Since Christians are sending their children to government schools—often out of necessity—where they will be taught that soul-destroying homoerotic activity is good and that disapproval of it is hateful, parents should be aware of what many liberal teachers think of them and their beliefs.

Rich Robinson, homosexual high school English teacher from Freeport High School in Freeport, Maine sends email messages to IFI in which he expresses views that many “progressive” teachers hold but are too cagey to admit publicly. Here are two that he sent to IFI recently:

1. “It is nothing short of exhilarating to see Laurie Higgins quiver in anger because a learned and caring nation says her vitriol and Indiana’s covert attempt to discriminate have been called out in grand fashion. Laurie, own your hate. State your hate. Terms like homoerotic are silly and a reflection of your infantile hurt because you just can’t get your way. Sorry, silly bigot. You just don’t get to deny others because you hate them. Welcome to a world of responsible inclusion.”

2. “Squirm Laurie squirm. Other than today and your implosion from hate, I look forward to June when, perhaps, you will, then, explode in your own version of a nuclear cataclysm brought about by a SCOTUS decision that relegates you to the ancient history of bigotry.”

Yes, nothing says “responsible inclusion” (or tolerance or respect for diversity) quite like the protests against religious liberty that took place in Indiana last week—or the email messages Robinson sends to IFI.

Unfortunately, the government is paying people like this to shape the hearts and minds of other people’s children. The government is paying people like Robinson who think the embrace of homoeroticism is evidence of learnedness and compassion to train up our children in the way they should go.

Robinson waxes indignant that I often use the term “homoeroticism” in addition to “homosexuality.” A few years ago, a homosexual activist in California became similarly enraged because in an email exchange with him I would not kowtow to his demand that I use “gay” rather than “homosexual.” Their rage illuminates the strategic and epistemic importance of language in this culture war.

A note of explanation about my choice of “homoerotic” seems in order.

The term “sexual” denotes both sexual complementarity (or sexual differentiation) and sexual reproduction:

“occurring between or involving the two sexes; reproducing by processes involving both sexes” (Random House Dictionary of the English Language),

“of, pertaining to, or designating reproduction involving the union of male and female gametes” (The American Heritage Dictionary),

“pertaining to sex as concerned in generation or in the processes connected in this” (Oxford English Dictionary)

Another definition of “sexual” pertains to “erotic activity,” but so as to avoid any confusion when discussing same-sex hanky-panky—which is inherently sterile—“homoerotic” seems a more precise and fitting linguistic choice.

The redefinition of terms by homosexual activists and their petulant demands that their terms and theirs alone be used should illuminate why we must resist their demands for linguistic conformity. Like Rumpelstiltskin, homosexuals stamp their angry little feet when their words are found out. Then, trembling with fear, thin-skinned conservatives capitulate, choosing to use the Left’s white-washing diction rather than be called names by no-name-calling, anti-bullying Rumpelstiltskins.

On Friday, April 12, a homosexuality-affirming socio-political protest is taking place at most highs schools and increasing numbers of middle schools. This protest is called the Day of Silence, and it’s sponsored by the partisan, Leftist organization, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), whose raison d’être is to exploit public schools, captive minor audiences, and legitimate anti-bullying sentiment to advance their ultimate goal of eradicating conservative moral beliefs.  Many schools even permit teachers to participate by wearing Day of Silence t-shirts or other paraphernalia.

For example, the “gay”-straight alliance at Glenbard East High School in Lombard, Illinois, PRISM, has been selling Day of Silence t-shirts to students and faculty, many of whom will be wearing them according to a school administrator. Although an announcement was made to students and teachers were invited to participate, parents were  not notified, nor is the Day of Silence identified on the school website or school calendar.

Parents should be demanding that school administrations notify all parents that the Day of Silence is taking place, that GLSEN is the sponsoring organization, that both students may be refusing to speak in class, and that teachers may be participating by wearing Day of Silence paraphernalia.

For a better sense of what is taking place within schools, click here to see a snapshot of what took place in a New York middle school four years ago:

Conservative students and teachers know full well that the Day of Silence is aimed at silencing the expression of conservative moral beliefs, which makes this annual event a day of discomfort for those who don’t affirm GLSEN’s beliefs about homosexuality.

In a recent Huffington Post article titled “I Have Come To Indoctrinate Your Children Into the LGBTQ Agenda (And I’m Not a Bit Sorry),” homosexual activist S. Bear Bergman makes clear the ultimate intent of homosexual activism—which is not to end bullying:

I am here to tell you: All that time I said I wasn’t indoctrinating anyone with my beliefs about gay and lesbian and bi and trans and queer people? That was a lie. All 25 years of my career as an LGBTQ activist, since the very first time as a 16-year-old I went and stood shaking and breathless in front of eleven people to talk about My Story, I have been on a consistent campaign of trying to change people’s minds about us…. That is absolutely my goal. I want to make your children like people like me and my family, even if that goes against the way you have interpreted the teachings of your religion. I want to be present in their emotional landscapes as a perfectly nice dad and writer who is married to another guy. Who used to be a girl (kind of)….

….That is our job: to encourage people, especially children, to think differently about a subject than they do now. To…allow the light of truth and fairness to shine in.…

At the moment, I am helping to put the finishing touches on a series of children’s books that all feature lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer kids or families. There are six books…filled with girls and women doing cool things, page upon page of kids enacting their own identities in joyous and peaceful ways…. hey have lesbian mums and gay dads and big extended queer chosen families; some are gender-independent.

…

If that makes me an indoctrinator, I accept it. Let me be honest — I am not even a little bit sorry.

A national coalition of pro-family organizations is urging parents to keep their children home from school on the Day of Silence if their school will be permitting students to refuse to speak in class or if faculty, staff, or administrators will be wearing Day of Silence paraphernalia, including t-shirts. Click here and scroll down to see all coalition partners.

Keeping children home for one day to protest the exploitation of public schools does not prevent students from being salt and light, which they can do on the other 185 days of the school year.

And keeping kids home is not directed at students who experience unchosen same-sex attraction.

Rather, keeping kids home on this one day is a protest against administrations that are allowing Leftist political events into the classroom and allowing teachers to participate. If conservatives continue in their acquiescence, pro-homosexual activism will increase and further metastasize into our elementary schools.

The next time someone points out that Millennials—including even Christian Millennials—are becoming more “gay”-affirming, we should by now know why. And it’s not because they are organically “evolving” in the direction of truth and wisdom. This particular arc of the moral universe has been deliberately bent and not toward justice.

Last Call for IFI’s Worldview Conference
featuring Dr. Del Tackett
April 10-11, 2015

CLICK HERE for Details

In a recent article about the upcoming political protest in public schools sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), I referred to the “sickening sweetness” of increasing numbers of Christians. By that expression, I am not suggesting that Christians are sickening, as in disgusting. Nor am I referring to civility, kindness, compassion, or genuine love—which is inseparable from mercy, grace, truth, holiness, and justice.

Rather, “sickening sweetness” refers to the superficial “niceness” that so often passes for love within the body of Christ. It’s the equivalent of sugary candy that tastes oh-so-yummy, but provides no nourishment, nothing that can restore health to dying people. It sickens, rather than strengthens. Its sweetness attracts and deceives, making consumers feel good for a moment but contributing only to decay and death. It’s a cheap, easy counterfeit of biblical love, which Christians exploit to conceal the truth that they are avoiding the costly way of Christ. It ignores eternity while paving the way to eternal destruction.

