MCPS Bigotry Getting National Attention
I didn't blog about it because this time was no different from all the other times. Readers of this blog know what happens. Our county school district in Montgomery County, Maryland, sends anti-gay flyers home with schoolchildren on report-card days. This month students at Einstein, and I think Blair, got them. The school district says they do it because they have to. They put a disclaimer at the bottom of the flyers, saying that the school district is not responsible, and I guess legally that makes them not responsible.
That is a really great example to set for the kids.
This time, though, for some reason, the media seem to be tuning in to it. FoxDC had it. Then I noticed the other day that Think Progress had something about it, and RightWing Watch. My daughter pointed out to me that Dan Savage had written about the school district's anti-gay propaganda in the Seattle Slog. WAMU had it. The story was even carried by MSNBC.
Here is how MSNBC puts it:
I had not heard that it was five schools, and wish that MSNBC would have said which ones they were.
It is really kind of disheartening to live in one of the most progressive counties in the country, and to have worked so hard to support the school board in developing a curriculum based on respect for differences in human sexuality, and then to see them passing out hateful propaganda from a group of bigots.
Peter Sprigg, by the way, is not just a member of the PFOX board of directors. He is also Senior Fellow for Policy Studies at the SPLC-certified hate group Family Research Council.
MSNBC has an update:
So the school district passes out flyers to thousands of students, and then the Superintendent of the school district tells the grown-ups who watch the news that the flyers are reprehensible and deplorable.
If they are reprehensible and deplorable, and then why are you giving them to our county's children?
Dan Savage has an idea:
Any takers? If you are a registered nonprofit, MCPS will tell the kids anything you want to say, four times a year.
That is a really great example to set for the kids.
This time, though, for some reason, the media seem to be tuning in to it. FoxDC had it. Then I noticed the other day that Think Progress had something about it, and RightWing Watch. My daughter pointed out to me that Dan Savage had written about the school district's anti-gay propaganda in the Seattle Slog. WAMU had it. The story was even carried by MSNBC.
Here is how MSNBC puts it:
Fliers from a group that claims it can help gay people turn straight were recently distributed at Montgomery County schools, sparking controversy.
The group called Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, known as PFOX, distributed 8,000 of these fliers at five Montgomery County schools, including Albert Einstein High in Kensington.
The flier says students with "unwanted same-sex attractions can seek help."
Karen Yount-Merrell told News4 she was upset to see it come home along with her son's report card last week.
"I was really, really angry," she said. "It is so bad because it targets teens that are questioning their orientation."
PFOX believes homosexuality is a choice that can be changed, writing in its flier that there is not credible evidence that individuals are "born gay." The group also says students are too young to label themselves as homosexuals.
The flier in part reads: "Ex-gays demonstrate that those with unwanted same-sex attractions can seek help and information on overcoming their feelings. All individuals deserve the right to self-determination and happiness based on their own needs, and not the needs of others. PFOX supports tolerance."
Peter Sprigg, a member of the National Board of Directors for PFOX, says there is nothing homophobic about his group's message.
"There is not hate in these fliers," said Peter Sprigg, a member of the National Board of Directors for PFOX. "These fliers are simply designed to give information, particularly to those students who may feel a certain amount of confusion about their sexual feelings." Ex-Gay Flier Distributed at 5 MD Schools
I had not heard that it was five schools, and wish that MSNBC would have said which ones they were.
It is really kind of disheartening to live in one of the most progressive counties in the country, and to have worked so hard to support the school board in developing a curriculum based on respect for differences in human sexuality, and then to see them passing out hateful propaganda from a group of bigots.
Peter Sprigg, by the way, is not just a member of the PFOX board of directors. He is also Senior Fellow for Policy Studies at the SPLC-certified hate group Family Research Council.
MSNBC has an update:
UPDATE: Montgomery County Public Schools superintendent Joshua Starr said the fliers sent home from non-profit group PFOX are "reprehensible and deplorable." However, Starr said that Montgomery County Schools are bound by law to send them.
