Pressure Delays Fairfax, Virginia, ‘Gay’ School Policy
Attention Turns to School Books’ Pro-Homosexual Bias
By CFI Staff
Pro-family citizens in Fairfax County, Virginia,
just outside Washington, D.C., won a victory on July 25th, when their school
board postponed a vote on adding “sexual orientation” (homosexuality) to its
nondiscrimination code.Family activists are now turning their attention to the overwhelming
pro-“gay” bias in the county’s school libraries. Some books allude to
homosexual sex acts, including at least one between an adult man and an
underage boy.
The “sexual orientation” vote was delayed so that the board, at the
recommendation of board member Rita Thompson, could solicit a review by
the state attorney general on the legality of the proposed homosexuality
code. The attorney general is likely to rule that the school board has
no authority to do this under the Dillon Code in Virginia, which says
local jurisdictions cannot exceed state law.
Virginia law does not recognize “sexual orientation” as a
nondiscrimination or civil rights criterion. The state also has an
anti-sodomy law that has withstood “gay” court challenges.
Citizens Action Got Results
The temporary victory in Fairfax County is a testimony to what can
happen when concerned citizens get involved in the political process.
The Fairfax Board was inundated with thousands of calls and e-mails from
family advocates and pro-homosexual forces leading up to the vote.
Concerned Women for America’s Culture & Family Institute organized
two rallies against the proposed homosexual plank. The second rally on
July 25 attracted more than 100 people, most of whom attended the
subsequent hearing where the “sexual orientation” vote was postponed.
Speaking for CWA were Sandy Rios, president; Robert Knight, director of
CWA’s Culture and Family Institute, Patricia Phillips, state director,
CWA of Virginia; and Peter LaBarbera, CFI senior policy analyst. Also
speaking were school board member Rita Thompson; Wayman Bishop,
executive director of the Virginia Family Foundation; Steve Hunt, a
member of the Fairfax County School Health Advisory Committee; John
Townes, member, Republican Black Caucus of Virginia; Regina Griggs,
national director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX), and
Linda Wall, a former lesbian and director of education for PFOX. Hayes
Perdue, assistant pastor of Church of the Apostles in Fairfax, gave the
invocation. Felita Blowe, CWA’s legislative coordinator, sang the
Star-Spangled Banner.
The Fairfax hearing was packed with pro-homosexual activists. Robert
Rigby, a homosexual special-education teacher at a local secondary
school, led efforts on behalf of the measure. Rigby is affiliated with
the D.C. chapter of the national group Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education
Network (GLSEN), which supports pro-homosexual and pro-cross-dressing
programs and curricula for children in grades kindergarten through 12.
GLSEN is pushing education “sexual orientation” codes in school
districts and states across the country.
Veteran observers of Fairfax School Board politics say that it is a
common tactic for liberal members to step back in the midst of a
controversy, and then push through the same measure later when few
people are paying attention.
Family advocates argued that the “sexual orientation” code is wrong
and unnecessary since there have been no serious reports of abuse of a
“gay”-identified student or teacher (according to a Fairfax County
official); that promoting homosexuality harms children’s health because
homosexual acts are dangerous, especially for males; and that
pro-homosexual “nondiscrimination” codes trample on the freedom of
speech and conscience of students who oppose homosexuality.
LaBarbera of CFI said there is no need to specify “sexual
orientation” in any school code because administrators can protect all
students by strictly enforcing blanket protection policies.
At the July 25 rally, he denounced as “cowards” those who would bully
weaker homosexual students — but said “gay” education activists have a
history of exaggerating the victimization of students, or exploiting the
tragic cases that do occur, to push for a much wider pro-homosexual
agenda in schools.
CFI has just published a paper by LaBarbera entitled
“15 Good Reasons to Oppose ”Sexual Orientation“ (Homosexuality) Codes,”
available on the CFI Web site. One point states:
Gay
Activists Got Head Start
Homosexual activists have been busily working
to extend their influence in Fairfax County schools. On May 31, Fairfax
superintendent Daniel Domenech sent a letter to Robert Rigby, the homosexual
teacher and GLSEN representative, referencing an April 22 meeting in which
homosexual issues were discussed.
Domenech’s letter dealt with the “sensitivity training for our staff,”
and noted that brochures from the group Parents, Families, and Friends of
Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) would be distributed to school guidance staff.
PFLAG is a homosexual pressure group that claims that homosexuality is not a
sin, supports grade-school-level homosexuality “tolerance” lessons, and
defends the full “transgender” agenda (one PFLAG booklet is titled “Our
Trans Children”).
PFLAG announced that it is seeking to present each high school in the
area with at least 10 books and resources on homosexual-related themes.
Domenech’s letter to Rigby concluded: “By working together, I am
confident that we can raise awareness of our employees to these sensitive
issues.”
Regina Griggs, Director of the pro-family group formed to counter PFLAG —
Parents & Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX)
— said Domenech’s letter is further evidence that in Fairfax County “gay
activist groups have gained entry to schools to promote homosexuality and
exclude ex-gays.”
Griggs said she received an e-mail letter from Rigby in which he “stated
his opposition to ex-gay literature because it was ‘not helpful, and may be
at times harmful.’”
School Book Bias
In the process of fighting the “sexual orientation” code, natural family
advocates also discovered that the Fairfax school library system has
acquired hundreds of mostly pro-“gay” books, which are available in
elementary, middle and high schools.
In a written response to a question from a board member, Domenech said
there are: 191 titles and 1,138 copies of books in Fairfax County Public
Schools libraries which deal with the subjects of homosexuality, lesbians,
gays, bisexuals, gay rights, sexuality, and sexual orientation, as well as
issues and concerns of teenage homosexuals including coming out, support
systems, risks, fears, prejudices, and healthy sexual behavior.
What Domenech did not mention was the overwhelming pro-homosexual tilt in
the school library titles (apparently, there is not a single ex-gay book),
as C&F Report confirmed through its own search of the books using the
school library system Web site.
One book, Rainbow Boys, describes a quickie dosomitic encounter
(arranged through an internet chat room) between a man named Brick and one
of the underage protagonists, Nelson, who was a virgin. Rainbow
Boys can be checked out in five Fairfax high school libraries, according
the the library Web site.
Another pro-homosexual book found in Fairfax school libraries is: Is
It a Choice: Answers to 300 of the Most Frequently Asked Questions about Gay
and Lesbian People by Eric Marcus. The following starts off the book’s
chapter on religion:
Q: Is homosexuality a sin? Is homosexuality immoral?
A: No, homosexuality is not a sin and it is not immoral.
Later in the same chapter, it reads:
Q Why is there so much antagonism between the Catholic Church
and gay and lesbian people?
A: The Catholic Church has been extremely harsh in its condemnation
of gay and lesbian people and often actively opposes gay and lesbian issues.
[The section goes on to quote a pro-homosexual activist "Catholic" who says
"God doesn't make junk, and this helps me to pay no heed to people who would
deny human or social rights to gays and lesbians."]
“This is the sort of propaganda that dominates the school libraries on
the homosexual issue, and is even found in some elementary schools,” said
Peter LaBarbera of CFI. “If the situation is this unbalanced without a ‘gay
rights’ code, imagine how skewed it will become if one is put in place.”
LaBarbera called on family advocates across the United States to find out
what homosexual books are available in their local school library
system: “They can start by calling a friendly school board member and
accessing the school library Web site.”
You can send an e-mail letter to the entire Fairfax Board at
board@fcps.edu,
or fax them at
703-278-8648.
08/02
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