When I refer to the sickening sweetness of Christians, I’m describing those Christians who misuse—make that torture—Scripture to argue that Christian bakers should make wedding cakes for homosexual anti-weddings.

I’m referring to Christians who misuse Scripture to defend keeping kids in school on the Day of Silence even as administrators and faculty use their schools to promote homosexuality as equivalent to heterosexuality and good.

I’m referring to Christians—including public school teachers and church leaders—who say nothing as five-year-olds are exposed to positive images of and assumptions about homosexuality and gender confusion in our taxpayer-funded schools.

I’m referring to Christians—including teachers and church leaders—who said nothing when the sacrilegious and egregiously obscene homosexuality-affirming play Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes was taught at Deerfield and Highland Park High Schools or when the deceitful Laramie Project is taught virtually everywhere.

I’m referring to Christians—including teachers and church leaders—who said nothing when The Perks of Being a Wallflower was included by public school teachers on a middle school recommended book list in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.

I’m referring to Christians—including teachers and church leaders—who say nothing when schools decide that restrooms no longer correspond to objective biological sex but rather to the disordered desires of confused children.

The exegetical positions that theological contortionists twist themselves into in their effort to avoid acting in accordance with Scripture on matters related to serving or attending same-sex anti-weddings are evident when Christians say, “But Jesus spent time with sinners, including even prostitutes and tax collectors.” Christians who say this conveniently omit inconvenient parts of these biblical accounts. Jesus didn’t merely hang out, eat,  and chew the fat with sinners. He spent time with them, defining what constitutes sin, and calling them to repent of their sins and follow him.

And Jesus did not spend his time with sinners facilitating, participating in, or celebrating their sin. Jesus would not help a prostitute solicit johns or celebrate her career path. Jesus would not help tax collectors cheat their neighbors or celebrate their ill-gotten gains. Jesus did not sit passively by smiling benignly in the presence of men and women who were lost in spiritual darkness and at risk of spending eternity separated from God.

Some who claim to be Christians say that God does not hate, ignoring that God does, indeed, hate. He hates sin and so too should followers of Christ, even as we love those in need of the redemption we have found through God’s grace.

Purveyors of sickening sweetness claim that Christ came to bring peace, ignoring that he also came not to bring peace but a sword that will divide even families.

The peace Jesus brings is a peace constituted by reconciliation with a holy God. This peace does not include, nor will permit affirmation and celebration of acts that God abhors.

Since the fall of man, there has been enmity between God and Satan. Jesus came to bring peace by destroying the enemy—not by affirming and celebrating the sinful activity in which Satan tempts humans to engage.

Some Christians offer the unbiblical argument that Christians should never be angry, whereas God commands us to be angry, but sin not. The salient questions are what constitutes a sinful expression of anger, and what constitutes a sinful absence of anger about that which we should feel and express anger.

In a novel but futile attempt to ennoble cowardice, Andrew Walker writing on First Things advocates fiscal fungibility. He penned an open letter from a fictitious Christian baker to his customers acknowledging that he would be caving in to Leftist tyranny and bake cakes for homoerotic anti-weddings, but that he would donate his 30 pieces of silver to organizations that are willing to suffer for Christ.

Walker argues unpersuasively that “If Caesar insists that bakers must be made to bake cakes or else close up shop, we’re going to see to it that Caesar’s edicts get undermined by channeling resources designed to fight Caesar.”

I think Jesus said something slightly different: “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matt. 22: 21). Our gifts, time, and labor are God’s.

In a blog post Jessica Kantrowitz argues that  Jesus’ command to his followers that “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles” constitutes a mandate to provide goods and services for same-sex faux-marriages.

It’s important to note that Kantrowitz admits to believing that “gay marriage” is not immoral,” so we know that even as she cites Scripture as the authority for baking cakes for same-sex faux-marriages, she rejects biblical authority on both marriage and homoeroticism.

Kantrowitz ignores critical differences between being commanded to carry a soldier’s pack and being asked to bake an anti-wedding cake. In the first instance, a Christian is being forced to do something, whereas in the contemporary case, a baker is being asked. Second, there is nothing inherently immoral about carrying a pack for someone—not even for a Roman soldier—whereas volitionally making a cake to adorn a homosexual anti-wedding is, indeed, immoral.

The only way that creating a product to enhance an anti-wedding can be construed as morally neutral would be to argue that an anti-wedding is ontologically identical to a true wedding. But at some level even Leftists must recognize that as false. Would Kantrowitz make this argument in regard to a commitment ceremony between a 40-year-old and a 14-year-old? Would she make the same argument in regard to a commitment ceremony between two brothers? If plural unions are legalized—as they will be in the not too distant future—would she argue that Christian bakers have a biblical mandate to create goods and provide services for a polygamous or polyamorous wedding?

Would she make this argument in regard to a commitment ceremony between a person and an animal? This is not to suggest that a homosexual anti-wedding is identical to a zoophile’s anti-wedding. It’s to suggest that Kantrowitz likely holds a prior and unspoken assumption about same-sex faux weddings. In addition to believing that they are inherently moral, which she has already admitted believing, she likely believes same-sex anti-weddings are, in reality, weddings.

What if the government commanded Christian restaurant-owners to refuse to serve blacks? Would Kantrowitz cite Matthew 5:41 as proof that Christians have a biblical obligation to comply? Is Matthew 5:41 an absolute command for Christians always to do the bidding of non-Christians, including when force is not involved and the act requested violates Scripture? Was Jesus’ command intended to compel Christians to carry a pack that they knew would serve a profound evil and even to do more in the service of the evil? Would Kantrowitz argue that as a Christian she has a biblically mandated duty to engage in an activity that she believes is profoundly immoral and which she believes God detests (e.g., refusing to serve blacks in her restaurant or providing goods for a “wedding” between a human and an animal).

And then there are those other pesky biblical passages that point uncomfortably to God’s countercultural mandate:

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. (Eph. 5:11)

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1: 2-4)

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. (Mark 8:34-35)

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. (1 Pet. 4: 12-16)

If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. (John 15: 18-21)

Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. (Matt: 10: 34) 

 [A]nd anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. (Matt. 10: 38)

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matt. 5: 10, 11)

Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. (2 Cor. 4: 1-2)

How many rationalizations will Christians, in their fear and desperation, attempt in order to avoid doing what they must know is expected from those who claim to love Jesus? God is calling his people in America to deny themselves, to take up their crosses and follow him, and to rejoice when people falsely say all kinds of evil against us.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote this in The Cost of Discipleship:

The messengers of Jesus will be hated to the end of time. They will be blamed for all the division which rend cities and homes. Jesus and his disciples will be condemned on all sides for undermining family life, and for leading the nation astray; they will be called crazy fanatics and disturbers of the peace. The disciples will be sorely tempted to desert their Lord. But the end is also near, and they must hold on and persevere until it comes. Only he will be blessed who remains loyal to Jesus and his word until the end.

And let’s not forget that our children are watching us. Perhaps we can set an example of courageous, faithful self-sacrifice for them, and perhaps we can gain a moment more of freedom for them and their children.

IFI Worldview Conference
featuring Dr. Del Tackett
April 10-11, 2015

CLICK HERE for Details

If you have school age children, contact your administration as soon as possible to ask this specific question: Will you be permitting students to refuse to speak in class on the Day of Silence? If the administration either answers “Yes” or dodges the question, please call your child or children out of school on the Day of Silence. Every absence costs districts money, and money talks.