After a 2006 lawsuit, the school system changed its policy on allowing community groups to take home fliers. Now, four times a year, nonprofit organizations may give fliers to the schools, which are then distributed to students.
So the school district passes out flyers to thousands of students, and then the Superintendent of the school district tells the grown-ups who watch the news that the flyers are reprehensible and deplorable.
If they are reprehensible and deplorable, and then why are you giving them to our county's children?
Dan Savage has an idea:
It seems to me that the way to fight this BS is to form a community group dedicated to saving people from the heterosexual lifestyle, one dedicated to promoting diversity for the ex-straight community. If the public schools in Montgomery County refuse to distribute PFOS's flyers—that's "Parents and Friends of Ex-Straights"—we sue the bastards.
Any takers? If you are a registered nonprofit, MCPS will tell the kids anything you want to say, four times a year.
posted by JimK at 9:55 AM
32 Comments:
It is really kind of disheartening to live in one of the most progressive counties in the country, and to have worked so hard to support the school board in developing a curriculum based on respect for differences in human sexuality, and then to see them passing out hateful propaganda from a group of bigots.
Why am I thinking that this sentence does not make sense? If the concern is for a curriculum based on respect for differences in human sexuality, then how can one say that the information you are referring to, about human sexuality, is hateful and from bigots! That rhetoric of name calling is hateful in itself. Are you saying that you can only have respect some of the time, but not always? The children are taught to respect all of the time.
So the school district passes out flyers to thousands of students, and then the Superintendent of the school district tells the grown-ups who watch the news that the flyers are reprehensible and deplorable.
Why is the Superintendent not practicing what the school preaches? He is not leading by example, not respecting differences in human sexuality. He is discriminating against a sexual orientation. He is inciting hatred toward one group of people. He should be fired.
Ex-Gay Leaflets Distributed With School Report Cards
by Steve Williams
February 7, 2012
Kids at Rockville’s Albert Einstein High School, Maryland, on February 1 took home their report cards, but some parents were shocked to find that alongside their kids’ grades there was also a leaflet telling their kids how being gay is a choice and that it is possible to change.
Via Fox News:
The flyer is from a group called PFOX, Parents And Friends Of Ex-Gays And Gays. In the one-page message, the group tells teenagers that no one is “born gay”, and people can choose their sexual orientation.
Karen Yount-Merrell, a licensed, clinical social worker, got one of the flyers when her son came home with his report card from Einstein High School.
“I don’t like it,” Yount-Merrell declared. “Everything in this flyer make its sound like the goal is to be [an] EX-gay, [or an EX]-lesbian. It is not embracing of a different orientation. It reiterates a societal view that there’s something ‘wrong’ with you, if you’re not in the norm. If you aren’t heterosexual. And teenagers have a hard enough time dealing with who they are and feeling good about themselves.”
How and why is this happening? School authorities point out that the Montgomery County district must allow any registered nonprofits to send home fliers with students per a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruling that Montgomery County’s previous refusal to allow an evangelical organization to send home leaflets was discriminatory. Routinely, and as in this case, schools add a disclaimer: “These materials are neither sponsored by nor endorsed by the Board of Education of Montgomery County, the superintendent, or this school.”
So what is the content of the leaflet that has so annoyed parents? Fox has a copy, but it reads in part:
Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX) promotes diversity for the ex-gay community. Ex-gays demonstrate that those with unwanted same-sex attractions can seek help and information on overcoming their feelings. All individuals deserve the right to self-determination and happiness based on their own needs, and not the needs of others. PFOX supports tolerance.
[...]
Who are ex-gays?
Every year thousands of people with unwanted same-sex attractions make the personal decision to leave a gay identity through non-judgemental environment or their own own initiative. Their decision is one only they can make. However, there are those in society who refuse to respect an individual’s right to self determination. Consequently, formerly gay men and women are discriminated against simply because they dare to exist. Ex-gays and their supporters are denied equal access and support, forcing them to remain silent for fear of negative reactions and disapproval...
