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from Parenting & Family
The World According to PFLAG:
Why PFLAG and Children Don't Mix
By Linda Harvey
(Reprinted by permission from "Choice 4 Truth," www.choice4truth.com)
An examination of the values of PFLAG (Parents, Families
and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), a national group
promoting the acceptance of "gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgendered" lifestyles for children and teens.
December, 2002 -- PFLAG is active on a local and national level attempting to
infuse its radical ideas into schools, churches, youth
organizations and into national and state public policy.
There is growing support for the work of this organization,
which is being received cordially by some schools and even
corporations.
Yet behind its rhetoric of "rights" and "tolerance" is the
sordid reality of what PFLAG actually supports. As their
recommended literature reveals, the world according to PFLAG
would encourage children to be self-indulgent and
self-centered; to reject the wisdom of parents and other
authorities if they wish, even at early ages; and to engage
in just about any sexual behavior imaginable.
In this literature, there is even implied approval of sexual
contact between adults with minors. It's a frequent, usually
"positive" theme in many resources recommended by PFLAG. For
a complete listing of these resources, consult the group's
publications on its web site at www.pflag.org.
Warning: Graphic sexual content follows. The following are
just a small sample of the situations, opinions and themes
depicted in the PFLAG brochures and in books PFLAG
recommends as "resources." The passages included here are
mild compared to the obscene, self-destructive, abusive, and
just plain weird material that predominates. The sheer
volume is grounds, we believe, for preventing this group
from having any contact with minor children; nor should its
ideas be adopted by teachers, counselors and parents. There
is a dire need to expose this organization's roots.
Schools and organizations that utilize PFLAG materials, list
its web site or other contact points as resources, or allow
PFLAG representatives to speak to children or other groups
may find themselves ultimately exposed to criminal
liability.
1. PFLAG's recommended literature encourages in sexual
license for people of all ages. For children, this means
that virtually any sexual activity as well as exposure to
graphic sexual images and material, is not just permissible,
but good for children, as part of the process of discovering
their sexuality.
"I've been doing drag for about ten years, on and off....my
fantasies were all about whipping. I started reading up on
S/M, and it was making me interested in sex for the first
time...I realized that, for what I was doing, I could be
getting good money." (Interview with Minal, a young man who
is a cross-dresser and works as a prostitute specializing in
sado-masochism, in Revolutionary Voices, Ed. Amy Sonnie,
Alyson Books, 2000, pp.171-172. Book recommended for youth
by PFLAG in its brochure, "Be Yourself").
"...From a convenience store in a town thirty miles away that
sold liquor to underage customers as well as porn
paperbacks, I acquired a copy of a novel called Pretty Boys
Must Die. It satisfied my curiosity about what homosexuals
did....I was excited out of my mind....I also knew that
somewhere out there, beyond Amethyst, someone had to be
doing something remotely like what leather hustler Riley
Jacks did to na•ve young David (the "Pretty Boy")....I was
ready.....But I had to wait. ...I gorged on new porn when I
could get it...I was content to read for hours, and masturbate
for hours..." (A man reminiscing about his youth, from Growing
Up Gay/Growing Up Lesbian, ed. Bennett Singer, New Press,
1994, p.53. This book is part of recommended reading by
PFLAG in its brochure for parents, "Our Daughters & Sons.")
"Except for her Adam's apple, it was hard to tell Christina
was really a young male from the Philippines...My days were
spent as a man and my nights as a woman...Christina introduced
me to Breezy. She had started taking hormones when she was
in her teens...During our physical lovemaking, Breezy was able
to express her female and male energies at the same time...I
was sad that our affair lasted only four days." (Memoir of
transgendered youth Shu Wei Chen/ Andy, pp.179-180, in Bi
Any Other Name, ed. Loraine Hutchins & Lani Kaahumanu,
Alyson Books, 1991. Recommended in the PFLAG Bisexuality
Resource Packet and in the PFLAG brochure for parents.)
In the novel Rainbow Boys (Alex Sanchez, Simon & Schuster,
2001), three 17-year old boys explore their homosexual
attractions. Frequent themes include obtaining pornographic
magazines (p.51) and movies (p.88), as well as graphic
descriptions of masturbation (pp.51-52, 70, 89). The book
features several scenes of explicit heterosexual sex, and a
scene where one of the teen boys has anal intercourse
without a condom with a 29-year-old man he has just met via
the Internet (p.148). This boy's mom is an officer of the
local PFLAG chapter, and comes and goes to meetings
throughout the book. Rainbow Boys is recommended by PFLAG in
its brochure for youth, "Be Yourself."
"...I met this guy named Reggie, who was twenty-three. I met
him hanging out in the subway station....He spent the night
with me a few times..." (Memoir from 'D.B.', a 15 year-old
runaway and school drop-out, in Two Teenagers in Twenty, Ed.
Ann Heron, Alyson Books,1994, page 81. Book recommended by
PFLAG in its brochure for youth.)
"By age twelve, I had become a porn aficionado, since the
couple for whom I babysat and my older brother kept copies
of the magazines around. I must say that I came in touch
with my bisexuality, or my bisexual feelings, through men's
pornography." (Lucy Friedland in Bi Any Other Name [cited
above], p.292.)