Also, if your school will be permitting students to refuse to speak in class, politely insist that an email be sent to every family informing them of the following: 1. The Day of Silence will be taking place in classes on April 17, 2. Students will be permitted to refuse to speak during instructional time, 3.  The Day of Silence is organized and promoted by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.

Parents have a right to know.

The Day of Silence is the queen of all the numerous homosexuality-affirming activities that take place in public schools. It started in one university and then like a cancer metastasized to thousands of high schools, and then into middle schools. Before long it will take place in elementary schools. Leftists know that it’s easier to indoctrinate 16-year-olds than 36-year-olds and easier still to indoctrinate 6-year-olds.

GLSEN promotes the Day of Silence as an “anti-bullying” effort. If it were solely about eradicating bullying, everyone—liberals and conservatives alike—would support it. But it’s not.

The Day of Silence exploits government schools, captive audiences, and anti-bullying sentiment to advance the Left’s social, moral, and political beliefs and goals. GLSEN seeks to advance the belief that all public expressions of moral disapproval of homosexual activity are bullying.

GLSEN urges students to refuse to speak all day, including during academic classes, which is disruptive to instructional time. Administrators permit students to refuse to speak in class, and teachers feel compelled to create lesson plans to accommodate student-refusal to speak. Teachers feel that if they don’t accommodate student-refusal to speak, they will be seen as supporting the bullying of self-identified homosexual students.

The little unspoken secret is that many teachers on both sides of the political aisle hate the Day of Silence because of the distraction and disruption it creates. Unfortunately, they’re afraid to say that to their administrations because GLSEN and its ideological acolytes proclaim that opposition to the Day of Silence necessarily means endorsement of bullying. The truth is one can both oppose bullying and oppose the Day of Silence.

The homosexuality-affirming legal organizations Lambda Legal and the ACLU have both stated that students have no legal right to refuse to speak in class, so school administrations have every right to require students to participate verbally in class. And teachers have every right to require students to answer questions, give oral presentations or speeches, or participate in debates or discussions.

A coalition of pro-family organizations is once again urging parents to keep their children home from school on the Day of Silence if their school administrations will be allowing students to politicize instructional time by refusing to speak. This is the only organized national effort to oppose any pro-homosexual activity or event in public schools.

Each year through the Day of Silence Walkout, parents of freshmen learn about the Day of Silence. And remarkably, there are parents of sophomores, juniors, and seniors who learn for the first time that the Day of Silence takes place in their children’s schools. This lack of awareness happens because school administrations do not notify parents about the Day of Silence.

The absence of conservative influence within the culture on issues related to homosexuality is to some extent the fault of conservatives. Ignorance, fear, and an astounding lack of perseverance on the parts of conservatives have turned our cultural institutions—including public education—into the playground of “progressives.” Our passivity has enabled homosexual activists and their ideological allies to become social, political, and pedagogical bullies. Evidence of that is everywhere, including in schools on the GLSEN’s annual April school event, the Day of Silence.

We must demonstrate the boldness and perseverance of the Left if we hope to stop the relentless appropriation of public education for the promotion of homosexuality.

Matt Barber, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, BarbWire

Dr. Michael Brown, Director, Coalition of Conscience

Brian Camenker, President, MassResistance

Linda Harvey, Founder and President, Mission America

Laurie Higgins, Cultural Analyst, Illinois Family Institute

Peter LaBarbera, President, Americans for Truth About Homosexuality

Diane Gramley, President, American Family Association of Pennsylvania

Matt Staver, President, Liberty Counsel

Debra Smith, Founder, Informing Christians

Tom Rasmussen, Executive Director, Montana Family Foundation

Pastor Scott Lively, President, Abiding Truth Ministries

Penny Nance, President, CWA

Debbie Leininger, State Director, CWA of Illinois

Beverly Uhlmer Roberts, State Director, CWA of Texas South

Linda Wall, VA Mass Resistance

Nolan Clayton, Faith and Freedom Family Ministries

Pastor Christopher Clegg, Operation Save America

Written by Linda Harvey

Q. Why should parents be concerned about the so-called Day of Silence?

A. This event was started first by college students, then picked up as a national activist effort by an adult homosexual advocacy group, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). The goal is to promote homosexuality to all students in a given school, under the aegis of fighting discrimination. It has grown enormously, unfortunately, as the support for the ‘gay’ agenda has been embraced by schools and impressionable students nationwide.

The Day of Silence postures every person who identifies as a homosexual or cross-dresser as a victim of ongoing, unrelenting harassment and discrimination (being ‘silenced’). While some incidents like this do occur, this event is an overwhelming exaggeration in an effort to manipulate our kids’ natural sympathies. The result ironically is that youth develop favorable views about a controversial, high risk behavior.

Q. How widespread is the observance of the ‘Day of Silence’ now?

A. Unfortunately, thousands of schools are now involved. Some schools are passive in their participation, and simply allow a few students (usually members of a homosexual school club) to hang signs around their necks and remain silent all day. Other schools are at the other end of the spectrum, with many students, teachers and faculty remaining silent, and with the school allowing several days of outside speakers, school assemblies, announcements, even school TV shows.

Q. Isn’t the Day of Silence just a way for students to learn compassion and tolerance?

A. In reality, the Day of Silence is a one-sided campaign to manipulate acceptance of homosexuality by every student. Nationwide, parents are fed up with the political hijacking of their kids’ classrooms. What makes it even more problematic is that the results of ‘tolerating’ this lifestyle without objection can be tragic for many young people. The risks of homosexual behavior are well-understood by public health officials, but are being ignored by some politically correct school administrations.

Q. What can parents do?

A. Parents can send letters and make phone calls to schools, expressing their grave concerns about events like the Day of Silence. They can choose to remove their sons and daughters on the day the school is observing the DOS, usually in late April.

This article was first published at the MissionAmerica.com website.

The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) seeks again to exploit captive audiences and disrupt instructional time in public schools for the purposes of transforming the moral and political views of other people’s children through the Day of Silence (DOS). Parents, however, do not have to sit by and passively accept this political action in the class. On the DOS, they can keep their children home.

GLSEN promotes the DOS as a bullying-prevention program. If that were its true goal, IFI and every one of the organizations who are urging parents to keep their children home would support the DOS.

Unfortunately, the ultimate goal of GLSEN and those who promote the DOS is to eradicate conservative moral beliefs. And they are using public schools to achieve that end, thus transforming education into indoctrination.  

Every year middle and high schools see a new crop of students whose parents naively believe that public schools value diversity, honor all voices, foster critical thinking, and remain neutral on controversial social issues. Many parents have no idea the extent to which pro-homosexuality propaganda pervades our schools. And many have never heard of the Day of Silence.

Here are just some of the ways public elementary, middle, and high schools are treating the controversial topics of homosexuality and gender confusion:

• Increasing numbers of schools are allowing gender-confused students to share restrooms with students of the opposite sex, including even elementary schools.
• Teachers—who are, of course, government employees—are being forced by the government to lie by being compelled to refer to gender-confused students by pronouns that designate the opposite sex.
• Girls are being permitted to run for prom king, and boys are being permitted run for prom queen.
• Elementary schools are marching in “gay” pride parades.
• California schools are legally required to teach positively about homosexuality and gender confusion in all social studies classes in grades 6-12, and all resources that espouse dissenting views are by law prohibited.
• Schools—including elementary schools—promote Leftist views of homosexuality and gender confusion in sex ed curricula and in presentations about “family diversity.”    
• Elementary schools make picture books that depict homosexuality positively available to children in their libraries.
• Schools host dances for homosexual students.
• Teachers actively promote the legal recognition of same-sex pseudo-marriages.
• School theater departments mount productions of The Laramie Project, Zanna, Don’t!, and Rent, and English teachers teach Angels in America, The Laramie Project, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
• Film teachers show Brokeback Mountain.
• Schools promote the normalization of homosexuality and gender confusion through Spirit Day, Ally Week, National Coming Out Day, “LGBT” History Month, “LGBT” Pride Month, and the queen of all homosexuality-affirming days: the Day of Silence.