...But aren’t some people born “gay”?
According to mainstream psychological associations, there are no replicated scientific studies to support that a person can be born “gay.” No “gay gene” or gay center of the brain has been found. No medical test exists to determine if a person is homosexual. Sexual orientation is based on feelings and is a matter of self-affirmation and public declaration. Some teens are labeled “gay” or other names even though they do not have same-sex attractions. Appearance is not a reliable means to know what another person feels. No one should be labeled based on the perception of others. Name calling is wrong because the victim may begin to believe what others tell them about themselves, which may be completely false labeling and cause gender confusion.
The leaflet goes on to weasel its way around sexual attraction not being a defining characteristic about sexuality (they’re playing parlance games with the notion that just because you are attracted to the same sex doesn’t mean you have to identify as gay) and to offer so-called help to anyone who has questions or would like support materials.
A brief rundown of the misinformation they have provided: the leaflet highlights there being no identifiable “gay gene” which profoundly misunderstands the complexity of assessing gene expression and gene-environment interaction and ignores the results of a number of studies that have pointed toward biological heredity. They also laud the lack of an identifiable gay center of the brain, which is technically true but doesn’t serve their cause because what studies have shown is there are definable differences in homosexual male and female brains when compared to their heterosexual male and female counterparts.
The leaflet then quotes mainstream psychological associations, claiming they all agree that there is no evidence for the “born gay” meme. PFOX does so without acknowledging what science actually says: that sexuality is immutable, and while that is not the same as supporting the notion of being born gay it is just as damning for the idea that one chooses to be homosexual. In addition, mainstream psychological and scientific understanding says that there is no replicated or verifiable evidence that suggests it is either possible or safe for most if not all people to try and change their sexuality, and that, in fact, being gay, lesbian or bisexual is a healthy expression of human sexuality that should be affirmed, this being the appropriate remedy to distress over sexual orientation.
Indeed, even leaders in the “ex-gay” movement have acknowledged that changing from gay to straight isn’t possible for the vast majority of people, while several have recently come out and said that they never experienced change at all.
Further to this, ex-gay cure therapies, whatever they entail, have demonstrated a propensity to subject people to deep emotional trauma.
This is perhaps why PFLAG (the LGBT-affirming organization PFOX appears to have mimicked with its choice of moniker) has reportedly hit out at the schools that are allowing this to happen, saying a simple disclaimer on responsibility isn’t enough, and that they have a duty to educate people about PFOX’s intentions. Via MetroWeekly:
”Any discussion of PFOX should include what has been its prime focus from its inception: convincing gay people that they can change their sexual orientation,” Fishback said in a related PFLAG release. ”This message is dangerous and destructive to health.”
Fishback also told Metro Weekly that promoting the idea of ”assumed willful differences” – that gay people can choose to be straight – contributes to atmospheres that are conducive to bullying, which, in turn, can lead teenagers to consider suicide.
This is not the the first time children in the district have taken home such materials.
PFOX has previously distributed its materials at Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, and several others.
The big winner Tuesday? Anybody But Romney.
After eight states have held Republican primaries and caucuses, the ordained front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination has lost the majority of contests. Mitt Romney has won three races (New Hampshire, Florida, Nevada) but he has now lost five (Iowa, South Carolina, Colorado, Missouri and Minnesota).
Here’s the even more unsettling fact for those who would make Romney a nominee: Rick Santorum, who was supposed a footnote to the 2012 contest, has won more states than Mitt Romney. But let’s not succumb to Santorumania just yet.
Yes, yes, of course, the sweater vest had a good night. But the big deal is that Republicans rejected the empty suit.
Rick Santorum may have won beauty contests Tuesday in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri, but he won’t even be on the ballot for delegate-rich contests in states such as Indiana and Virginia. He’s still running for vice president, or maybe a cabinet post.
Santorum is a story. But he is not the story.
