Homosexual Group Admits Obscene Material Was Handed Out at Conference (to Mass. Middle-Schoolers)

'Outed,' GLSEN Boston Confesses Sexually Explicit Literature Was Made Available to Kids at Its Event

(AgapePress) - A Boston health clinic has admitted to distributing pornographic books to middle school students and others at a Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) conference hosted by a Massachusetts high school. Initially GLSEN Boston categorically denied its recent 15th Annual Conference event at Brookline High School featured sexually explicit materials.

However, the Fenway Community Center health clinic has admitted to passing out copies of "The Little Black Book -- Queer in the 21st century," a graphic how-to manual on homosexual sex. The superintendent of Brookline Schools has also acknowledged that the sexually explicit materials were made available at the conference when they should not have been, and he has apologized for that fact.

Prior to the health clinic and the school system confirming the truth, GLSEN Boston's office had maintained that the allegations of pornographic books at its conference were "categorically untrue," and were nothing more than lies "from the far right." As late as yesterday, the chapter's website had a notice posted on its "news & announcements" page, stating that the group "wants to assure everyone that there were no sexually explicit materials at the conference."

According to the web notice, the pro-homosexual organization prohibits "sexually explicit materials of any kind" at its conferences, and to permit them at one of its events "would be in violation of clearly stated policy." GLSEN Boston executive director Sean Haley was even quoted on the website as saying that the group assigns monitors to every workshop and event to assure that all policies are strictly enforced.

"No such materials, from AAC or anyone else, were ever present at the GLSEN conference in Brookline," Haley claimed, adding, "These allegations are simply lies." Wednesday night (May 18), however, GLSEN admitted to American Family Radio News that the inappropriate materials were indeed present at the April 30 event -- but would never be made available at one of its conferences again.

See earlier story: 'Family Advocates Outraged by Pornographic Handouts at GLSEN Event'

Stephen Bennett is a former homosexual who now heads a Christian ministry that reaches out to individuals and families affected by homosexuality, offering hope, help and healing through Christ. As a national spokesman for this kind of outreach and as an evangelist to the homosexual community, he has been investigating the GLSEN Boston controversy.

In light of the latest developments, the founder of Stephen Bennett Ministries says he is "very thankful to Christ, because the truth has come out. The Bible does say whatever is done in the darkness is going to be made manifest in the light. I just thank God that this organization has had the guts to come forward and publicly admit that they made a very grave error."

The ex-homosexual spokesman says his whole purpose in getting involved in these events was not to demean anyone or anything, but to focus on the welfare of young people. "My whole drive on this was that this was affecting children. This pornographic, extremely graphic material was given to young children, which is completely unacceptable," he says.

Although Bennett was, along with other pro-family advocates, outraged over what happened at Brookline High School, he feels it is important to move forward. "I think that we need now to extend forgiveness on this issue," he says, "but I think we also need to reexamine the social impact of what happens when homosexuality is taught to children as normal and natural."

Bennett is by no means singular in his contention that the material distributed at the GLSEN Boston conference is harmful to youth. Dr. John R. Diggs, MD, a Massachusetts physician and expert on sexually transmitted disease, issued a statement May 15 regarding the recent distribution of "The Little Black Book" at Brookline High School, contending that much of the so-called health information offered in the sexually graphic brochure "is patently wrong."

For instance, Diggs points out that the pro-homosexual booklet suggests that condoms have been shown to stop HIV when, at best, there is only an 85 percent reduction in transmission among stable couples engaged in intercourse. Meanwhile, he notes, most data on condom use and STD prevention is based on heterosexual intercourse, not sodomy, which is clearly riskier. The medical expert says the rates of anal cancer caused by HPV infection are very high and can be fatal, and condoms have not been shown to significantly reduce this risk.

But besides encouraging homosexual activity and promoting the condom-based "safe sex" myth, the Massachusetts doctor says "The Little Black Book" addresses abstaining from risky activity in a tongue-in-cheek manner, implicitly promoting "fun" over safety. "It is alarming, disheartening, and medically unethical," he asserts, "that this information be distributed to anyone."

Furthermore, Diggs states, the fact that the AIDS Action Committee's Little Black Book is "distributed at taxpayer expense to vulnerable and confused youth should awaken every citizen and legislator to immediately defund this organization, and the attorney general to pursue prosecution for endangering minors on a grand scale." He feels the pro-homosexual material in the booklet, which appears to have the endorsement of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, is unfit for consumption by anyone -- least of all children.

