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from Gay Activism in the Schools
"Making Schools Safe" Means "Refashioning Values" in Massachusetts
The following is a transcript of an audiotape, "The
Homosexual Agenda in Massachusetts Schools," courtesy of Parents' Rights
Coalition, P.O. Box 175, Newton, Mass.
The two speakers on this portion of the tape are Michael
Chuisano and Brian Camenker, the parents' rights activist who was
interviewed in our last Bulletin issue.
The two men describe school programs which devalue sexual
self-restraint, tradition, and the authority of adults mentors in
the teenager's life in favor of an inner-directed decision-making
process.
At the same time, most such programs encourage children to test
out a broad range of sexual options, and to base their judgments
about those options on a combination of health considerations and
personal feelings.
Such programs are typically introduced as essential for
making schools safe.
(To order copies of this tape, which also feature ex-gay
Anthony Falzarano and researcher Brian Burt, call 781-433-7106.)
Introduction by Michael Chuisano, Concerned Parent
My name is Michael Chiusano; I own a small business, have a
wife and two children, and live in a suburban community in
Massachusetts. Several years ago, I stumbled onto something strange
that was happening at my daughter's public school.
Our family was sitting around the dinner table, and quite
without guile or any particular intention, my daughter--then age
13--told my wife and me about mandatory assemblies she had attended,
without request for my permission, as part of "Homophobia Week" activities.
In these assemblies, gay men described their political goals
and agendas and how they wished to have the right to marry and
adopt children.
A Catholic priest had been brought in on the last day as a
pretense to balance, but he was almost booed off the stage--so effective
had been the pro-gay speakers.
My daughter mentioned that perhaps I "was homophobic" if I did
not agree with the gay activists' goals.
During the next few months, I took a "crash course" in
homosexual political activism. This was a world that I did not think existed.
To me, homosexuality was a behavior pattern on the fringes of
society, not something to be introduced to teenagers at the onset
of their sexual maturity. I soon discovered a vast network of
homosexual-activist groups, ranging from elite Washington-based
lobbyists who have the personal ear of the president, to such
bizarre groups as "Digital Queers," who are homosexual computer
programmers who donate their time and expertise to homosexual activism.
Perhaps most troubling of all was the group, "GLSEN"
(Gay/Lesbian and Straight Education Network). GLSEN started as a group of
gay teachers, but is now a nationwide network of activists dedicated
to advancing homosexual ideology within public schools--and
largely succeeding, I might add. Keep in mind that we are talking
about groups which are targeting children.
Despite their public pronouncements to the contrary, the goal
of homosexual activists is not tolerance for themselves, or even
tolerance of children who declare themselves gay or
lesbian--whatever that can mean in the case of unfocused teen sexuality.
Targeting the Next Generation
No, the true goal is saturation and conversion, leading to a
redefinition of sexual norms and a world of gay celebration and
affirmation. Because adults are not likely to change their
views, these gay activists know that their best chance of succeeding is
to change the hearts and minds of children, largely by undermining
the values taught by their parents. Therefore subversion, not
tolerance, is their goal.
Our first speaker is Brian Camenker, a father of two who has
himself seen the power of homosexual activism in public schools.
Speech by Brian Camenker, Citizen Activist
During the past fifteen or twenty years, we've been seeing
things happen that I don't think have ever been seen before at any time
in history. In the public schools, what we've called "the
homosexual agenda" has become particularly distressing to parents.
I know myself, because I have a sixth-grade little girl in
the middle school in Newton, Massachusetts. I had to take her out
of Health Class because one of the class's goals was to help the
children understand and appreciate their sexual orientation. I
felt that maybe for a sixth grader, this is a little too much, but I
got an argument from the principal. He said that he believed in
this approach, but if I had a religious reason, maybe he would
consider letting me pull my little girl out. I said I didn't think I
needed a religious reason; so I said, "She will be showing up at your
office tomorrow instead of going to class," and that was that.