The story is the fact that Mitt Romney lost so very miserably in three battleground states.
Romney finished second in Colorado and Missouri and, remarkably, barely mustered a third-place finish (behind Santorum and Ron Paul, barely ahead of Newt Gingrich) in Minnesota.
But the place on the list is less telling than than overwhelming levels of opposition to Romney.
In Colorado, 65 percent of Republican caucus-goers voted against the man who started the week as the all-but-declared nominee of their party.
In Missouri, 75 percent of Republican primary voters backed someone other than Romney.
In Minnesota, 83 percent of Republican caucus-goers rejected Romney. That’s particularly striking, as Romney won Minnesota in 2008 with 41 percent of the vote.
In many Minnesota counties, Romney finished fourth, behind Santorum, Paul and Gingrich. Some of the former Massachusetts governor’s worst losses were in collar counties around the Twin Cities, an essential base for Republican presidential contenders in the fall.
Several Minnesota counties recorded less than 5 percent support for Romney. In western Minnesota’s Norman County (Red River Valley), no one caucused for him. Mitt got 0 percent.
His finishes in the Republican heartlands of rural Missouri and Colorado were almost as bad.
Even more unsettling for the Republicans has to be the fact that, despite intensive campaigning in the three states, turnout collapsed.
In Missouri, a classic bellweather state, there was a stunning drop in primary participation. In 2008, GOP primary turnout was 589,289. In 2012 ,GOP primary turnout was 251,496. That’s way less than half the turnout just four years ago.
In Minnesota, caucus turnout four years ago was 62,828. This year, it will be under 50,000. That’s an almost 20 percent dropoff.
In Colorado, 70,229 Republicans caucused in 2008. This year, turnout was 64,000. That’s close to a 10 percent dropoff.
Of course, there were some differences between the 2008 contests and the 2012 contests in these states. The Romney people want you to know that this year’s races were “non-binding beauty contests.” But isn’t your likely nominee supposed to be attractive enough politically to win beauty contests? And isn’t this supposed to be the year when conservatives are all excited to pick a nominee and go after the dreaded Barack Obama?
Something isn’t adding up here for Mitt Romney.
But that other candidate, Anybody But Romney, is going from strength to strength.
So, too, it would seem, is the prospective Democratic nominee, if Barack Obama is lucky enough to get Mitt Romney as an opponent.
In Missouri’s Republican primary on Tuesday, where all the attention and campaigning was focused, Romney secured 63,826 votes.
Running essentially unopposed in the extraordinarily low-profile Missouri Democratic primary, Obama won 64,405.
PFOX claims, "Every year thousands of people with unwanted same-sex attractions make the personal decision to leave a gay identity through non-judgemental environment or their own own initiative."
Exodus International is one group PFOX recommends as a source for sexual reorientation therapy. PFOX says "When I am contacted by someone needing counseling for homosexuality, I immediately refer them to an Exodus member ministry in their area." But for some reason, PFOX does not include this statement from Alan Chambers, President, Exodus International in its flyer to MCPS students or on its website:
“The majority of people I have met, and the majority meaning 99.9% of them, have not experienced a change in their sexual orientation or have gotten to a place where they can say they have never been tempted or are not tempted in some way or experience some level of same-sex attraction.”
Exodus doesn't feature this statement by their leader on their website either. Instead, they pretend Chambers didn't make the statement, and continue to republish items like this one, written in 1986: Repression or True Change?. The 1986 piece, and many others like it that remain posted on the Exodus and PFOX websites, imply that "true change" in sexual orientation is possible. However, Alan Chambers has clearly stated that in his experience, "true change" in sexual orientation is at best possible 0.01% of the time.
A brief rundown of the misinformation they have provided: the leaflet highlights there being no identifiable “gay gene” which profoundly misunderstands the complexity of assessing gene expression and gene-environment interaction and ignores the results of a number of studies that have pointed toward biological heredity.
