How to Respond to a Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA) Club at your school
First, explain why PFLAG, GLSEN and GSA do not provide “Safe Schools”
- They lack tolerance and inclusion towards the ex-gay community with respect to school events and presentations on sexual orientation. Their opposition to sharing school access with ex-gay representatives and allowing ex-gay resources to be made available to schools demonstrates their own disregard for diversity.
- They call for censorship of ex-gay materials and discussion in our nation’s schools. Instead of presenting all of the facts on sexual orientation in a fair and balanced manner, confused and impressionable youth are encouraged to prematurely label themselves as gay and thus ensure a future homosexual outcome that may be unnecessary.
- They recommend books on homosexuality for youth that teach “do what feels right to you” and that self-restraint on sexual choices is foolish. How can this philosophy of “anything goes” and enthusiastic promotion of sexual alternatives then condemn ex-gay alternatives as an option for at-risk youth?
- They discriminate against struggling teens by denying a student’s right to receive information on counseling for unwanted same sex attractions. Consider this: no effort has been spared to warn teens about the dangers of smoking, which reduces life expectancy by up to 7.3 years – yet the health risk to young men entering homosexual behavior is greater. Therefore, withholding ex-gay information from at-risk youth does not constitute “safe schools.”
- Teenagers’ same-sex attractions do not automatically mean that they are homosexual. Many teens go through temporary episodes of idealization of same sex peers and should not be urged to prematurely label themselves as “gay.” Most parents hope to maximize the likelihood of their child growing up to be heterosexual and comfortable in claiming his or her own masculine or feminine nature. Teens themselves have the right to be presented with all information. But instead of presenting all of the facts on sexual orientation in a fair and balanced manner, GLSEN (Gay and Lesbian Student Education Network), GSA (Gay Straight Alliance), PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Gays & Lesbians), and other anti-ex-gay groups encourage confused and impressionable youth to immediately identify as “gay” and thus ensure a future homosexual outcome that may be unnecessary. Indeed, they would deny a student’s right to receive information on alternatives for unwanted same-sex attractions. Is this what our children deserve?
Ten Steps to Success by using ex-gay resources to fight GSA bigotry:
1. Ask for parental permission. Ask the school to establish a uniform policy requiring all clubs to have signed parental permission in order for students to join a school club. This has discouraged many gay clubs from forming or continuing because the student cannot obtain parental permission to join. Parents have the right to know what their children are being exposed to on school grounds. Ask the school board to pass a Policy for Parent Permission for Club Participation. Explain that other states have done this. See http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/3/242005e.asp.
2. Follow school guidelines. Respect is the key word in all activities. Legally, students have freedom of expression on campus. Just as Christian-based clubs have school access, so do gay/lesbian clubs. But some student governments have the final say in adding new clubs. In other schools, the principal (or school board) decides. If the gay club has not yet been given approval to start, a vote process on whether to allow the club may be in place that you can influence by distributing complete information about sexual orientation, which includes former homosexuality. If only one perspective is presented, gay clubs can get started.
Be aware that Biblical viewpoints on the issue will not be accepted by most people. You must approach it from the issue of balance and fairness. Tell the school that the ex-gay perspective must be given equal time if the gay perspective is introduced in the school. You can find out about the ex-gay issue at www.pfox.org
3. Find a faculty advisor.
Locate Christian teachers or other sympathetic school personnel at
the school and inform them of your concerns. Most school
administrations by law approach this issue from a civil rights
perspective, and not from a religious view. Therefore, teachers must
also insist on equal access for the ex-gay perspective if the gay
viewpoint is allowed. If the GSA club has already been established
at your school, ask the faculty advisor to sponsor a PFOX (Parents
and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays) student chapter as an alternative
club at the school. Read
information on these ex-gay & friends clubs.
4. Find other students. Lead
peers to check out the many ex-gay websites so everyone will know
the full facts about homosexuality:
www.pfox.org,
www.freetobeme.com,
www.pathinfo.org,
and
www.truthatschool.org Any student can start a club to share the
ex-gay perspective with fellow students and the entire school. PFOX
can help you start this kind of ex-gay & straight friends club or a
conservative club with an ex-gay perspective. An ex-gay club has the
same legal rights and privileges as gay clubs do.
5. Inform the school’s administration. Let school administrators know what you are doing. They can keep the community, other faculty members, and the school board informed. Ask to get on the next school board agends to find out if voting students and administration were presented with both sides of the homosexuality debate (gay and ex-gay) prior to the vote to approve the GSA club. The process is public knowledge. Petitions, purpose statements, and draft constitutions of the GSA club can be requested by any citizen, including you.
If your school has an abstinence-only sex ed curriculum, a federal court has ruled that the school may not be allowed to host a GSA club. See Caudillo v. Lubbock Independent School District. Inform the school about this case.
6. Inform teachers in the school district. Go to the school websites to locate the email addresses of teachers and administrators in the schools involved. Let them know what is going on.
Also place notes in student files that you want to be notified if the subject of sexual orientation is introduced in any class or under any other circumstances.
7. Inform the local churches. Write or call local pastors and let them know of the activities at your school. Youth pastors can help students get out the message and pass ex-gay literature out on school grounds. PFOX has ex-gay teen brochures for distribution that you can download from their website.
8. Inform the community. Write a letter to the editor of the local newspapers and call TV & radio station managers to see if they will do a story. Call in to the local talk shows and bring up your concerns. Organize as a group of concerned citizens. Remember to not appear as a radical Bible thumper. Keep the story focused on the balance and fairness issue between the presentation of both perspectives on human sexuality (ex-gay and gay). GSA’s opposition to sharing school access with ex-gay resources demonstrates their own disregard for tolerance.
9. Contact the school board. Most school boards are given information by the superintendent. In many cases the superintendent is basing his/her decisions from attorneys that hold a particular view on the issue. The board members may never have heard of the ex-gay perspective. Your letter explaining the ex-gay perspective is essential.
Also sign up to speak about the ex-gay perspective & GSAs before the school board at their regular meetings. All school boards allow a few minutes for public comment at their meetings.
10. Invite ex-gay speakers. Ask the school to invite ex-gay speakers to any forum or classroom where a gay speaker or event is held. Demand equal access for ex-gays. Ask Christian, conservative or similar clubs already in the school to host an ex-gay speaker at their club and advertise it throughout the school so that all students and faculty can come. Most will never have heard of alternatives to homosexuality so it is important to educate them on this issue. It is our obligation to get involved. Even if your children do not participate in public education, our tax dollars pay for it. Contact your local ex-gay ministry at www.exodus.to or contact PFOX for ex-gay speakers.