But the situation has gone far beyond that, if we look at just
a small percentage of the kinds of things we've seen throughout
Massachusetts over the last few years. Take a Jeff Jacoby column
published on March 7, 1995 that talks about Ashland's middle school.
There, children were assigned gay roles for a play on
discrimination.
Two boys had to pretend they were a homosexual couple seeking
to adopt a child. One boy's line was, "It's natural to be
attracted to the same sex." Two girls in the class were told to hold
hands and act out the roles of lesbian partners. Parents learned of
this only when their children mentioned it afterwards.
Test Period of Gay Sex
Suggested for "Early Teenagers"
At Silverlake High School in Kingston, Massachusetts, the
ninth grade textbook teaches that "sexuality is a matter of trial
and error and personal choice," and among its lessons is as follows:
"Testing your ability to function sexually and give
pleasure to another person may be less threatening in the early
teens with people of your own sex.
"You may come to the conclusion that growing up means
rejecting the values of your parents."
Homophobia Week at Beverly High School featured guest
lecturers from a gay and lesbian speakers' bureau; students heard
presentations in support of homosexual marriage, and the right of gays
and lesbians to raise children...and it goes on and on.
"But are You Really Heterosexual?"
One of the things we see a lot are surveys. For instance
in Framingham, students were asked the following:
"Is it possible that heterosexuality is a phase you will
grow out of?"
"Are you heterosexual because you fear
the same sex?"
"If you've never slept with anyone of the same sex, how do
you do know you wouldn't prefer it?"
"Is it possible you need a good gay experience?"
Such a survey was given to teenagers at the high school
in Framingham, Massachusetts and the principal said, and I
quote, "This was not advocacy--just thoughtful and constructive lessons
in tolerance."
As part of the same sensitivity curriculum, students were
taught that oral and anal sex are "methods of birth control that
preserve the concept of virginity."
The Reshaping of Social Mores
In Amherst, Massachusetts, they had an exhibit for young
children that featured photographs of homosexual households---part of
the current effort to reshape what people think about marriage and
family.
And a school committee member agreed that parents should
not be able to keep their children from seeing this; they said it would
be a direct insult to lesbian and gays.
So much of this has been supposedly to create "safe schools,"
but it always seems to involve something more than that.
In Brookline High School during Gay and Lesbian Awareness
Month, students were invited to "tell someone about your homosexual
fantasies or experiences." They were asked to wear pink cardboard
triangles imprinted with the word, "ally." This was supposedly
to help children who were confused.
Sexual Identity Confusion is Common
These are children, by the way, who are naturally
confused--because adolescence is inevitably the most confusing time of a
person's life.
I have in front of me here the homeroom questionnaire presented
at Dedham High School. It says, "Do you know anyone who is gay,
lesbian, or bisexual? Should they be allowed to serve in our
military? Should they be allowed to marry?" and on and on and on.
"Do you feel comfortable with them?"
And again, another survey that was handed out in a
Massachusetts high school: "When and how did you decide that you were
heterosexual? Is it possible that heterosexuality is
a phase that you will grow out of?"
Imagine children being questioned this way, over and over again.
Last year throughout Massachusetts schools, there was a photo
exhibit widely circulated called "The Shared Heart," from
the Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth. It was an
exhibit of so-called homosexual teenagers, in order to reinforce the
idea among children that homosexuality is another natural part of life.
This exhibit was sponsored by the State and went through
high schools throughout Massachusetts. It was exhibited in the
State House with quite a bit of fanfare.
What's behind a lot of this? Over and over again we see this
group called "GLSEN" (the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education
Network), which is a national organization that has been very, very active
in the public school system, and has been the recipient of a lot
of state funding.
Gay Clubs Seek
Confused Students
to Give them a New Identity
Some of the programs that have gone through dozens and dozens
of public schools through GLSEN are gay/straight alliance clubs
where students are encouraged to celebrate their homosexuality. We
see confidential homosexual counseling, surveys, speakers, gay
history where famous figures from history are described as actually
having been homosexual, gay library collections, and proclamations
by politicians.