And there are number of studies that have pointed toward environmental influence which is the reason the American Psychological Association says "There is no consensus among scientists about the exact reasons that an individual develops a heterosexual, bisexual, gay or lesbian orientation. Although much research has examined the possible genetic, hormonal, developmental, social, and cultural influences on sexual orientation, no findings have emerged that permit scientists to conclude that sexual orientation is determined by any particular factor or factors. Many think that nature and nurture both play complex roles. ..."
They also laud the lack of an identifiable gay center of the brain, which is technically true but doesn’t serve their cause because what studies have shown is there are definable differences in homosexual male and female brains when compared to their heterosexual male and female counterparts.
Wow, you didn’t know that the Simon LeVay did this study in 1991 on dead gays/lesbians who died of AIDS. The results of the hypothalamus study are not repeatable. Simon LeVay himself admitted in 2001 that the study was inconclusive, “It’s important to stress what I didn’t find. I did not prove that homosexuality is genetic, or find a genetic cause for being gay. I didn’t show that gay men are born that way, the most common mistake people make in interpreting my work. Nor did I locate a gay center in the brain.”
Immutable issue- sexuality in general is not immutable. If that was the case we would not have the ex-gays running round. Sexual orientation is often thought of as occupying a continuum, from exclusively heterosexual to exclusively homosexual.
…and that, in fact, being gay, lesbian or bisexual is a healthy expression of human sexuality that should be affirmed, this being the appropriate remedy to distress over sexual orientation.
BTW if glb is a healthy expression of human sexuality, how come more gays die of AIDS then heterosexuals? I could go on with the list of communicable diseases that are more prevalent among the homosexual community. Why would a glb be distressed over their sexual orientation if it is so natural? Heterosexuals don’t have to be affirmed of their sexuality all the time to accept their sexuality. Heterosexuals don’t need Gay Pride Parades!
Remember the norm is heterosexuality and that will never change.
PFOX never said there is a perfect score. People are vastly different and their motives are therefore different. PFOX says it is possible.
Further to this, ex-gay cure therapies, whatever they entail, have demonstrated a propensity to subject people to deep emotional trauma.
Where is your proof? Is deep emotional trauma bad if it results in that person becoming free of the homosexual feelings? Is deep emotional trauma bad if it results in that person becoming free of alcoholism? Talk therapy can cause deep emotional trauma.
Schools are complying with the law. PFOX’s intentions?
”Any discussion of PFOX should include what has been its prime focus from its inception: convincing gay people that they can change their sexual orientation,” Fishback said in a related PFLAG release. ”This message is dangerous and destructive to health.”
PFOX is not in the job of convincing anybody, they only provide information. It is up to the individual to convince himself. PFAG is in the business of telling people what to think and not allowing people to come to their own conclusions based on all the information. PFAG message is the more dangerous and destructive to one’s health, not PFOX. PFLAG wants to hold its converts hostage to their message because they don’t want people to leave the homosexual lifestyle.
Fishback also told Metro Weekly that promoting the idea of ”assumed willful differences” – that gay people can choose to be straight – contributes to atmospheres that are conducive to bullying, which, in turn, can lead teenagers to consider suicide.
Sorry, Fishback is wrong according to the National Institute of Mental Health Don’t see bullying!
Who is at risk for suicide?
Suicide does not discriminate. People of all genders, ages, and ethnicities are at risk for suicide. But people most at risk tend to share certain characteristics. The main risk factors for suicide are:
• Depression, other mental disorders, or substance abuse disorder
• A prior suicide attempt
• Family history of a mental disorder or substance abuse
• Family history of suicide
• Family violence, including physical or sexual abuse
• Having guns or other firearms in the home
• Incarceration, being in prison or jail
• Being exposed to others' suicidal behavior, such as that of family members, peers, or media figures.
The risk for suicidal behavior also is associated with changes in brain chemicals called neurotransmitters, including serotonin, which is also associated with depression. Lower levels of serotonin have been found in the brains of people with a history of suicide attempts.
Many people have some of these risk factors but do not attempt suicide. Suicide is not a normal response to stress. It is however, a sign of extreme distress, not a harmless bid for attention.
One Town's War on Gay Teens
In Michele Bachmann's home district, evangelicals have created an extreme anti-gay climate. After a rash of suicides, the kids are fighting back.
Is this supposed to be a sentence?
"Sorry, Fishback is wrong according to the National Institute of Mental Health Don’t see bullying!"
There are many Institutes at NIH, not only NIMH.
Did you limit your research to only NIMH for a reason?
The Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) talks about the effects of bully, specifically cyber bullying that many LGBT students are the target of by their peers.
"Depression high among youth victims of school cyber bullying, NIH researchers report
Finding underscores need to monitor, obtain treatment for recipients of cyber bulling
Unlike traditional forms of bullying, youth who are the targets of cyber bullying at school are at greater risk for depression than are the youth who bully them, according to a survey conducted by researchers at the National Institutes of Health.
The new finding is in contrast to earlier studies of traditional bullying, which found that the highest depression scores were reported by another category of youth involved in bullying-bully victims. Past studies on traditional bullying show that bully-victims — those who both bully others and are bullied themselves — are more likely to report feelings of depression than are other groups.
Traditional forms of bullying involve physical violence, verbal taunts, or social exclusion. Cyber bullying, or electronic aggression, involves aggressive behaviors communicated over a computer or a cell phone."
Continues at http://www.nih.gov/news/health/sep2010/nichd-21.htm
NIH also reports Bullying Moves From Online to Text-Messaging: Study
The NIH Office of Science Education reports Demystifying Cyberbullying and Depression
PFLAG has not "hit out" at MCPS for the flyer distribution. The answer here, it seems to me, is not to argue that the PFOX flyers must be barred, since it is likely that the only way to do that would be to shut down the flyer distribution program entirely -- and allow PFOX to assert is "victimhood."
Rather, the answer is for MCPS to proactively respond to PFOX. Superintendent Starr's statements show that he understands that. See http://northpotomac.patch.com/articles/mcps-superintendent-responds-to-anti-gay-flier
In 2007, MCPS implemented for its 8th and 10th Grade Health Education Curriculum a unit entitled Respecting Differences in Human Sexuality. The curriculum does a good job in introducing issues surrounding sexual orientation and identity, albeit in a strictly scripted manner.
Currently, however, the curriculum says nothing about so-called “reparative” or “conversion” therapies. And our health teachers may not discuss the canard that being gay is a sickness, unless students ask about it. The strictly scripted curriculum provides this instruction to teachers: “If students ask, ‘Is homosexuality an illness?’ say, ‘No. The American Psychiatric Association does not include homosexuality in its listing of psychiatric or mental disorders.’” But if students are too afraid or embarrassed to ask, then the subject may not be discussed.
The absence of this information is highlighted by the recent PFOX distributions. in some of our high schools of flyers from Parents and Families of Ex-Gays (PFOX). PFOX is an organization that urges people to seek therapies to change their sexual orientation (see http://pfox.org/Facts_on_full_sheet_Apr_1.pdf) – therapies which have been condemned by every mainstream American medical and mental health professional association, including the American Medical Association. PFOX contributes to misconceptions about sexual orientation that can lead to bullying.
In September 2010, MCPS advisors from the Maryland Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) wrote to the Board of Education and former Superintendent Weast urging the inclusion of information on these and related topics. Last April, The Board of Education’s Citizens Advisory Committee on Family Life and Human Development urged MCPS to follow the AAP’s advice. Here are the two most significant recommendations for inclusion in what should be taught:
“Homosexuality is not a disease or a mental illness.”
“Sexual orientation is not a choice and the American Medical Association opposes ‘therapies’ that seek to change sexual orientation that are premised on the assumption that people should change their sexual orientation.”