And what do conservatives do in response? Virtually nothing. There is, however, something easy they can do. If their children’s schools permit students to refuse to speak on the DOS, they can keep their children home.  

Keeping their children home on the Day of Silence is an easy, safe way for parents to express to school administrations, faculty, and school boards that they—parents—oppose the promotion of non-factual Leftist beliefs about disordered sexuality in their schools to their children.

Every student absence costs schools money, and that matters much more to school administrators and school boards than the beliefs and feelings of conservative parents.

Parents: Contact the principals of your children’s middle and high schools and ask this specific question: “Do you permit students to refuse to speak during class on the Day of Silence?” If your principal says students will be permitted to refuse to speak in class, keep your child/children home. You might also inform your principal that teachers have a legal right to require students to speak in class and that students have no legal right to refuse to speak if called on to answer a question, give a speech, or participate in a debate, group project, or other activity.

We recommend sending an email to your administrators, your child’s teachers, and school board members explaining why you’re keeping your child home. A sample downloadable letter is available on the Stay Home on the Day of Silence website along with answers to frequently asked questions.

Conservative Teachers: You too have a role in opposing this GLSEN-sponsored political action. You should plan activities that require students to participate verbally. There is far too much cowardice and acquiescence among conservative teachers to homosexuality-affirming activities. Both parents and teachers have an obligation to resist inappropriate curricula and activities in schools.

Here’s something else parents don’t know: Many teachers—including even some on the political Left—dislike the Day of Silence because it disrupts the school day and requires them to create or revise plans to accommodate student silence. And conservative students, many of whom have friends who identify as homosexual, dislike the Day of Silence because they know it implicitly condemns their moral, religious, and/or political beliefs. They know that the Day of Silence is not centrally about eradicating bullying, but rather about eradicating moral disapproval of homosexual acts.

Here is a list of the organizations that are urging parents to keep their children home on the Day of Silence:

 For further information, including parental instructions and the sample calling out letter, visit http://www.doswalkout.net/

Click HERE to support the work and ministry of Illinois Family Institute.

This Friday, April 19, 2013 is the National Day of Silence which is sponsored by the homosexuality-affirming advocacy group, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). GLSEN’s raison dêtre is to transform the moral and political views of our nation’s children through our publicly subsidized government schools. The Day of Silence is GLSEN’s central socio-political tool for achieving that purpose.

GLSEN urges students in high schools and middle schools to refuse to speak for an entire day—including during class—in order to draw attention to the plight of those students who are purportedly silenced and bullied because of their homosexuality or cross-dressing.

IFI is again partnering with a broad coalition of conservative pro-family groups to encourage parents and guardians to express their opposition to the exploitation of instructional time for this Leftwing political cause. We are urging parents to ask their school principals if students and/or teachers are permitted to refuse to speak in class on the Day of Silence. If your principal says they are not permitted to refuse to speak, ask how that is communicated to parents, students, and faculty.

If your principal says students and/or teachers are permitted to refuse to speak, keep your child at home, which costs schools money. We also encourage you to send an email to your superintendent, principal, department chairs, school board members, and your student’s teachers explaining why you are keeping your child home. Click here  for a sample “call out” letter.

It is critical for parents, school administrators, students, and school board members to know that the ACLU has stated that students “have a right to participate in Day of Silence and other expressions of your opinion at a public school during non-instructional time: the breaks between classes, before and after the school day, lunchtime, and any other free times during your day. You do NOT have a right to remain silent during class time if a teacher asks you to speak” (emphasis added).

Despite what the Day of Silence advocates claim, this political event does, indeed, create disruption, distraction, divisiveness, and discomfort. Imagine if students were allowed to refuse to speak in class on other days for other socio-political causes. What if one group were allowed to refuse to speak in class to draw attention to the silenced voices of women in Afghanistan, or Christians in China, or political prisoners in Cuba, or suspected terrorists held at Gitmo, or animals used in scientific research, or dolphins caught in tuna nets? We have opened a Pandora’s box of pedagogical problems by allowing this form of political activism in the classroom. Many teachers and students on both the Left and Right dislike the Day of Silence, but no one hears about that. Teachers and administrators are afraid to admit publicly that they wish the Day of Silence would end.

What GLSEN does not admit is that their central goal is not the eradication of bullying—which is a goal every decent person shares. GLSEN’s “anti-bullying” emphasis is merely a strategic tool for effecting their central goals, which are the eradication of conservative moral beliefs and the creation of a social, political, and legal environment in which it’s impossible to express them. GLSEN believes that the existence of conservative moral beliefs creates an environment ripe for bullying and violence. Therefore, their goal is to transform the moral beliefs of other people’s children using public resources (i.e., public schools).

Homosexuality, like polyamory and hypersexuality, is a condition constituted by subjective feelings and volitional sexual acts. Our public schools would never permit a day of silence for students who are bullied for their polyamory or hypersexuality. Clearly, no administrator or teacher wants students to be bullied for these conditions, so what’s the difference? Educators fully understand that such a “day” would do far more than signal opposition to bullying. Such a day would implicitly teach that polyamory and hypersexuality are morally acceptable—which is not the right of educators to do. Allowing students to refuse to speak in class on the Day of Silence necessarily means that school administrators and teachers believe homosexual acts are inherently moral and are comfortable promoting that moral conviction—which is not the right of government employees to do.

GLSEN, correctly assuming that conservatives are cowardly, understands the efficacy of promoting homosexuality through bullying prevention activities. They know we’re too afraid to be accused of endorsing bullying to oppose their efforts. The truth is, however, that it’s entirely possible to oppose both bullying and the dishonoraable efforts of GLSEN to undermine the conservative moral beliefs of other people’s children using public funds.

It is entirely possible to work toward preventing bullying without specifically mentioning every condition for which students are bullied. The Day of Silence privileges two conditions for which students are bullied—homosexuality and gender-confusion—over all others. Broader, more general, more inclusive non-enumerated activities and events are fairer, more compassionate, more respectful of “diversity,” and less politically divisive.

If we don’t start opposing the use of public schools to undermine the moral and political beliefs of our children, it will not only continue, it will increase.

Call your school now.

 Click HERE to make a donation to the Illinois Family Institute.

Don’t tell me the sexual predilections of our lawmakers are irrelevant. Lesbian activist and State Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago), perfervid promoter of all things homosexual, will be introducing a homosexuality-affirming Day of Silence resolution next week.  Rep. Cassidy in cahoots with the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) is attempting to use the government to affirm “progressive” assumptions about homosexuality and to exploit instructional time in public schools to advance these beliefs.

Here’s the “Policy Alert” GLSEN just sent out asking Illinoisans to urge their lawmakers to co-sponsor and vote for this resolution:

GLSEN is proud to announce that for the first time ever, state legislators are taking part in the Day of Silence! Representative Kelly Cassidy (IL-14) of Chicago will introduce a Day of Silence resolution in Illinois!