"Well, I'm politically radical...And I'm also sexually
radical. I support all people's rights, all lifestyles that
are consensual and not coercive. I have many friends in the
S & M community and in the transsexual and transvestite
communities...I'm a prostitute's rights advocate..." (Marcy
Sheiner, Bi Any Other Name [cited above], p.206.)
"I am a triracial, First Nation, Two-Spirit Fairy Trans
Faggot activist...I am committed to unleashing Out/rage/us
Acts of Delightful Revolution." (Qwo-Li Driskill, age 22, in
Revolutionary Voices [cited above], p.198.)
"'My first experience was with a much older man, a friend of
Derek's [his dad]...When I was fifteen, he must have been
twenty-nine, thirty...I seduced him...It was a wild night. We
did everything.'" (Young man, Eliot, telling about earlier
experiences in a story excerpted in Growing Up Gay/Growing
Up Lesbian [cited above], p.111.)
2. "Coming out" (calling oneself homosexual or
cross-dressing) at a very young age, and even beginning
early homosexual sex practices, is a desirable goal in the
world according to PFLAG.
"I first began to come out when I was 11. In terms of my
family, I was fortunate because my parents have always been
accepting of my sexual identity....So at the age of 12 I came
out to my entire elementary school, which included grades
K-8." (Fifteen-year-old girl writing in Revolutionary
Voices, ed. By Amy Sonnie, Alyson Books, 2000, pp.43-44.
Recommended for youth in PFLAG's brochure, "Be Yourself.")
"My name is Nicole, and I'm a lesbian. I'm twelve years
old." (From Two Teenagers in Twenty, [cited above], p.167.)
"Young people are just as capable of exploring or asserting
their sexual identity as adults." (Author Mary L Gray, in In
Your Face: Stories From the Lives of Queer Youth, Harrington
Park Press,1999, p.23. Book recommended by PFLAG in both
its youth and parent brochures.)
"Last summer, I finally came to grips with the fact that I
was gay. I had been having sex with a man since I was
fourteen, but I thought it was just a phase..." (Mike Friedman,
age 17, in Two Teenagers in Twenty [cited above], p.134.)
PFLAG strongly supports "transgendered" behaviors (being a
transvestite or having a sex change through hormones or
surgery). This includes supporting young children in their
rights to dress, and to believe they are, the opposite sex.
See the PFLAG brochure, "Our Trans Children," available for
order on the PFLAG web site, www.pflag.org.
" I identify as bisexual, and have since I was about six or
seven...I sort of experimented when I was young." (Eriq Chang,
writing in In Your Face: Stories From the Lives of Queer
Youth [as cited above], p.32.)
"I used to go down in the cellar with other boys...I have a
twin brother, Chad, who is also gay...When I was seventeen, I
came out to my brother and his lover...They were in bed, and I
just came in and blurted it all out...I'd been very sexually
active since I was twelve." (Kyle Dale Bynion, age 18,
writing in Two Teenagers in Twenty, pp.16-17 [cited above]).
3. Bisexuality, fluid sexuality and sexual experimentation
is encouraged by PFLAG. The group believes it's important
for all students to learn about these options.
"At some point, almost everybody gets a 'crush' on someone
of the same sex...One or two sexual experiences with someone
of the same sex may not mean you're gay, either--just as one
or two sexual experiences with someone of the opposite sex
may not mean you're straight...many straight people have
same-sex sexual experiences.....Dr. Alfred Kinsey, the world's
best-known sex researcher, concluded from his research that
almost nobody is purely straight or gay..." (From PFLAG
brochure for youth, "Be Yourself", p.5).
"Although it's common to feel more strongly attracted to one
sex or the other, many people feel at least some amount of
attraction for both sexes. Alfred Kinsey, the famous
researcher of sexual behavior, found that our attractions
and our sexual behaviors are seldom absolute..." (Passage
continues to describe the Kinsey Scale, a 0 through 6
continuum from heterosexual to homosexual, that discredited
researcher Kinsey used to describe "fluid" sexuality. In
Free Your Mind: The Book for Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual
Youth and Their Allies, Ellen Bass & Kate Kaufman,
HarperPerennial, 1996, pp.6-7. Recommended by PFLAG in both
its youth and parent brochures.)
"My sexuality is as fluid, infinite, undefinable, and
ever-changing as the north-flowing river...Sexuality is not
black or white...it is gray...I know that defining myself is not
so simple..." (T. Rowan, 16, in Revolutionary Voices [cited
above], p.167.)
"'...You never wanted to, like, do it with a girl?' 'No, I
guess I'm a Kinsey six.'" (Two boys discuss the Kinsey scale
in the novel Rainbow Boys [cited above], p.95.)
"Last night, I told my friend Leslie that I am gay--after I
had sex with her...." (From a homosexual man's diary of his
youth, in Growing Up Gay/Growing Up Lesbian, [cited above],
pp.80-81.)
"For gay liberation to have any value for youth, people must
be reminded, preferably in fifth- or sixth-grade sex
education classes, that gay is not only good, but probably a
part of most sexual make-ups." (Bill Andriette, age 16, in
Two Teenagers in Twenty, [cited above], p.171.)
"Humans are diverse, and individual sexual feelings and
behavior change over time....Bisexuality threatens the
accepted way of looking at the world by calling into
question the validity of rigid sexual categories, and
encourages acknowledgement of the existence of a diverse
range of sexuality... It is important to have the freedom to
choose the type of sexual and affectional relationships that
are right for the people involved, whatever their sexual
orientation." (PFLAG Bisexuality Resource Packet, pages
4-5.)
"I think the first time I thought about being bi or
questioned my sexuality was when, under the influence, I
kissed a girl. I would have been thirteen...I was really
heavily into drugs and stuff like that..." (Paige, age 18, in
In Your Face: Stories from the Lives of Queer Youth [cited
above], p.42.)
"No one knows exactly how human sexual orientation--gay or
straight--is determined." (From PFLAG youth brochure, "Be
Yourself")
4. Meeting with other "gay" and "questioning" youth, usually
without parental knowledge, is a frequent theme in PFLAG
materials. At these community meetings, thirteen-year-olds
will come into contact with college-age youth and adults
practicing homosexuality.
"The night I got back from my first support group meeting, I
lied to my mother about where I'd been. And I was horrible
at lying because I had a good relationship with my mother..."
(Dawn, age 17, in In Your Face: Stories From the Lives of
Queer Youth, [cited above], p.50.)
"...I finally got up the courage to attend a meeting of PRYSM.
PRYSM is a sort of support group for lesbians and gays aged
twenty-two and under....That meeting was the catalyst for my
new life as a lesbian...My mother is the last person I would
tell...." (Robin, age 16, in Two Teenagers in Twenty [cited
above], pp.131-132.)
"Jason Carillo walked around the block a third time, working
up his courage to go into the brownstone....He'd read about
the group for teens in his school newspaper...." (Opening
scene of novel Rainbow Boys, which is about three boys who
meet at a "gay" youth meeting. Cited above, p.1)
"I came out when I was fifteen. I started going to a gay
youth group at the MCC church. I found an incredible amount
of support there..." (Aimee Anderson, 17, in Two Teenagers in
Twenty [cited above], p.50.)
"I was in sixth grade and attending a Catholic school in San
Francisco when I came out to a small group of people...During
this time I started attending LYRIC, the Lavender Youth
Recreation and Information Center, a wonderful program and
hang-out space for LGBT youth in San Francisco....The next
year I was in seventh grade..." (Gina De Vries, age 15, in
Revolutionary Voices [cited above], p.43)
"...I joined this youth group called Positive Images; it's the
Sonoma County gay/lesbian/bisexual youth group. I got a
boyfriend instantly; he picked me up right away, right when
I joined the group. He was older; he was twenty-five, I was
sixteen...." (Todd Fay-Long, age 17, from In Your Face:
Stories from the Lives of Queer Youth [cited above], p.58.)
"Slowly but surely, I came out to my priest. I was in shock
when he said, 'That's fine...' He was the most supportive
person I've ever met....My priest told me about this support
group in Boston where there are a lot of kids like me...I'll
never forget that first day at the Boston Alliance of Gay
and Lesbian Youth (BAGLY)..." (Troix Reginald Bettencourt,
age 18, Lowell, Massachusetts, looking back on his high
school days, in Two Teenagers in Twenty [cited above],
pp.158-159.)
5. PFLAG spreads false information about the Bible,
religious faith, and restoration of heterosexuality through
faith. This misinformation closes the door of change for
many young people, and stirs up anti-Christian and
anti-Jewish bias and hostility.
"In fact, the Bible says very little about homosexuality.
Amidst the hundreds of thousands of other teachings,
responsibilities, laws and prohibitions, there are only a
handful of statements that might possibly apply to sex
between men--and none that address lesbian sexuality."
(Erroneous claim that ignores Romans 1:26 and many clear
passages prohibiting homosexuality, from Free Your Mind: The
Book for Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Youth--and Their Allies
[cited above], p.279.)
"We were observant Jews--conservative...We were aware that
...the Old Testament prohibited ..gay relationships...However,
we didn't have a problem reconciling these views because our
kids always come first." (From PFLAG brochure, Faith in Our
Families, p.2).
"My parents found out I was a lesbian and sent me to a
psychologist to be 'cured.' I am presently being cured, not
of my sexual orientation, but of the way I accepted my
parents' every word as gospel." (Joanne, age 18, in Two
Teenagers in Twenty, [cited above], p.42)
"Later that week, Kyle arrived home from school to find his
mom standing in the center of his bedroom...She barraged him
with questions like, Should she have done something
different bringing him up? or, What about the ex-gay groups
that claimed homosexuals could change? 'Mom,' he said,
frustrated. 'You didn't do anything wrong and I can't
change. Those groups are full of fakes...'" (From novel
Rainbow Boys, [cited above] p.103.)
Source:
Mission:America
PO Box 21836
Columbus, OH 43221
www.missionamerica.com
www.Choice4Truth.com
Updated: 3 September 2008
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