January 20, 2012
Gay-Education Video for Schoolkids Ages 6-12 Has Rightwing in Frenzy
Jason St. Amand READ TIME: 3 MIN.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) recently released a video titled, "What Do you Know? Six to Twelve Year Olds Talk About Gays and Lesbians." Right wing conservatives have attacked the educational film saying that its sending the "wrong message" to children and that children should not be educated about gays.
According to the HRC, the video "features students from Massachusetts and Alabama discussing what they know about gay men and lesbians, what they hear at school, and what they'd like teachers to do." The film's description says that, it "is currently being used in Welcoming Schools trainings across the country and playing in film festivals in Mobile, Alabama; Spokane, Washington; and Barcelona, Spain."
In the video, children talk about what it means to be gay and how sexual orientation is dealt with in the classroom.
"Love is love and you shouldn't turn love into hate," a child says.
"I wish more teachers could elaborate on it and talk about it more instead of like two sentences and then dismiss the subject," an older girl said in the video.
Several readers from the anti-gay conservative website Cybercast News Service were not happy with the educational video and left bigoted and homophobic comments.
"Its just another way for the libs to try and brainwash and control our children," a commenter wrote. "Take your agenda to your house. Your do what you want and don't believe in God attitude is YOUR choice, dont push it on the innocent! What you believe your doing in the sake of 'knowledge' for children in dispicable and disgusting. Quite hiding behind the poor choices you make and leave the frickin kids alone!"
"Bunch of mentally sick twisted freaks,LEAVE THE KIDS ALONE," another says.
On Jan. 17, CNSNews reported about "the horrible impacts" of sexuality education in elementary schools.
"Ideally, comprehensive sexuality education should start in kindergarten and continue through 12th grade," says the National Sexuality Education Standards report, created by advocates, academics and public education officials.
The program will teach children how to "define sexual orientation" by the time they leave elementary school and how to "define emergency contraception and its use" when they reach the eighth grade.
Once again, several of the website's readers were furious and left outrageous and hateful comments.
One reader said, "These people are whores," while another wrote, "We parents must all take heed: groups that promote the destroying of children, whether by warring against the sanctity of the womb, or the sanctity of the classroom (or in this case both), have nothing to do with education, and everything to do with perverted special interest run wild."
The anti-gay conservative website Life Site News was in an uproar about California's new legislation that has educators teach about important LGBT figures in history. The site reported about a referendum created by the state's conservative leaders. The referendum would block the legislation that allows teachers to educate about LGBT history.
"We have been seeing a groundswell of opposition to the enactment of SB 48, and now it is time to act," said Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute, a pro-life organization, in a statement.
Although many of CNSNews and Life Site News' loyal readers were upset with the sexual education program, the Associated Press reported in a Jan. 19 article that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claimed that many teenage girls were unaware of their chances of becoming pregnant.
"In a survey of thousands of teenage mothers who had unintended pregnancies, about a third who didn't use birth control said the reason was they didn't believe they could get pregnant," the AP writes.
"This report underscores how much misperception, ambivalence and magical thinking put teens at risk for unintended pregnancy," said Bill Albert, a spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.
In addition, the AP reported in a Jan. 18 article that there were higher abortion rates in areas where it is illegal. Western Europe had the lowest abortion rates at 12 per 1,000. North America's abortion rate was 19 per 1,000. The highest was in Eastern Europe with rates
Watch a preview of HRC's film below: