Monday, February 22, 2010

Don't Let Ex-Gay Propaganda in Public Schools | Gay Rights | Change.org

Don't Let Ex-Gay Propaganda in Public Schools | Gay Rights | Change.org


Don't Let Ex-Gay Propaganda in Public Schools


Targeting: Patricia O'Neill (President, Board of Education) and Dr. Jerry Weast (Superintendent of Schools)
Started by: Michael Jones
This past week, hundreds of students in the Montgomery County Public School system were given fliers by an ex-gay organization. That organization - Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) - believes that people choose to be gay and that homosexuality is destructive. They regularly counsel people to convert their sexual orientation from gay to straight, and suggest inaccurately that science supports the notion that homosexuality is not biological.
Why are public school students receiving handouts from an organization like this? The President of the Montgomery County Public School board even went on record to say that the PFOX fliers "are probably counter to what is available in our health curriculum." So why give students information that defy what you teach them in class?
Furthermore, these fliers are intended to tell LGBT people, particularly LGBT youth, that they can change their sexual orientation. That is a damaging message to send to queer youth. Tell the Montgomery County Public School District that fliers like this don't deserve an official endorsement from the school.