'MEDS' not 'HIV' - The real killer
Don't believe what the drugs companies tell you.

WITHOUT HAART 'MEDS"

“These long-term nonprogressors [Hiv+ people who remained healthy] are a heterogeneous group with respect to viral load and HIV-1 responses…none had been treated with antiretroviral agents.”

AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, 12: 585 (1996)
– Harrer, Thomas, et al, Aids Researchers

NOT ONE USED HAART

“Subjects: homosexual men in Amsterdam. “None of the LTAs [long-term asymptomatics–people who remained healthy]…received any antiviral drugs during the study [7 years].”

“Ten HIV+ people; 11-15 years infected; non-progressors [i.e., healthy]; maintained stable T-cell counts above 500. “These long-term nonprogressors…all showed the same risk factor (sexual exposure), and all had...virus...and none had been treated with antiretroviral agents.”

AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, 12: 585 (1996)
– Harrer, Thomas, et al, Aids Researchers
Journal of Infectious Diseases, 171:811 (1995)
– Hogervorst E, et al, Aids Researchers
_________
__________

WITH HAART

“…Choosing between many of these [HAART] combinations is, therefore, increasingly dependent upon knowledge of antiretroviral toxicities...[which include] myopathy [gross muscle atrophy] (zidovudine [AZT]), neuropathy (stavudine, didanosine, zalcitabine; hepatic steatosis and lactic acidaemia (didanosine, stavudine, zidovudine); and possible also peripheral lipoatrophy and pancreatitis (didanosine)...drug hypersensitivity... lipodystrophy...[including] peripheral fat loss (Presumed lipoatrophy in the face, limbs and buttocks) and central fat accumulation (within the abdomen, breasts and over the dorsocervical spine [so-called buffalo hump]...[and prevalent in] about 50% [of patients] after 12-18 months of therapy...Metabolic features significantly associated with lipodystrophy and protease-inhibitor therapy include hypertriglyceridaemia, hypercholesterolaemia, insulin resistance...and type 2 ...diabetes mellitus. Dyslipidaemia at concentrations associated with increased cardiovascular disease occurs in about 70% of patients. These metabolic abnormalities are more profound in those receiving protease inhibitors...Most cases of diabetes have been identified in recipients of protease inhibitors...Anemia and granulocytopenia affect about 5-10% of patients who receive zidovudine...Virtually all antiretroviral medications can cause nausea, vomiting, or diarrhoea early in therapy...Diarrhea is probably most common with protease inhibitors...Most antiretroviral agents have been associated with hepatic [liver] toxicity...Most protease inhibitors seem to result in increased rates of spontaneous bleeding (bruising, haemarthrosis, and rarely intracranial haemorrhage) in haemophiliacs... 25-35% of patients cannot tolerate [AZT monotherapy] or triple combination therapy for 4 weeks...”

Lancet. 2000 Oct 21;356:1423-0.
– Carr A, Cooper DA, Aids Researchers

BLINDNESS

“This study was conducted to determine the likelihood of the development of [immune recovery vitritis, IRV], which causes vision loss in AIDS patients with cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis, who respond to HAART. We followed 30 HAART-responders…Symptomatic IRV developed in 19 (63%) of 30 patients.”

J Infect Dis. 1999 Mar;179(3):697-700

CASTLEMAN'S DISEASE

“Recently, we observed an unusual cluster of cases of rapidly progressing multicentric Castleman’s disease. Fever, weakness, generalized enlargement of lymph nodes, and marked polyclonal gammopathy developed in three patients with AIDS...Two of these patients died within one week after the diagnosis, with generalized involvement of the lymphatic system, liver, and bone marrow at autopsy. A fourth patient with AIDS who died equally rapidly after the diagnosis of multicentric Castleman’s disease had been seen in our hospital 14 months earlier... symptoms…started after the initiation of highly active antiretroviral therapy in these three patients.”

N Engl J Med. 1999 Jun 17;340(24):1923-4
– Zietz C, et al, Aids Researchers
– Karavellas MP, et al, Aids Researchers

DEATH
“…Of the 70 patients studied, 84% were still alive after the 3-month study period...17 surviving patients (24%) had HAART regimens discontinued due to drug intolerance and 11 (16%) expired [died] during the study period...”
J Pain Symptom Manage. 2001 Jan;21(1):41-51

NERVE DAMAGE

“The antiretroviral drugs currently licensed in the United Kingdom [June 1996] are zidovudine (azidothymidine [AZT]), zalcitabine (ddC) and didanosine (ddI). All three are nucleoside analogues...All are very toxic. Suppression of bone marrow elements can occur with any of the three, as can peripheral neuropathy [nerve damage].”