Please urge MCPS to follow the counsel of its AAP advisors and its Citizens Advisory Committee and include vital information in the curriculum for the benefit of all of our students, both gay and straight.
David Fishback
Advocacy Chair, Metro DC PFLAG
I am a lesbian AND a graduate of Albert Einstein High in Kensington. I am embarrassed and ashame that my high school sent this lying crap home without the essential disclaimers!!
Dear Einstein Grad,
MCPS is still grappling with how best to respond. The new Superintendent is expressing outrage, and our job is to help him find the best ways for MCPS to make lemonade out of this lemon. Please contact the BOE and the Superintendent, encouraging them to act -- and give your reasons.
By the way, the Einstein GSA co-sponsors are doing a fine job in the responses thus far.
MCPS is handing out materials that they know are reprehensible and deplorable, because they are afraid of what it would cost to set a good example for the children by standing up for what is right.
Just tell PFOX "no." It's easy. Any principal or teacher can do it. Take the fliers and throw them in a trash can. Every adult at any school who stands by and lets this happen is complicit.
The truth hurts. Why else all the
hype and anger? PFOX wins for telling the truth! The superintendent loses for believing
the untruths.
"Just tell PFOX 'no.'"
Far better for the MCPS adults to show solidarity with GLBT students, and explain why PFOX is wrong.
The old "Just Say No to Drugs" slogan had the deficiency of too often failing to explain why.
Look at what happened at Whitman a couple of years ago. The Westboro Baptist Church demonstrated in front of the school with their homophobic chants, and the principal worked with the entire school community to present a peaceful response rejecting the hate. It was a classic, and effective, teachable moment.
"PFOX wins for telling the truth! The superintendent loses for believing
the untruths."
If you're going to lie, it may as well be a whopper!
The truth is, PFOX does all it can to hide truth.
PFOX wins scorn for scrubbing the truth from their website that their former President was Richard Cohen, nutcase extraordinaire!
They win more bad press to remind everyone of some older bad press generated when PFOX President Richard Cohen, demonstrated his hug gay teens "reparative therapy" treatments for The Daily Show.
My goodness all this hate for heterosexuality!
As everyone with a sexual orientation knows, it manifests early in life and is a central characteristic of personality.
As much anecdotal and research-based evidence indicates, "reparative" therapy is often, perhaps usually, quite harmful.
As anyone who lives in a human society has observed, the systematic denigration of the characteristics of a group of people leads to prejudice, discrimnation and bullying of those people, with whole variety of negative consequences.
MCPS distributes PFOX's fliers under court rulings based on the first amendment. I think David is correct: the best way for adults in MoCo to support LGBT youth is to be clear and vocal about that support, rather than to fight (probably losing and little-known) court cases.
PFOX likes to sue school systems. They sued Arlington, which district chose to no longer distribute any non-profit fliers.
rrjr
"My goodness all this hate for heterosexuality!"
Hatred for heterosexuality??
Where??
Aren't ex-gays heterosexuals?
Yes, they are.
And PFOX will not win with their craziness. You´ll see :) More to come... Let´s just say... Soon, they will be considered a HATE GROUP but the SPLC. It´s on the books already and in the process. Finally, a name they deserve... HATE GROUP.
What craziness? A flyer that relays info on where one can receive help if they want it?
What hate? Since when did offering to help someone become a hateful thing? What is offensive about that? A total overreaction.
Get a grip.
gruperSince when did "offering help" lead to internalized homophobia and suicide? Since quacks started telling people they could change gays to straights, that's when.
Exodus' President John Smid freely admits, and other "reparative" therapists agree from their experience that he has a point when he says
"The majority of people I have met, and the majority meaning 99.9% of them, have not experienced a change in their sexual orientation or have gotten to a place where they can say they have never been tempted or are not tempted in some way or experience some level of same-sex attraction."
And Smid knows a lot of gays who spent years trying to pray away the gay. Too many have been harmed rather than helped.
Citizens should be protected from such dangerous quackery and the quacks who practice it should pay for the harm they have caused.
