Homosexual recruitment

"Homosexual recruitment" is a term used disapprovingly for perceived activities of LGBT people to actively target impressionable individuals to persuade them to identify as LGBT. The term is mostly used by activists in the United States who even strongly disapprove of homosexuality itself.

Debate centers around education programs intended to reduce homophobic sexual discrimination by providing information about LGBT issues.

Examples of the term's use

People who use the term are often arguing against policies which present LGBT issues as acceptable topics for discussion in schools and in sex education. Some examples:

* The conservative Christian organization "The Traditional Values Coalition" wrote: "The state-endorsed pro-homosexual teacher/teen 'Teach Out' held at Tufts University in Boston in March has outraged concerned citizens. There's growing concern among parents over the use of tax dollars to fund homosexual recruitment programs in the public schools. During the Teach Out, state HIV instructors taught teenagers how to engage in deviant sex acts and they also taught teachers how to indoctrinate children into accepting homosexuality as normal." [ [http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=103 Let's End Taxpayer Supported Homosexual Recruitment Programs In Public Schools ] ]

* Anita Bryant campaigned to repeal an ordinance in Miami, Florida that prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Her campaign was based upon allegations of "homosexual recruitment." Bryant said "As a mother, I know that homosexuals cannot biologically reproduce children; therefore, they must recruit our children." [ [http://www.famous-quotations.com/asp/acquotes.asp?author=Anita+Bryant&category=Miscellaneous Famous Quotes by Famous People ] ]

* Pat Robertson has said that feminism was a front for turning women into lesbians. He had described it as a "socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians." [cite journal |year=2005 |month=August |title=Pat Robertson calls for assassination of Hugo Chávez |journal=USA Today |url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-08-22-robertson-_x.htm |accessdate=2006-05-29 |format=subscription required]

Related examples

* "Section 28" of the UK's 1988 Local Government Act was a significant public controversy in the UK related to public presentation of homosexuality. Section 28 stated that a local authority "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality" or "promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship." No successful prosecution was ever brought under this legislation, and following intense debate the section was finally repealed in 2003. Its enactment caused the majority of schools in the UK to close, limit or self-censor discussion and acknowledgment of homosexual and bisexual relationships (and by relation transgender and sexual diversity issues) within classes, sex education and student activities, for fear of breaching the law. [ cite web |url=http://www.knittingcircle.org.uk/gleanings2889.html |title=Knitting Circle 1989 Section 28 gleanings |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070818063344/http://www.knittingcircle.org.uk/gleanings2889.html |archivedate=2007-08-18 on the site of South Bank University. Accessed 1 July 2006.]

* In February 1999 an unattributed National Liberty Journal article that media outlets attributed to Jerry Falwell, claimed that Tinky Winky, a Teletubby, was intended as a gay role model.cite web |url=http://www.nljonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=269&Itemid=0 |title=PARENTS ALERT . . . PARENTS ALERT |accessdate=2007-05-30] A 1998 Salon.com article previously had noted Tinky Winky's status as a gay icon. [http://www.salon.com/media/1998/04/03media.html 'Tubbythumping] , accessed 2007-05-30, Joyce Millman, Salon] In response, Steve Rice, spokesperson for Itsy Bitsy Entertainment, which licenses the Teletubbies in the US, said, "I really find it absurd and kind of offensive." [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/276677.stm 'Gay Tinky Winky bad for children'] , accessed 2007-05-18, BBC News] cite web |url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=auX3.SI9QH2M |title=Jerry Falwell, Evangelist, Political Activist, Dies |accessdate=2007-05-18 |last=Burke |first=Heather ] The immensely popular UK show was aimed at pre-school children, but the article stated "he is purple - the gay pride color; and his antenna is shaped like a triangle - the gay-pride symbol." Apart from those characteristics Tinky Winky also carries a magic bag which the NLJ article said was a purse. Falwell added "role modelling the gay lifestyle is damaging to the moral lives of children."

* In 2002, Boston University Chancellor John Silber ordered that a B.U.-affiliated high school academy disband its gay-straight alliance, a student club that staged demonstrations to publicize the deleterious effects of homophobia. Silber dismissed the stated purpose of the club, that of serving as a support group for gay students that also sought to promote tolerance and understanding between gay and straight students, and accused it of being a vehicle for "homosexual recruitment." Silber denounced the group for "evangelism" and "homosexual militancy" with the purpose of promoting gay sex. At the time, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts funded gay-straight student clubs in 156 schools. [ [http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0242,goldstein,39204,1.html village voice > news > When it comes to bigotry, Boston University chancellor John Silber is almost as vicious as a shock jock. Richard Goldstein parses the logic of the rationalizer of hate. by Richard Goldstein ] ]

ee also

*Homosexual agenda
*Societal attitudes towards homosexuality

References

External links

* [http://www.aim.org/media_monitor/A3030_0_2_0_C/ Aim.org: "Homosexual Recruitment in Schools"]
* [http://www.nationalvanguard.org/printer.php?id=3062 Nationalvanguard.org: "Sumner Redstone Creates New Homosexual Recruitment Network"]
* [http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=849 Traditionalvalues.org: "Homosexual Recruitment Programs May Face Legal Challenges"]
* Richard Goldstein, [http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0242,goldstein,39204,1.html "The Last Candid Man: A Homophobe Hides Behind His Right to Discriminate"] , "Village Voice", October 16-22, 2002