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Published: April 17, 2008

Keep them at home

Coalition of Christian and pro-family groups urge parents to take a stand against pro-homosexual Day of Silence events at local schools

Organizers of the annual “Day of Silence” have dedicated this year’s event to Lawrence King, a 15-year old student whom a classmate shot and killed at E.O. Green Junior High in Oxnard, allegedly for King’s homosexuality and cross-dressing. At the same time, a nationwide coalition of Christian and pro-family groups is urging parents to keep their children home from schools participating in the Day Silence, this year to be held on April 25 (though some schools may have other dates for the event.)

Promoted by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Network (GLSEN), the Day of Silence is an event in which students in middle and high schools and colleges do not speak for all or part of a school day. Participants are provided with “speaking cards,” which read: “Please understand my reasons for not speaking today. I am participating in the Day of Silence … a national youth movement bringing attention to the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies. My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment.” This year’s speaking card mentions Lawrence King, “who was killed in school because of his sexual orientation and gender expression.”

GLSEN says its purpose in the Day of Silence and other activities it sponsors is to ensure safe schools for all students. It “envisions a world in which every child learns to respect and accept all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.” A 2005 National School Climate Survey sponsored by the group claims that “4 out of 5 LGBT students report verbal, sexual or physical harassment at school and more than 30% report missing at least a day of school in the past month out of fear for their personal safety.”

But GLSEN’s goals go beyond merely protecting students from harassment. Its public policy platform, for instance, enunciates a right of students “to learn in classrooms that nurture diversity,” encouraging “schools to allow students in all grade levels access to curricula, trainings, texts and materials in all areas including but not limited to, history, literature, family life, sexuality and health education, that are relevant, comprehensive, age-appropriate, medically-accurate and inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity/expression.” GLSEN wants to open all school activities (for instance, dances) to same-sex couples and calls on “public policy makers and school officials to adopt and enforce practices that recognize and support diverse families.”

To counteract the Day of Silence, the Christian, pro-family coalition is urging parents to learn if their schools will be holding the event, and when, and to keep their children home on that day. The coalition urges parents to “inform the school of your intention to keep your children home on that date and explain why” and “explain to your children why you’re taking a stand: Homosexual behavior is not an innate identity; it is sinful and unnatural. No school should advance a physically, emotionally and spiritually destructive sexual lifestyle to students.”

Coalition members include Abiding Truth Ministries, American Family Association, Americans for Truth, Concerned Women for America, Exodus Mandate, Illinois Family Institute, Indiana Voice for the Family, Liberty Counsel, Mass Resistance, Mission America, Parents’ Rights Coalition, Stephen Bennett Ministries, and Watchmen on the Walls.

© California Catholic Daily 2008. All Rights Reserved.