Gay Rights Groups Push Their Fliers at Schools
Advocate: Effort is intended to counter 'misinformation' in 'ex-gay' flier.
Photos
Pdfs
Gay rights groups are distributing fliers in county schools this week to show support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students after an organization distributed fliers saying that people can choose not to be gay.
Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Equality Maryland Foundation planned to begin distributing 50,000 fliers on Wednesday in all 25 county high schools.
The fliers include information about what the groups called “mainstream medical and mental health professional associations,” such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, say about sexual orientation. They also include links to literature from the American Psychological Association and the American Medical Association about so-called reparative therapies that are meant to change a person’s sexual orientation.
“Many religious denominations and congregations are completely affirming of LGBT people,” the fliers state, adding that DC Metro PFLAG can help LGBT people find “friendly congregations.”
The two-sided fliers also include links to resources from the SPLC and the Equality Maryland Foundation, the educational arm of the gay rights organization.
Click on the PDFs above to view the fliers.
The effort is a response to fliers distributed at county schools earlier this year by Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays that said that “people with unwanted same-sex attractions can seek help and information on overcoming their feelings.”
County schools Superintendent Joshua P. Starr decried the message of the PFOX fliers, calling it “disgusting.”
“We applaud the superintendent’s position,” David S. Fishback, the advocacy chair of Metro DC PFLAG, said in a news release. “But it is unfortunate that the [Montgomery County Public Schools] health education curriculum does not address this issue, nor does it permit health teachers to convey to students the conclusions of the mainstream medical and mental health professional associations that being gay is not an illness—unless a student specifically asks.”
Fishback recently debated Peter Sprigg, the Senior Fellow for Policy Studies at the Family Research Council and a PFOX board member, on News Channel 8’s NewsTalk. Video of that debate is available on the PFLAG National: Focus on the Field blog.
The news release from PFLAG, the SPLC and the Equality Maryland Foundation said that the groups are distributing the fliers “so that LGBT students will know they are being supported by the adults in the community, and to fill in the gaps currently existing in the health education curriculum.
“The absence of such knowledge contributes to bullying," the release said.
Students at Rockville schools told Patch that they were largely unaware of the PFOX fliers and found their message offensive. Rockville High School principal Debra Munk chose not to distribute the fliers as classroom handouts, but made them available in the school’s main office.
“It is vital for young people in Montgomery County to have access to accurate information,” Christine P. Sun, the director of SPLC’s LGBT rights project, said in the groups' news release. “While spreading this kind of misinformation is dangerous to the well-being of LGBT youth, not having the facts is a threat to all students.”
A PFOX official told The Gazette that the group is distributing its fliers this week at the seven county high schools that had not yet received them.
The county school board is in the process of reviewing its flier distribution policy and may issue new guidelines that bar nonprofits from distributing fliers in schools, The Gazette reported.
Doug in Rockville
10:49 am on Friday, April 13, 2012
This headline is offensive and agenda-pushing itself--the fliers are not being "pushed" any more than the PFOX fliers are....both groups are offering them to students just like any other group may. This headline offends me as a gay Rockville resident, and makes me incldined to stop reading Patch, as apparently it slants to being an anti-gay publication. Disgusting.
Doug in Rockville
11:49 am on Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Let me say that I hope Patch just made an innocent mistake by virtue of using language often used by the professional anti-gay industry. While I will give them credit for describing the fliers in their original articles about this topic as "anti-gay", the headline and use of quotes around the word misinformation in the sub-headline definitely echo the nasty framing tactics of the anti-gay crowd. Again, the PFLAG fliers were not "pushed" on anyone, any moreso than the PFOX ones were. I would appreciate it if Patch would use better judgement in shying away from headlines that fit squarely into the framing preferred by anti-gay organizations as it implies an agreement with their bias and animus against GLBT people.
I understand not everyone is going to think the same thing when they read this headline, but people like me who have a lot of experience with these groups immediately recognize the slant.
Doug in Rockville
10:51 am on Friday, April 13, 2012
And your putting the word misinformation in quotes! Hello!!! It is not suggested as misinformation, all the major medical and psychological organizations in the US CONFIRM that it is misinformation. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy.....and offensive.
Susan Byrne
8:07 am on Saturday, April 14, 2012
While I prefer our schools not allow fliers, since some groups will and have exploited this in ways that are detrimental and harmful to not only the students but the community, in this case fliers are necessary in lieu of appropriate factual education our schools have been derelict to provide. I applaud the PFFLG, SPLC, and Equity Foundation for offering our students a particularly effective lesson in conflict resolution, moderation in response to provocation, courage to speak the truth, and equanimity and tolerance. I would like to see the BOE end the policy that permits fliers in our schools. They could not do better than to end it on the positive and healing message of this hopefully final flier.
Sinjun
7:13 pm on Sunday, April 15, 2012
I too dislike the use of the term "push" in the headline. It sounds judgemental and implies these groups are being aggressive and forceful in disseminating their informationi. It was an unfortunate choice of words. . I'm glad though that The Patch brought the activities of PFOX to the community's attention. I am gay and I don't have children and it appalls me to learn PFOX and similar groups are able to subject local children/students IN the schools to their emotionally & psychologically damaging (and incorrect & unsubstantiated) viewpoints.
@ DOUG... I believe the word "misinformation" in the headline was in quotes because it was taken from a quote made by a director of the SPLC on their press release. I don't think the word being in quotes was a reflection of whether the author of the article thought PFOX's materials provided misinformation or facts. . It was in quotes because it came from a quote. Again, out of context of the press release and along with the ill-chosen use of the word "push".. It does give the headline an anti-gay flavor. Overall I applaud The Patch for covering the story and providing the information by and about the SPLC and EM and PFLAG.
Ed Walker
10:59 am on Tuesday, April 17, 2012
All I can say is if the the pro gay fliers save one student from taking their own life because of the anti gay discrimination they receive- Thank God.
Jeff Hawkins
12:21 pm on Tuesday, April 17, 2012
As a person who sits squarely in the middle on this issue, one glaring thing jumps out. It appears that the children, their backpacks, their parents, the school staff, the editor's at Patch, the english language are all being used as "pawns" in an endless game of "one upmanship".
Whatever it is............keep it out of the schools.
Susan Byrne
5:38 pm on Thursday, April 19, 2012
The Gazette has a front page article today about the BOE's recommendations for changing the policy. The article states that certain groups will still be allowed; also that an exception is made for elementary schools in order to allow sports groups and scouting organizations to distribute there. From prior articles, I understood it was an "all or nothing" proposition and some people were opposed since that would mean no PTA materials, for example. This article, and the BOE's policy page online, however, show that they have some latitude. It's a tricky boundary to navigate, as MCPS has been sued in the past for alleged discrimination by groups that wanted access and weren't provided it. Seems like the door can't be closed on that risk.