It will begin any day now. An avalanche of articles and evening news blurbs will suddenly descend upon an unenlightened America, all simultaneously decrying the problem of bullying and name-calling in our schools. In most articles, special attention will be devoted to the experiences of "gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender" youth.
Why the coordinated timing? Why now? Well, there's not a lot else going on in January, so, a few years ago, the carefully-crafted media event "No-Name Calling Week" was dreamed up by GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, to reinforce the portrayal of homosexuals as victims. This year it will be Jan. 23-27.
And, we all know that yes, unfortunately, schools have problems with a few mean, abusive kids who do indeed pick on other students. Every principal knows who the perennial abusers are. But in the current climate of everyone's "rights," schools often walk an inconsistent line as to how they mete out punishment. Into this confusing mess step the "gay" activists who are nothing if not adept at playing the guilt card wherever possible.
Kevin Jennings of GLSEN must have determined his group could make a lot of hay by jumping on this problem, highlighting the mistreatment of the students who are (so the story goes) born homosexual or trapped in the wrong sex body. They could garner sympathy from easily manipulated peers, parents and teachers, with the help of the mainstream media. The claim is that "gay" students are not defended well enough. There is no convincing evidence this is the case, and there is no such thing as a once-and-for-all "gay" kid, anyway.
Jennings seeks to marry two unrelated concepts – civility and homosexual behavior – to try to show that to be a supporter of one, you must be a supporter of the other. Sorry, Kevin – these are apples and oranges issues. Tommy can abuse the pot-smoking kid, and a school would be justified in throwing the book at Tommy – but that doesn't perennially bless the young druggie and all his misbehavior. When a young person who is currently engaged in homosexuality is bullied, the incident merits the same punishment as any other case. But then, the responsible adult should not stop there, but should inform that valuable young person that homosexuality is itself abuse, of one's own body as well as another's. When promoted or condoned by a school, homosexuality is not just potentially criminal, but it's educational malpractice, exposing kids to grave emotional and physical risk.
But the real irony here – one that the humorless left will fail to see – is that some of the biggest bullies and name-callers in this country right now are homosexual activists, in the schools as well as outside.
Remember students Elliott Chambers in Minnesota and Jonathan Dutil in Vermont a few years back? Both were singled out for ridicule and punishment by school administrators for supporting traditional male-female relationships in contrast to student homosexual activism.
Or let's take the case of Betsy Hansen at Pioneer High in Ann Arbor, Mich., who was bullied first by the school administration and then, an entire panel of homosexual advocates, into suppressing her religious belief that homosexuality is sinful. This all happened during "Diversity Week," by the way. As if this wasn't enough, the bullies in the homosexual club at Pioneer also demanded that the Christian club be forced to accept homosexuals. The club backed down after a threatened lawsuit. Both Elliott and Betsy had to win court cases before their schools backed down, acknowledging their First Amendment rights to free expression.
What about students throughout the country who are given a hard time by the school administration as well as other students for praying at the "See You At the Pole" event in September? Will new "anti-harassment" policies cover the humiliation and intimidation of the increasing anti-Christian slurs and insults, causing stomachaches, sleepless nights, tears and fears to return to school – all symptoms of being bullied?
What about parent David Parker in Lexington, Mass., who was arrested by school officials last year for questioning his kindergarten son's lesson promoting homosexual families? The bogus charges were dropped this fall. I would consider that bullying – wouldn't you? Where is that covered in GLSEN's "No-Name Calling week"? Parker was unjustly labeled a criminal!
Will Kevin Jennings and GLSEN have the courage to stand up and fight for these people's rights to not be bullied? Or called names?
GLSEN has done some research about bullying. Here's what they discovered in my home state of Ohio about the school verbal climate:
The two most commonly cited types of biased language in Ohio schools were sexist language and homophobic language ... Homophobic remarks such as "faggot," "dyke," or "queer," were heard by 70 percent of respondents at least some of the time.
– GLSEN press release, Nov. 16, 2005
Setting aside the apparent failure to research anti-Christian epithets, let's consider another "name-calling" and "bullying" problem in Ohio. How about the writer for the Ohio Gay People's Chronicle who, testifying at the Ohio statehouse, called me and other conservatives "members of the Taliban"? This insult was hurled just because we had testified in favor of traditional marriage.
How about the leaders of Ohio's HIV and AIDS groups who bullied (using the cooperative press) Ohio Department of Health officials, resulting in the "un-inviting" of Maggie Gallagher to speak at an Ohio abstinence event this past fall? These same folks, who operate bloated HIV-prevention programs that have failed to slow its incidence in our state, boldly demanded in May 2005 that Ohio's tiny abstinence education budget be cut to zero and given instead to them. The abstinence program had done nothing to provoke this, except operate business as usual.
But rather than simply ignore those with whom they disagree, homosexual activists become attack-dogs out of the blue at Christian and conservative events all over America. In Boston, at a conference for people coming out of homosexuality held at Tremont Baptist Church on Oct. 29, coffins were placed outside the church by offended "gays." Signs expressed such statements as, "Homophobia Kills Gay Youth." Actually, homosexuality is what is really killing "gay" youth, but what does this have to do with the conference they were protesting, which dealt with other people's rights to determine their own sexual behavior in private? As Boston police stood by and did nothing to restrain these "anti-choice" protesters, a sound-truck blared at the church, "Shut it down! Shut it down!"
And let's not forget the Philadelphia 11, Christians arrested and jailed in Philadelphia last year for simply preaching the Gospel at an outdoor event – because militant homosexuals were offended.
Bullying and violence is what happens when immoral behavior takes over, and people who are possessed by their deviant passions start defining evil as good, and good as evil. Then, those who advocate genuine goodness become the enemy and must be eradicated – even if it's in the name of "anti-harassment," "preventing bullying," or stopping "name-calling."
Yes, indeed, let's stop the name-calling, starting with the worst perpetrators of all. By allowing GLSEN and other proponents of homosexuality among children, parents and communities are allowing more opportunities for the truth to be suppressed and for lies and corruption to prevail.
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