These gay clubs, in particular, I have found to be very, very
distressing. These clubs meet after school and are run often
by people who are not involved with the school
system--essentially, young gay adults. The meetings are encouraged to be
confidential, they are very well funded, and they often sort of "go after" or
try to bring in children who are on the edge who are going through
a confused time in life, and they bring them in and give them
an identity.
Now who runs all of this? Massachusetts Governor William Weld
established the Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth
several years ago, and through its activist administrator, David
La Fontaine, it has blossomed into dozens and dozens of schools.
La Fontaine first came into prominence as one of the group of gay
demonstrators that screamed profanities and threw condoms at
priests in a church during a Catholic ordination ceremony. He was
also arrested at the State House for disrupting a press conference
on the subject of homosexuality.
During a televised debate where I personally debated him,
La Fontaine said that in these confidential homosexuality
counseling courses, they take a child they feel is confused about his
sexuality and without his parents' knowledge and consent, they bring
him to a homosexual counselor to help him talk through this. In
fact, on the tape, he told me that he defends this practice, because
parents' values need to be improved upon.
David La Fontaine has also said things that are very
uncomplimentary to religion and to religious people. And this is the
person who continues to run the state of Massachusetts' programs!
I am told that when the city of Holyoke, Massachusetts'
school board saw this tape, they discontinued their gay programs.
Now, exactly what is the Governor's Commission on Gay and
Lesbian Youth? As I said, it is extremely well funded. They put out
a book on the topic of "making school safe"....everything is
supposed to be part of that effort to "make safe schools."
But safe for what? Safe for things like children whose dress
does not conform to gender expectations? In their opinion, it should
be a crime to be bothered by children dressing in opposite-sex
clothing.
The Governor's Commission is also developing numerous types
of courses, of methods of coming into various schools. They
offer techniques showing how to confront a school committee, how to
confront parents, how to bring the message to schoolchildren in
Massachusetts. And if you look at their recommendations, it's
pretty frightening stuff.
This is a public commission that recommends conducting
confidential surveys with students, doing outreach into the schools, and
numerous things that are essentially more of what I already
talked about.
And then, of course, there's their annual event--the
Gay/Straight Youth Pride March--which starts at the State House, and is
usually attended by several hundred of these gay/straight alliance
clubs from around Massachusetts.
Boston Mayor Sponsors
Gay Prom in City Hall
Last year I attended. They had some very, I would consider,
inflammatory speeches. They marched down to the esplanade, and
then they finished the evening with a gay prom, for which the mayor
of Boston gave over the entire first floor of Boston City Hall.
These children, often hand in hand, were led into these
rooms--adults were not let in--and there was music and dancing.
One of the more bizarre parts of this was their head of
Security, who we talked to for a bit. He was a guy with open sores on
his face and a dog collar...I kid you not. And he talked about
his having been homosexually raped as a young child, and he now was
an active homosexual.
When you talk about the numerous high schools and groups that
have become involved with this movement, and the kind of money that
is going into this, it's really quite frightening. The
Governor's Youth Commission actually proposes addressing the problem of
anti-gay feelings beginning in grade school. It's gathered a
momentum that makes it almost unstoppable.
Will Politically Incorrect Thought
Become the Next Hate Crime?
I was reading in the paper this week that Governor Celucci has
now appointed a gay man to be the first Students' Civil Rights
Director for the Governor's Task Force on Hate Crimes in high schools
and middle schools. Now how do you suppose they are going to
define hate crimes?
When you didn't think this thing could become more frightening,
it has. Governor Paul Celucci has quadrupled, according to this
article, Governor Bill Weld's appropriation to these programs.
They now have one million dollars to spend. And I can tell you
from what we've seen since August, that one million dollars is going
a very long way. Everything we've seen in the schools has
become more and more aggressive and more encompassing.