Despite potential opposition, Rep. Cassidy needs your support to get it passed! With the deadline approaching quickly, we need your help today! Show your state legislator that this is an issue which urgently deserves their attention.  

Urge your state representative to support the Day of Silence Resolution in Illinois. Sign-on requests need to be submitted by April 11 at 5:00 PM! 

If this partisan resolution that Rep. Cassidy is wasting lawmakers’ time with should pass, will our lawmakers spend their work days refusing to speak? (In the case of some, that may be a good thing.)

This proposal is a cunning strategic machination. The Left uses efforts like this to play “gotcha” with cowardly lawmakers and the too-gullible public. If someone refuses to support it, the Left screeches, “Aha, Lawmaker X supports bullying!” Of course, rational people know full well that opposing the Day of Silence does not constitute endorsement of bullying. This ugly ad hominem ploy of the Left works only if we let ourselves be bullied into complicity.

Take Action:  Please click HERE to contact your lawmaker and urge him/her to oppose GLSEN and Cassidy’s attempt to impose their particular moral and philosophical beliefs on all of Illinois.

Galling Justice Department Initiative

The Justice Department has implemented a de facto affirmative action program for the recruitment and training of homosexual and gender-confused, cross-dressing teachers. You heard that right. In the service of “diversity,” the Justice Department is imposing on the nation “progressive” and pernicious views of what our children need in order to learn effectively. And what do they need? More men who sexually desire men, more women who sexually desire women, and more men and women who electively amputate healthy body parts and cross-dress. Makes sense to me. 

And all this time, I thought the “social issues” (that is to say, those issues most essential to the health and welfare of society) were supposed to be on the backburner until the economy was fixed. Apparently the all-knowing moderate Republican Poobahs forgot to pass that directive on to Cassidy and the Justice Department.

Parents: Keep your children home from school on the Day of Silence if your administration permits students and/or teachers to refuse to speak during class.

Click HERE to learn more about the Day of Silence Walkout.

Click HERE to support the work and ministry of Illinois Family Institute.

In addition to cowardice, one of the reasons that conservatives fail to oppose the myriad ways “progressives” exploit public schools to transform other people’s children into their social and political image is that we dismiss each new effort of theirs as insignificant. Such dismissiveness is proving costly.

In an effort to paint a more accurate (and therefore darker portrait) of public schools, this week I’ll  look at some recent events pertaining to public schools of which IFI subscribers may be unaware. Our hope is that these exposés will help parents (and others) understand why they must start taking a stand against the use of government schools/our taxes to affirm homosexuality and gender confusion. And one of the easiest ways to take a stand is to keep your children home from school on the Day of Silence, which is the homosexuality-affirming event sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) on Friday April 19, 2013.

Many IFI subscribers are well aware of the troubling anti-conservative hatred of the Southern Poverty Law Center which has led to its pernicious “hate groups” list that includes the Family Research Council, American Family Association, and IFI.

In keeping with the Left’s obsession with imposing their moral and political views on other people’s children, the SPLC created an “educational” arm called Teaching Tolerance. In a recent email to its subscribers, inluding countless public school teachers and administrators, they recommend that schools adopt a number of presumptuous Leftwing policies creepily called “nurturing practices.”

These are the “nurturing practices” they urge administrators, counselors, and teachers to adopt:

• “Enforce dress codes among all students equally.  A school cannot Constitutionally (sic) forbid male students to wear dresses, for instance, if other students are allowed to wear dresses….Check your dress code today. Are there rules that apply only to some students? If so, take immediate steps to remove them from your student handbook.”
•  “Help students whose gender is incorrectly listed on paperwork to correct the situation and ensure school staff and students address them using their preferred pronouns.”
• “Allow each transgender or intersex student to use the restroom in which that student is most comfortable, whether it’s the gender-neutral restroom or the restroom that corresponds with the student’s self-identified gender.”
• “Evaluate your administrative forms and communications. Do they use gender-neutral language or provide an opportunity for students to communicate their gender identity? If not, make the needed updates.”
•  “Educate event organizers about students’ First Amendment right to attend events with a same-sex date and to wear clothing of their choice.”
•  “Never reveal a student’s sexual orientation or gender identity without the student’s permission—even to the student’s family.”
• “Conversion Therapy, [a]lso known as reparative or sexual reorientation therapy, this pseudo-scientific “therapy” has been denounced by all major medical and psychological associations and may cause a student great psychological harm. Educate school staff about myths perpetrated by those who conduct conversion therapy. It is impossible to “turn” an individual from gay to straight.”
• “Prepare counselors and teachers to support students who are coping with the emotional side effects of conversion therapy.”
• “Our article, ‘Therapy of Lies,’ http://www.tolerance.org/toolkit/toolkit-therapy-lies is a great resource for educating school staff about conversion therapy.”
• “Religion can be a hot topic when discussing LGBT issues. All students are entitled to their religious viewpoints, but those viewpoints may not intrude on the rights of others.”
• “Include language specifically prohibiting harassment based on nonconformity to gender norms, gender identity and gender expression. Give examples of harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation.”
• Conduct student and teacher training once a year that discusses “The importance of diversity (including nonconformity with gender norms) in the student body.”

According to Teaching Tolerance, here are the practices that student members of homosexuality-affirming clubs (i.e., “gay-straight alliances or GSA’s) should adopt:

• They should communicate their homosexuality-affirming views during daily announcements or school assemblies or by hanging posters on the wall.
• They should “Publicly praise staff members who actively promote an inclusive environment.”
• “At end-of-the-year award ceremonies,” they should “present special ‘Diversity Leader’ certificates to educators who actively promoted an inclusive school environment throughout the year.”

Some thoughts on these “nurturing practices”:

• I will have to add “nurturing” to my growing list of words the Left is cunningly redefining. What they’re “nurturing” is compulsory affirmation of Leftwing beliefs about the nature and morality of homosexuality and cross-dressing. That’s not nurturing. That’s indoctrinating.
• Someone should teach the dogmatists at Teaching Tolerance that “equality” does not mean sameness, and that treating different things differently does not constitute inequality.
• No bullying prevention curriculum or policy specifically mentions or treats affirmatively every condition for which students may be bullied, so why should bullying prevention curricula or policies specifically mention or treat affirmatively homosexuality and gender-confusion? It’s as possible to work to eradicate bullying of homosexual students without affirming homosexuality as it is to work to eradicate bullying of promiscuous students without affirming promiscuity.
• Teaching Tolerance expects us to believe that there are so many homosexual high school students who are homosexual and who have undergone reparative therapy and been harmed by it that public schools should spend valuable time and limited resources teaching teachers about Leftwing views of reparative therapy.
• Can you imagine an outside organization encouraging students, teachers, and administrators to affirm conservative beliefs about heterosexuality and homosexuality in public schools? And can you imagine any conservative teacher using public resources (i.e., their jobs and curricula) to promote their views that volitional homosexual acts are harmful to those who engage in them and that widespread cultural affirmation of homosexuality will harm children, families, religious liberty, speech rights, and parental rights?

Please take a principled stand against the continued exploitation of public schools to propagandize your children with your money. Email your children’s teachers—particularly English, social studies, world language, and theater teachers—and ask them if they present any resources on issues related to homosexuality or gender confusion or if they initiate discussions on those topics. If so, ask them if they spend equal time having students study the best resources from both sides of the debate—which rarely if ever happens. Most “progressive” teachers in their infinite ignorance of all things conservative, won’t even know who the best conservative scholars, blogs, or websites are. Depending on their responses, you may want to either change teachers or opt your child out of any pro-homosexuality classroom activities.  

