PTA Welcomes Pro-Homosexual Group, Snubs Rival Group

Amid a dizzying array of acronyms, a weekend convention of the national Parent-Teacher Association in Ohio will include a homosexual "rights" group, but exclude a group made up in part of individuals who consider themselves former homosexuals.

The convention, opening in Columbus, Ohio, Friday, will mark the second time that the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) has invited the homosexual advocacy group, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG).

Regina Griggs, executive director of the group, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX), sought her own group's access to the convention this year and was turned down.

"The PTA denied PFOX's request to exhibit at the parent-teacher gathering because we support tolerance and inclusion for ex-gay students and teachers, which is an unpopular position with the PTA leadership," Griggs stated.

Griggs said PFLAG managed to get into last year's PTA meeting through the intervention of Warlene Gary, the chief executive officer of the PTA. Before taking over as the PTA's chief executive, Gary reportedly served as the National Education Association's human and civil rights director and the school union's liaison to homosexual interest groups.

Griggs told Cybercast News Service that the PTA's rationale for denying her group access to the convention was explained in a letter. Since the PTA did "not have a position, statement, or resolution on [PFOX's] specific mission," there was no basis on which to grant PFOX admission, the letter indicated, according to Griggs.

"We have many family members like my self, who have homosexual children, so it isn't that we're anti-gay, but we believe children have the right to know the facts, and there should be equal access to information," Griggs said.

Griggs said there should be more focus on the kind of information available at the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, including the report that half of all new HIV infections occur in people under the age of 25. By denying students information about how homosexuality increases the risk of HIV infection, Griggs said "we are killing off our youth."

She said PFOX provides "the very information [that the PTA] sought to deny the teachers and PTA members."

PFOX plans a news conference and workshop this weekend in the same area and at the same time as the PTA Convention in Columbus, Ohio. But Griggs is already criticizing one of the topics on the PTA agenda: diversity.

"Where is the diversity?" Griggs asked. "We need to respect one another and allow other viewpoints. That is not an issue, apparently, with the PTA."

Griggs and conservative groups like Concerned Women for America have criticized the PTA for using its convention to air the pro-homosexual video, "It's Elementary." The video is geared for children between kindergarten and the eighth grade.

"If public schools are going to take one view on homosexuality, the PFLAG view, then they really need to present the other perspective as well," Dr. Warren Throckmorton, associate professor of psychology at Grove City College in Pennsylvania, told Cybercast News Service.

Throckmorton said it is possible that a person's sexual orientation is beyond his or her choosing, but he added that "research and experience [have] shown it to be pretty flexible for many people that there is change possible.

Ron Schlittler, deputy executive director of PFLAG, accused PFOX of using "discredited and damaging approaches to fixing gay people.

"What PFOX is presenting is about passing judgment on people and ... about promoting junk science that has been found damaging," Schlittler told Cybercast News Service.

"It's unethical for the PTA, or any other similar organization, to provide them with a forum."

PFOX's viewpoint has been rejected by the National Mental Health Association, the National Education Association, and the American Association of University Women, according to Schlittler, who added that PFLAG's mission is to work with parents, teachers, and students to handle a "really toxic, anti-gay climate that is widespread in schools."

The Parent-Teacher Association did not respond to calls seeking comment for this article.

PTA Again Sides With Homosexual Group

By AFA Journal
July 27, 2005

(AgapePress) - The National Parents and Teachers Association (PTA) hosted a workshop in June that stressed the need to incorporate more "gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender" (GLBT) issues in public school policies and curricula. Meanwhile, a group that presents a message of hope for homosexuals and ex-homosexuals was refused space for their own display.

The Safe Schools workshop at the National PTA Convention in Columbus, Ohio, was conducted by Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), a group that wants more training for teachers and students on homosexual and trans-gender issues in schools.

One of the PFLAG presenters, United Church of Christ minister Lawrence Rezash, told PTA members that putting a rainbow ribbon -- a symbol of homosexual pride and solidarity -- on a school bulletin board is one of many subtle ways teachers and guidance counselors can let GLBT students know they are in a safe environment.

However, pro-family groups like the American Family Association believe that the "school safety" argument is used as a smokescreen to allow homosexual propaganda into classrooms. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, for example, only 1 percent of school bullying and harassment incidents are due to a student's sexual orientation.

Grove City College psychology professor and mental health counselor Dr. Warren Throckmorton contends there are ways schools can provide safety for all students without singling out specific victim groups.

"I think if any kid is being harassed for any reason, teachers should intervene ...," he said. "Bullies bully because they're able to, and teachers need to intervene every time they see bullying -- not just when [the bullying involves] certain groups of kids."

Meanwhile, some members of the National PTA have criticized their organization's decision to shut out an "ex-gay" group from the PTA's convention. Although the PTA has refused to comment to the press on its rejection of the group Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX), disgruntled convention delegates are not remaining silent on the issue.

One delegate from Columbus -- a public school teacher who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retribution from PTA leaders -- contended that the exclusion of PFOX was because the PTA favors the presence of homosexual activist groups in public schools.

"I just believe that it's a political agenda," she said, "and whoever made the decision to deny [exhibit space to PFOX] is connected to the gay community in some way. Therefore they made a decision to shut out this group."

Numerous communities have decided to establish local parent-teacher organizations, preferring to use all monies from fundraisers in their own schools, rather than supporting a national organization that increasingly takes liberal positions on cultural issues like homosexuality.

Perhaps as a result, overall PTA membership nationwide is down -- as was attendance at this year's PTA convention.

This article appeared in the July 2005 issue of AFA Journal, a monthly publication of the American Family Association.

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