the schools in the Toronto School District Board, then teachers, principals or students may telephone to organize a workshop at their school.

There are six people who work in the Toronto board's Equity Department which enforces its so-called "anti-homosexual" equity policy in the board's 600 schools. In the end, however, it is up to the teachers or the schools to decide whether this issue will be addressed. However, according to one of the Equity Department members, many teachers and administrators are nervous about the program. She also said that the Equity Department frequently field calls from principals and teachers who want to know how to deal with parents who object to the "anti-homophobia" advocates in their children's schools. Good for those parents!

Saskatchewan

Last September, a Committee of the Saskatoon Public School Board recommended pro-homosexual curriculum changes, mandatory staff training and the introduction of library material to promote homosexuality in its school system.

What Must Be Done

It is important to understand that each board has the right to determine which books will be used in the classrooms. Moreover, the courts have made it clear that it is the parents who have the final say over the material to which their children are exposed - not the teachers or their union. Do not be intimidated by teachers or boards who attempt to dismiss your concerns and isolate you by saying, "You're the only parent who has complained." Don't believe it! Further, it is important to know what your school's policy is concerning students' questions about homosexuality. Does the school board notify parents that the topic has arisen? Does it recommend that students consult homosexual organizations? Does it request a homosexual teacher or counselor to 'reach out" (indoctrinate) a vulnerable, confused student to make him/her feel "comfortable?" What is the official position of the guidance department on these issues?

According to the article in Xtra (referred to above), homosexuals providing these controversial workshops say the anxiety in doing this work is palpable because, "It takes one parent to complain to make the school really nervous about doing this work again." Making our views known is definitely worthwhile!

It is necessary for each one of us to do our part to stop this battle for our children's minds by a massive intrusion into our school systems. We can do this by contacting not only our local schools, but also our school boards to determine what their policies are on homosexual programs in the schools. We must resist with all our might the introduction of such dangerous programs.

If public education continues resisting the public moral will, while basic skills diminish even further, the ultimate solution may be voter rejection of the public schools and a student exodus to private schools and home schooling - a trend that has already begun.

We cannot, however, abandon the system without a fierce battle for what is right. We are, in conscience, obligated to protect children from forces of decadence, such as homosexual indoctrination in our school system.

The public school system belongs to us and it must not be overtaken by extremists intent on forcing their own agendas on our children.

BACK TO TABLE OF CONTENTS