And finally, if your school is allowing students to refuse to speak during instructional time (that is, during classes) on Friday, April 19, 2013, keep your child home.  Read more about the Day of Silence Walkout here .

Click HERE to support the work & ministry of Illinois Family Institute.

On Friday April 19, 2013 the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) is once again exploiting public schools to promote homosexuality and gender confusion as moral and normative through the political protest called the Day of Silence.

A coalition of pro-family groups* is urging parents to keep their children home from school on the “Day of Silence,” if your school is allowing students to refuse to speak in class.

GLSEN’s Day of Silence, which began on college campuses and is now disrupting the academic environment of thousands of high schools and middle schools around the country, exploits legitimate anti-bullying sentiment to undermine the belief that homosexual acts are immoral.

GLSEN shamelessly exploits teen suicide in order to falsely impute culpability for teen suicide to conservative moral beliefs.

GLSEN’s end game is the eradication of conservative moral beliefs and the creation of a social and political climate in which it is impossible to express them. Their cultural vehicle of choice for this radical social experiment is public education. What a strategic coup for homosexuals and their ideological allies: use our money to capture the hearts and minds of our children.

Efforts to exploit public education for the purpose of eradicating conservative moral beliefs are dramatically increasing every year. Homosexual activists and their allies are aggressively targeting younger and younger children through “anti-bullying” laws, policies, and curricula; through the effort to nationalize “comprehensive sex ed”; through laws mandating positive portrayals of homosexuality and gender deviance in curricula; and through events like the National Coming Out Day, Ally Week, Spirit Day, LGBT History Month, LGBT Pride Month, and the Day of Silence.

And conservatives do virtually nothing. Our complacence makes us complicit in the damage done to our children and our culture.

Moreover, we teach our children by example to be cowardly conformists. It’s time to resist and there’s no easier way to resist than to call your children out of school on the Day of Silence.

Parents and Guardians: Call your children’s middle and high schools and ask if students and/or teachers will be permitted to refuse to speak during class on Friday, April 19, 2013. If your administration allows students and/or teachers to refuse to speak during class, call your child out of school. Every student absence costs school districts money.

When administrators refuse to listen to reason and when they allow the classroom to be exploited for political purposes, parents must take action. If they don’t, the politicization of the classroom and curricula will increase.

If your administrator tells you that they do not permit students or teachers to refuse to speak in class, ask him or her how that is communicated to faculty and students and how it is enforced.

The ACLU has issued this statement to students regarding silence in class:

“You do have a right to participate in Day of Silence and other expressions of your opinion at a public school during non-instructional time: the breaks between classes, before and after the school day, lunchtime, and any other free times during your day. You do NOT have a right to remain silent during class time if a teacher asks you to speak.” 

The idea that homosexual acts are moral, good, or normative is not a fact. It is a non-factual, controversial moral belief. As such, no government employee or publicly subsidized institution has the ethical right to teach it to children implicitly or explicitly. It is entirely possible for schools to work toward the important goal of eradicating bullying without affirming or even mentioning homosexuality or gender confusion. There are many conditions for which students are bullied that are never mentioned or affirmed in public schools.

It is unconscionable that conservative parents remain silent, acquiescent, fearful non-participants in our public schools while homosexuals and their ideological allies engage continuously in vociferous, vigorous, and bold action.

Conservatives need to start acting and speaking as if we think our moral beliefs are objectively true. Conservative teachers need to create activities that require students to speak on the Day of Silence, and conservative parents need to teach their children by example to take a stand for truth.

Please call your children out of school if your administration permits students to refuse to speak on the Day of Silence. 

For further information, including parental instructions and a sample calling out letter, visit http://www.doswalkout.net/ . 

On Wednesday morning, IFI received an email from a gentleman in Stockton, California, who is angry at our national effort to encourage parents to keep their children home from school on the Day of Silence if their school permits students to refuse to speak during instructional time.

He made accusations that I believe warrant a response. I also believe that the email exchange warrants publication, so that others are not confused if they should encounter similar criticisms.

Below is his email followed by my response:

Dear Director, 

Your use of the ACLU source is horrendously flawed. While you are quick to use the quote that “You DO have a right to participate in Day of Silence and other expressions of your opinion at a public school during non-instructional time: the breaks between classes, before and after the school day, lunchtime, and any other free times during your day.”

You completely ignore the next lines that add that “If you want to stay quiet during class on Day of Silence, we recommend that you talk with your teachers ahead of time, tell them that you plan to participate in Day of Silence and why it’s important to you, and ask them if it would be okay for you to communicate in class on that day in writing. Most teachers will probably say yes.”

While that omission can at least be justified, the next omission cannot. The very site that you base your argument for walking out on the DOS clearly states that:

Students who oppose Day of Silence DO have the right to express their views, too. Like you, they must do so in a civil, peaceful way and they only have a right to do so during noninstructional time. For example, they don’t have a right to skip school on Day of Silence without any consequences, just as you don’t have a right to skip school just because you don’t like what they think or say. (*see note below) 

Your site is blatantly misrepresenting the ACLU’s statements and giving incorrect advice to parents. By taking their students out of class parents are going beyond their rights (unless you claim that you have a better understanding of civil rights than the ACLU Lawyers). You are endangering the education and well-being of the students are parents who are trusting your advice. By taking their students out of class they are not covered by speech, and can be penalized. Quite frankly, I am horrified at the reckless and shortsighted disregard your organization is showing for the very people you are supposed to be helping.

Sincerely,

David T.

 Dear Mr. T., 

Our goal is to correct the false idea many administrators, teachers, students, and parents have which is that students have a legal right to refuse to speak in class. 

You are incensed that we omitted this: 

Students who oppose Day of Silence DO have the right to express their views, too. Like you, they must do so in a civil, peaceful way and they only have a right to do so during noninstructional time. For example, they don’t have a right to skip school on Day of Silence without any consequences, just as you don’t have a right to skip school just because you don’t like what they think or say.

The first sentence regarding expressing views during “non-instructional time” illustrates precisely our objection to the Day of Silence: Day of Silence participants are exploiting instructional time to express their views through a refusal to speak. We are not objecting to silence during non-instructional time. And we’re not objecting to Day of Silence participants verbally expressing their views during non-instructional time. 

We are not asking parents to keep their children home from school “just because we don’t like what Day of Silence participants are saying” and certainly not because of what they’re “thinking” (frankly, that statement from the ACLU blogger is just a silly statement). We don’t object to Day of Silence participants saying what they want during non-instructional time or thinking what they want anytime. 

We are asking parents to keep their children home if schools are permitting a political action–that is, a silent protest–during instructional time. Like those who oppose the Day of Silence, supporters of the Day of Silence are free to express their views during non-instructional time. 

I find it ironic that you charge us with “endangering education.” GLSEN has for years encouraged students to use instructional time to engage in political action and when we respond, we’re accused of “endangering education.” You seem to think that sound education entails passive acquiescence to GLSEN’s exploitation of public schools. The reality is that the very integrity and legitimacy of public education is jeopardized by partisan political action in the classroom and by the curricular censorship of all resources that dissent from GLSEN’s ontological and moral assumptions about homosexuality and from GLSEN’s socio-political goals. 