Sounds like hate for heterosexuals!
Since PFOX is not a therapy group, please explain your logic.How one wants to leave homosexuality is no ones business except the individual or is this another example of a "nanny" state?
"It is so bad because it targets teens that are questioning their orientation."
so, now MCPS is expected to encourage questioning teens to become homosexuals?
not long ago, the lunatic fringe was denying this
amazing to see the evil agenda advance
"PFOX believes homosexuality is a choice that can be changed, writing in its flier that there is not credible evidence that individuals are "born gay.""
since there is no empirical evidence otherwise, this is PFOX's constitutional right to believe and promote
areas where only subjective evidence exists are metaphysical and a legitimate topic of diverse and robust public debate
"The group also says students are too young to label themselves as homosexuals."
anyone with common sense believes this
"It is really kind of disheartening to live in one of the most progressive counties in the country,"
the encouagement of deviance is not progress
progress would be programs to discourage this social disease
"and to have worked so hard to support the school board in developing a curriculum based on respect for differences in human sexuality, and then to see them passing out hateful propaganda from a group of bigots."
why aren't the lunatics bigots when they believe something without empirical evidence and try to impose their beliefs on others?
MCPS is topsy-turvy
"Peter Sprigg, by the way, is not just a member of the PFOX board of directors."
no, he's also a member of the committee that wrote the current sex ed curriculum and a public servant who has been nominated for awards for his public service
"Montgomery County Public Schools superintendent Joshua Starr said the fliers sent home from non-profit group PFOX are "reprehensible and deplorable.""
this is a subjective statement and he should probably be fired
"However, Starr said that Montgomery County Schools are bound by law to send them."
yes, they are
"After a 2006 lawsuit, the school system changed its policy on allowing community groups to take home fliers. Now, four times a year, nonprofit organizations may give fliers to the schools, which are then distributed to students."
so far unreported is the fact that several teachers at Einstein did not comply with this court order and those teachers should be dismissed immediately
yes, and in this fabulous wonderful school district at BCC, if you are in Spanish I in the morning.
Only one person stands up for the pledge.
That would be my son.
What a GREAT SCHOOL !
"“How many of you,” Scott Rasmussen asked the crowd at this week’s Conservative Political Action Conference, “have ever mocked or made fun of the president’s call for hope and change? Raise your hands.”
Most people in the Marriott Wardman Park hotel ballroom raised their hands. There were cheers and whoops.
“With all due respect,” the conservative pollster and commentator told them, “I’d like to say that’s really stupid.”
This time, there was uncomfortable laughter. “Voters are looking for hope and change as much today as they were in 2008,” Rasmussen explained, and “you ought to be encouraging Republican candidates, people you support, to offer that positive step forward.”
Rasmussen had put his finger on a major problem for Republicans in 2012, and conservatives in particular: At a time when the national mood has begun to improve, they remain nattering nabobs of negativism. At CPAC, any hint of a “positive step” was buried in vitriol.
This worked well for Republicans in 2010, because it matched the sour mood of the electorate. But now, with optimism and confidence finally on the rise, Republicans are left with an anger management problem. They risk leaving the impression that they are rooting against an economic recovery."
That's a little blurb by Dana Milbank for you Anonymous nattering nabobs of negativity.
If you don't like how the kids don't rise for the pledge, have you ever considered volunteering at BBC to inspire the kids to rise during the pledge? I doubt it and suspect you'd rather natter on with your negativity and not try to fix the problem you see.
Why was Scott Rasmussen warning the GOP of their negativity problem? Because with his polling, he is keenly aware of the fact that Obama's job approval rating is rising fast and is now more positive than negative while Congress's job approval ratings continue to sink. In addition, Rasmussen understands Obama now beats every GOP contender for President by 4 or more percentage points, a number that is growing as more and more good news about the economy, equality, and liberty becomes fact, thanks to President Obama's leadership and in spite of Congressional GOP obstruction.
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