Adverse Drug Reaction Bulletin. 1996 Jun;178:675-8.
– Ellis C.J., Leung D., Aids researchers

“A decrease in mtDNA [DNA of the mitochondria; the energy regulating entities within every cell] content was found in HAART-treated HIV-infected patients with peripheral fat wasting in comparison with subjects in the control cohorts...Lipodystrophy with peripheral fat wasting following treatment with NRTI [Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor]-containing HAART is associated with a decrease in subcutaneous adipose [under the skin fat] tissue.”

AIDS. 2001;15:1801-9
– Shikuma CM, Hu N, Milne C, et al, Aids Researchers

‘These drugs are as dangerous as chemotherapy,’
“7 HIV patients presenting LD [Lipodystrophy, all taking antiretroviral therapy] and 5 HIV non-LD controls participated in the study…Structural muscle abnormalities, mitochondrial respiratory chain dysfunction or mtDNA deletions were detected in all HIV lipodystrophic patients. The mitochondrial abnormalities found suggest that mitochondrial dysfunction could play a role in the development of antiretroviral therapy-related lipodystrophy. ”
AIDS. 2001 Sep 7;15(13):1643-51
– Zaera MG, et al, Aids Researchers

“Combination drug therapy, or the triple-drug ‘cocktail’…often provokes severe side effects… ‘These drugs are as dangerous as chemotherapy,’ warned Dr. James Kahn, UCSF associate professor of medicine…”
– Science Daily, Sep 4, 2001

SEXUAL DIFFICULTIES - Body distortions

“[Chapters in this guide to HIV drugs are entitled Introduction, Appetite loss, Body distortions (lipodystrophy), Bone death and destruction, Cardiac concerns, Diarrhea, Fatigue, Gas and bloating, Hair loss, Headaches, Insulin resistance and diabetes, Kidney stones, Liver toxicity, Muscle aches and pains, Nausea and vomiting, Nightmares, daymares and sleeping difficulties, Pancreatitis, Peripheral neuropathy, Skin problems, Sexual difficulties, The end]”

– A Practical Guide to HIV Drug Side Effects, CATIE, 2002

HEART ATTACKS
“Use of protease inhibitors was strongly associated with the likelihood of having a myocardial infarction [heart attack] and correlated with diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidaemia.”
Lancet. 2002 Nov 30;360(9347)
– Holmberg SD, et al, Aids Researchers