Additionally, you have charged us with “endangering the well-being of students and their parents” by urging them to remove their children from school when administrations permit political action during instructional time. We, however, believe that the well-being of students and parents is compromised by the presence of homosexuality-affirming political action in the classroom. 

One final comment: If the ACLU has taken the time to comment on parents keeping their children home from school on the Day of Silence, the Walkout must be having an effect. 

*GLSEN has not included in any of its formal Day of Silence documents the statement that students “don’t have a right to skip school on Day of Silence without any consequences, just as you don’t have a right to skip school just because you don’t like what they think or say.” I finally found that statement, which was cited with much indignation by David T. It was posted by a “guest” blogger from the ACLU on a Day of Silence blog in 2010. 

On April 20th, in thousands of schools across America, your hard-earned tax dollars will help underwrite the homosexual indoctrination of your kids. Yes, April 20th will mark the annual Day of Silence, described on its website as “a student-led national event that brings attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools.” As for those who do not support a special school day devoted to gay indoctrination, they are the ones who can expect to be silenced.

Originally the brainchild of some college students in 1996, the Day of Silence has been aggressively promoted for the last 12 years by GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network. (Based on its activities, GLSEN would better be described as the Gay & Lesbian Sexual Education Network.) GLSEN calls on students to remain silent during non-instructional school times on the Day of Silence, thereby standing in solidarity with LGBT youth who are silenced through bullying and harassment.

But don’t some schools already have generic, anti-bullying programs in place along with special, daylong events to highlight the destructive effects of bullying, a subject that should concern all of us? Of course they do, but that’s not enough. GLSEN insists that a special focus must be put on LGBT kids, as if bullying a gay kid was worse than bullying a fat kid.

But there’s more that takes place on the Day of Silence: A pro-homosexuality message is often sent to the students, with teachers and administrators frequently promoting homosexuality, bisexuality, and transgenderism over the course of the day. That’s why thousands of schools (and not just students) officially participate in the event, with the explicit backing of GLSEN. What about other messages being introduced during the day to balance the discussion? Perish the thought.

Just ask PFOX (Parents and Friends of ExGays and Gays), which announced its intention to hand out literature on the Day of Silence. According to PFOX president Greg Quinlan, “PFOX is calling on students to distribute flyers promoting acceptance of ex-gays. Former homosexuals and their supporters are ridiculed and forced to live in silence. Our nation’s schools deny students with unwanted same-sex attractions any support or fact-based information that feelings can and do change.”

How was this announcement welcomed? According to one gay journalist, “the fact that they are attempting to sneak in their harmful message on the Day of Silence, a day which is supposed to show support for those who are forced into silence by outside pressures, shows just how deceptive their message truly is.”

How dare they introduce their message on the Day of Silence! As expressed in 2004 by gay activist Kevin Jennings, founder of GLSEN and most recently President Obama’s Safe School Czar, “Ex-gay messages have no place in our nation’s public schools. A line has been drawn. There is no ‘other side’ when you’re talking about lesbian, gay and bisexual students.” Ah yes, the voice of tolerance speaks once again.

What about the Day of Dialogue, sponsored by the evangelical Christian organization Focus on the Family, and scheduled this year for April 19th, the day before the Day of Silence? This event encourages “student-initiated conversations about the fact that God cares about our lives, our relationships and our sexuality. . . . [Jesus’] example calls us to stand up for those being harmed or bullied while offering the light of what God’s word says.”

Surely this event will be welcomed, right? Not a chance. As expressed by a professing Christian woman with a self-described “hair-trigger sensitivity for the protection of LGBT youth,” the Day of Dialogue has something “very rotten” at its core. She writes (on LGBTQNATION.com), “Allowing Focus on the Family to export their historical and counter-productive sacred discrimination of the LGBT community to Christian youth is a mistake.” To repeat the words of Kevin Jennings, “There is no ‘other side’ when you’re talking about lesbian, gay and bisexual students.”

Last week an elementary school teacher from Florida called into my radio program, identifying himself as a black male but not wanting to give any specifics about the grade he taught at school. He was concerned that his job could be in jeopardy if he dared speak out against the Day of Silence. (Other elementary school teachers have told me privately that they dare not speak out against the overt homosexual activism they see on a regular basis in their schools – remember, we’re talking about elementary schools – for fear of losing their jobs.)

Although the Day of Silence had not yet been introduced to this gentleman’s school in Florida, the faculty members were discussing strategies for its future implementation, with explicit instructions to present this as a civil rights issue. (Needless to say, this black American also did not approve of equating gay activism with the civil rights movement.) And what should the teacher do if a student raised a religious or moral objection to homosexuality? The conversation, he was told, should immediately be turned back to gay civil rights, and no religious or moral objections should be entertained.

Yes, the Day of Silence has become the Day of Silencing – unless parents and educators and students determine to let their voices be heard. Now would be a good time to start.

From Liberty Counsel

On Friday, April 20, the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) will encourage students to remain silent for an entire school day in solidarity with the radical lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) agenda. 

While “peaceful” in name, schools face harsh pressure from the radical LGBT movement to support and promote the Day of Silence. Despite the huge push on schools and teachers from GLSEN to advance the LGBT agenda through this event, no one can be legally forced to participate or condone the Day of Silence. 

Last year, some parents chose to withdraw their children from school on that day. Parents are encouraged to call the schools and tell them the reason their children will not be attending. School administrators usually listen, because the school loses money for each absence. 

School teachers should be aware that students do not have the right to remain silent when they are called upon by teachers. Conduct on the part of a student that causes a substantial disruption or material interference with school activities is not protected under the First Amendment. Students cannot learn if they refuse to participate in class, and they harm other students’ experience by not contributing to a dialogue of learning. 

School administrators do not have to promote the Day of Silence. In those states that require abstinence instruction, schools do not have to recognize clubs that promote sexual activities. 

Mathew Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel, said, “The Day of Silence is not about tolerance or bullying. It is about pushing a sexual agenda. Students and staff who disagree with a radical sexualized agenda are demonized and made to feel like outsiders. Children should be afforded a rigorous education opportunity and not be forced to accept a radical sexualized agenda subsidized with tax dollars. Parents and lawmakers should take the time to learn about the extreme views of GLSEN and the intolerance promoted by the Day of Silence.”

While many conservatives call for a forfeit — I mean, truce — on the social issues, the other side gleefully forges ahead using our money to indoctrinate our kids in public schools. Conservatives used to be asleep at the wheel, but now we’re just asleep. We forfeited the wheel decades ago.

It’s true that public education is public in the sense that whatever it is that goes on in our schools is paid for by the public, but, at least on sexuality issues, there is no education going on. “Progressive” agents of change are unabashedly engaging in censorship in the service of promoting their social and political interests. Their motto: “Critical thinking and intellectual diversity be damned.”

Here is a just a sampling of the “educational” activities, events, projects, and resources that our agents of change and their ideological compeers from the world of homosexual activism have introduced to our public schools during the “truce”:

• Changing the Game: the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network’s (GLSEN) new sports project “is an education and advocacy initiative focused on addressing [lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender] issues in K-12 school-based athletic and physical education programs” (emphasis added).
  
  
• Ally Week (GLSEN)
  
  
• GLSEN Elementary Toolkit (Read more HERE.)
  
  
• Welcoming Schools (Human Rights Campaign): “Welcoming Schools” provides “tools, lessons, and resources,” including activities and consultants to administrators and teachers that seek to normalize and affirm homosexuality, bisexuality, and gender confusion in elementary schools.
  