Governor Celucci is no stranger to the gay movement in
Massachusetts. His photo is often featured in the gay press with
statements describing how he feels that gay youth ought to be
coming out. Here is his picture with David La Fontaine, who I
discussed earlier. Here is his picture proclaiming May to be
Gay/Straight Student Pride Month in Massachusetts...he's not your usual
Republican governor.
Where's that million dollars going? Let me just discuss my
local high school, Newton North High, which had "Be GLAAD Day" a
little over a month ago.
What is "Be GLAAD Day"? Entire classes were led to
anti-homophobia workshops. There was a transgender panel at the school which
children were encouraged to attend. Transgender is a medical
situation where people believe that they're of a different sex, and they
have their bodies mutilated and changed to reflect that. This was
in high school. There were teen panels on "how I came out and
found my new identity."
"Shaming" Used to Create Gay-Affirming Network
I talked to some of the students who went through this, and it
was a strange experience, even for them. At both main entrances of
the school, kids were given pink triangle stickers, and the purpose
was to show solidarity with the homosexual movement. And if you
didn't have a pink triangle sticker, it was evident that you
didn't show solidarity....and of course that was considered bad.
Entire classes were taken to these assemblies, and pamphlets
were handed out and there were signs all over saying, "One in 10
people are are gay."
In fact one pamphlet said, "More than that are gay--they just
don't know it yet."
Again, another pamphlet: "How do you know you're not gay if
you've never slept with someone of the same sex? You may like it."
Another said: "Homophobia is a disease."
And a little off the subject, "One out of seven wives is raped
by her husband."
Is Failure to Be Gay-Affirming
Equivalent to Racial Bigotry?
There was the constant theme that the persecution of gays
in America today is exactly the same as that of blacks before
the civil-rights movement.
There was a sign outside: "10% of all gay students in this
school have been spat on," and it went on and on and on.
There was some more...another said, "If you've never kissed
another man, you may not know what your real sexual orientation is."
"Be GLAAD Day" was actually repeated to a lesser degree in the
junior high schools. A student from junior-high school told me
about a history class where the teacher asked the following:
"Do you know someone who is gay? If so, move to the
other side of the class."
"Have you ever thought about being gay? Then, move to
the other side."
"Are you pretty sure you might be gay?...Move to the
other side."
These are junior high-school kids.
This is become more aggressive, it's become more enveloping,
and all of it, again, is under the excuse of
"making schools safe."
The average parent has to say, "what is going on here?"
For the "piece de resistance," we must look at the coverage in
the school newspaper of this event. This is a school newspaper in
a local high school.
Here's one article that starts out: "In kindergarten and
first grade, the heterosexist mainstream begins its recruiting
process--'One day, class, you will grow up and marry someone of the
opposite sex'" (meaning to do otherwise is wrong).
Then we have the whole spread on "Be GLAAD Day" describing
the workshop on discrimination. Then "coming out to your
children," where they brought supposedly gay parents to describe their
family relationships.
Here is a gay father in the student assembly, which is
called "Transgendered People Discuss their Insights." It says,
"Students to give a wake-up call about homophobic language being insulting."
Students Called Bigots
for Not Affirming Homosexuality
I heard many stories that if students say anything at all
that might be construed as being insulting to homosexuality,
these people were screamed at and called bigots, and treated terribly
for having the wrong opinion.
And of course there's the homophobic language seminar....Here's
an eighth-grader finding out that she's really gay, and writing
about this.
And then we have the lesbian teacher who's an advisor and
role model. Let me read this here: "Another facet of the teacher's
contribution to the school is that she is an 'out' teacher and
feels comfortable explaining to her schools that she is gay. 'Kids
are naturally curious about teachers' lives,' she said. 'When I say
on the first day of class, 'Who has questions?' they might ask me
if I'm married. And I say, 'I can't be because I am a lesbian.'"
And it goes on and on.
Governor Weld's million dollars has been an unbelievably
effective tool for the gay movement.
Updated: 8 February 2008
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