Talking of indoctrination. http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/dissent/documents/health/pharmgen.html Front Organisations Drug companies are among those health care groups which have created front "community" organisations to press and market their point of view. These groups acquire a large nominal membership, often by subterfuge. Many citizens do not know that the group is claiming them as members. They do not realise what is being done in their names. Staff and most of the funding for a public campaign are supplied by the corporate backers. These well funded organisations are able to represent themselves as large grass roots movements supporting and arguing for the corporate position, a position their "members" would not support if they knew all the facts. Their extensive funding and access to corporate marketing services allows them to drown out genuine grass roots movements opposing company policies, and at the same time lobby politicians strongly on behalf of the public. These scams can be extremely difficult to detect but Corpwatch has publicised some of them on its web site at varying times. An increasing number of politically active US citizens seeking reform now refuse to belong to organisations, that claim to represent the public, if these organisations accept any corporate support at all. This is a particular problem in aged care where corporate chains often lend support to community groups in order to soften their image. It effectively ties the hands of the community organisation when its donor transgresses. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Flo seems such a nice old lady. She is feisty, good-humoured and worries about how other elderly Americans are getting on, especially with the high price of medicines these days. She is especially concerned that some new-fangled policy in Congress is going to put "big government in our medicine cabinet". That remark, almost hidden among her lighthearted musings, gives away who she really works for. The series of public policy advertisements she appears in is paid for by an innocuously named group, Citizens for Better Medicare, which turns out to be the public relations arm of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. The industry lobby is fighting a tooth and nail battle against a Democratic proposal to curb the ballooning price of prescription medicines. ---------------------------- But after the election, it is corporate America that will call in its chits, and - if recent political history is anything to go by - much of the new administration's policy will be guided by the bets placed by big business during the campaign. How big money buys big votes in US race : Gore's social agenda under assault as billions of dollars dominate 'hidden election' The Guardian October 10, 2000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Canada "Almost all of our money to date has come from pharmaceutical companies in Canada," Pat Kelly, one of the founders of the group told Marketplace. The Coalition is not alone. These days almost every high profile disease advocacy group relies on the financial backing of the drug industry. That has some people worried these groups may be influenced by the corporate interests that pay their bills. Barbara Mintzes tracks how pharmaceutical companies promote their products. She says cozying up to advocacy groups is the latest trend. ---------------------------- No one in the public relations industry would agree to do an on-camera interview for this story. But several did tellMarketplace over the telephone that they're busy matching drug companies with patient groups. ------------------------------- Recent national newspaper supplements carrying the Arthritis Society's logo, extolled the virtues of two new drugs. Nowhere is it mentioned that the society gets money from the manufacturers of those products. ------------------------------ Another recent event held by a patients group was billed as a public information session. Two doctors urged the audience to lobby the British Columbia government to pay for an Alzheimer's drug. The audience never learned the event, which was sponsored by the Alzheimer's Society, was paid for by Pfizer - the maker of the drug the doctors said should be paid for by the BC government. The event was organized by a public relations firm. ----------------------------- Wendy Armstrong of the Consumer's Association of Canada says it's becoming impossible to recognize the difference between a legitimate group and "a drug company front." ------------------------------- Meanwhile, The Cancer Advocacy Coalition has obtained more funding from a pharmaceutical company for a national newspaper campaign. The coalition wants politicians to spell out their commitment to cancer issues and drug approvals during the federal election. Promoting Drugs Through Patient Advocacy Groups CBC Documentary November 14, 2000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ One of the biggest players in the soft money game is a group with the public-spirited title of Citizens for Better Medicare. For an organisation which commissioned an estimated $35m in advertising in the last election, Citizens for Better Medicare, maintains a remarkably small office in downtown Washington. ----------------------- Citizens for Better Medicare (CBM) was founded and is funded by PhRMA and the drug industry. When it registered itself for non-profit status, CBM declared itself as a PhRMA affiliate. Before taking up his executive director position, Mr Ryan was PhRMA's marketing director. Special report: George Bush's America : Industry that stalks the US corridors of power. In the second part of a series - how drug firms reach the heart of government The Guardian February 13, 2001 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A PUBLIC CITIZEN RESEARCH REPORT WHICH DESCRIBES THE PROBLEM Of FRONT ORGANISATIONS (SEE WEB SITE) "It's time Congress listens to the America public instead of the drug industry and other powerful special interests,"Kennedy said. "I applaud Public Citizen's efforts to unmask this latest fraud played on Americaâs seniors by the drug industry." ----------------------- Speaking at a press conference held to unveil the report were Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Richard Durbin (D-Ill.); and Reps. Marion Berry (D-Ark.) and Janice Schakowsky (D-Ill.).New Report Unmasks United Seniors Association as Hired Gun for Drug Industry Drug Companies Appear to Have Given Seniors Group Nearly $10 Million to Push Medicare Drug Bill Favored by Industry Public Citizen July 16, 2002 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ United Seniors Association --- The Seniors Coalition --- The 60 Plus Association (all claim to be advocacy organisations for US seniors) If you're like millions of other older Americans, you've seen their names many times before - either on fundraising appeals or on television spots promoting political candidates. ----------------------------- Three nonprofit organizations that claim to speak for older Americans are in fact heavily bankrolled by the pharmaceutical industry, an examination of tax records by the AARP #### shows. ------------------------------- For starters, all three organizations claim to be nonpartisan, though they support - almost without exception - the campaigns and causes of one political party --------------------------------- Kenneth Goldstein, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin who oversees the Wisconsin Advertising Project, says the drug industry has also emerged as unquestionably "the top-spending industry" in terms of political advertising. -------------------------- But the #### has learned the pharmaceutical industry quietly pulled the plug on CBM last year, just as PhRMA started channeling what it called "unrestricted educational grants" to United Seniors Association. (CBM (Citizens for Better Medicare) - see in reports above - seems to have been sprung so is abandoned!) Pulling Strings from Afar : Drug Industry Finances Nonprofit Groups That Claim to Speak for Older Americans By Bill Hogan February 2003 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A new campaign group was launched in the UK last year called Raising Awareness of Paediatric Pneumococcal Infection and Disease (Rappid). Less well publicised was that Rappid was set up and funded by the drug company Wyeth, which has developed a vaccine against those diseases. Drug firms profit from 'murky' link with journals, study shows : Companies are misleading doctors, patients and governments to push their medicines, says a special edition of the 'BMJ' By Maxine Frith

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