  
• Spirit Day (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation)
  
  
• Transgender Day of Remembrance
  
  
• National Coming Out Day (Human Rights Campaign)
  
  
• OK4U2BGAY, created by the organization H8SUX (Read more HERE.)

• National Sexuality Education Standards (GLSEN, Planned Parenthood, SIECUS et al) (Read more HERE.)
  
  
• “Do Something!” Transforming Critiques of Gender Stereotypes Into Activism” (Southern Poverty Law Center’s Educational Project, Teaching Tolerance): This series of lessons on gender confusion is intended for children in pre-school through grade 5 who, according to Teaching Tolerance, will “benefit from participating in activism because it helps them understand the socially constructed nature of gender” and “overcome the damage done by internalized gender stereotypes.”
  
  
• And last, but not least, the queen of public school political protests: the Day of Silence

The Day of Silence, which is promoted by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, takes place in middle and high schools all around the country this Friday April 20. GLSEN asks students to refuse to speak in class on the Day of Silence, which, of course, disrupts the normal course of a school day. Imagine if multiple groups were permitted to engage in this kind of political protest during the year.

GLSEN provides cards to students to give to teachers explaining the reason for their refusal to speak. In 2002, this is what the card said:

Please understand my reasons for not speaking today. I am participating in the Day of Silence, a national youth movement protesting the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies. My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by harassment, prejudice, and discrimination. I believe that ending the silence is the first step toward fighting these injustices. Think about the voices you are not hearing today. What are you going to do to end the silence?

A few observations on this card:

• GLSEN itself called it a protest.
• GLSEN suggests that homosexuals are “silenced,” which is ironic in light of the of the primacy of homosexuality-affirmation in public education, the mainstream news media, and the arts, and the concomitant censorship of dissenting voices in most of those contexts. It is often noted that even FOX News has become increasingly silent on (if not downright supportive of) the homosexuality-affirming movement, with numerous “conservative” FOX contributors displaying an overt hostility and condescension to conservative positions on issues related to homosexuality.
• This 2002 Day of Silence card given by students to teachers challenges teachers to “do” something to “end the silence,” which, translated into plain English, means teachers are supposed to do something to eradicate moral disapproval of homosexuality.

The 2012 card now says this:

Please understand my reasons for not speaking today. I am participating in the Day of Silence (DOS), 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 bullying, name-calling and harassment. I believe that ending the silence is the first step toward building awareness and making a commitment to address these injustices.

Think about the voices you ARE NOT hearing today.

A few observations about this newer card:

• GLSEN hopes to distance the Day of Silence from the notion of “protesting.” Instead, they’re  merely “bringing attention” to an issue.
• They have added the always useful language about “bullying,” and “name-calling.” This language shift enhances GLSEN’s ability to promote the lie that opposition to the Day of Silence constitutes support for bullying.
• They removed the presumptuous suggestion that others have a moral obligation to fight for the eradication of conservative moral beliefs—which is the ultimate end game of GLSEN.

It’s not just parents who should be opposing the Day of Silence. Every conservative taxpayer, every conservative teacher, and every conservative administrator should be coming alongside parents and working to restore integrity to public education.

First, it’s a stewardship issue. Our taxes are being used for illegitimate political purposes.

Second, students in school today are the culture-makers of tomorrow. We have a vested interest in the soundness of their education.

Third, this isn’t one isolated event. It’s one part of a large, ominous picture that includes curricular resources and activities in theater, English, and social studies classes; sex ed classes that promote liberal assumptions about homosexuality; anti-bullying programs; and countless activities created and promoted by homosexual activist organizations. Re-examine the list above and note the cacophonous sounds of “silence.”

Fourth, the rarely told truth is that many students and teachers on both the political right and left dislike intensely the Day of Silence. They hate the dissension that the Day of Silence brings to their school day. Not all liberal teachers use the classroom for political purposes. Many just want to teach their subject matter. Many teachers resent having to modify lesson plans or expectations to accommodate student silence but feel if they don’t, they will be viewed as bigots and bully-enablers.

Administrators:

Tell teachers they have no legal obligation to allow students to refuse to speak in class and that they should not permit political protests in the classroom. Communicate to parents and students that students have no legal right to refuse to speak in class and that classes will take place as usual.

Teachers:

Plan activities that involve student verbal participation and follow all normal disciplinary procedures that would apply to students who refuse to obey instructions.

Community members without students in the school:

Contact your local middle and high school administrators. Ask them if teachers are permitted to allow students to refuse to speak in class on the Day of Silence. If they permit this political protest, tell them you object to public school teachers who are subsidized by your taxes allowing instructional time to be used to promote controversial moral and political views in the classroom. Send a letter to your local press and read a prepared statement at the next school board meeting expressing the same ideas.

Parents:

Call your children’s middle and high schools today. Ask if the school is permitting teachers to allow students to refuse to speak in class on the Day of Silence. If the school says “no,” ask them how and when this will be communicated to parents, teachers, and students. It should be communicated at least several days before the Day of Silence.

If your administration does not communicate this expectation to parents, teachers, and students, call your child out of school, because it means the administration is ignoring the issue and tacitly permitting teachers to allow the silent protest to take place.

If your school administration says that teachers may permit students to refuse to speak during class, call your child out of school. Tell your administration and school board that since they are permitting instructional time to be exploited for a political protest, your child will not be in school. This will remove your child from an environment that fosters controversy, and your child’s absence will cost the district money.

Then go to your next school board meeting and lodge an unequivocal complaint.

While homosexual activism has infiltrated public schools in countless ways, the Day of Silence Walkout is is virtually the only organized effort available to parents to express their opposition to such activism. And it’s one that takes very little courage. If we continue to do and say nothing, the pro-homosexual activism increases and the children who are targets of such indoctrination become ever younger.

For more information, click here: Day of Silence Walkout.

Perhaps some remember the loathsome and vulgar campaign that has young children using the F-word in a video series to promote affirmation of homosexuality. Well, they have a new campaign and the creator, Luke Montgomery, sent IFI an email about it, saying, “Hello, I thought you might find this of interest…” 

Below is the press release he thought would interest us and which provides another reason to call your kids out of school on the Day of Silence. The more cowardly we are, the more brazen homosexual activists become in their efforts to promote acceptance — not tolerance — but acceptance of homosexuality via government-subsidized public schools: 

Gay Activists Recruit Kids to Fight Homophobia in Schools by Giving Away Thousands of Free “OK4U2BGAY” T-Shirts to Teens 

Activists Launch H8SUX.com, Use Slick “Glee-Inspired” Viral Video to Promote Acceptance of Homosexuality and Fight Bullying and Suicide 

San Francisco – March 14, 2012 – H8SUX.com, a gay activist and T-shirt website, launched today and released its first viral video campaign targeting school kids with an offer of a free “OK4U2BGAY” T-shirt. The free pro-gay shirt will be shipped to any teen who simply makes a special YouTube video pledge to speak out against homophobia at school and support gay marriage. Inspired by the hit show “Glee,” the organization released a slickly-produced musical commercial showcasing a same-sex teen kiss and kids dancing in front of hot-pink school lockers while singing a catchy pro-gay song.

Organizers say the teen-targeted campaign is in response to who they call, “ballot box bullies” – politicians who directly inspire a climate for schoolyard bullies to torment LGBT kids. They cite initiatives to ban gay marriage in North Carolina and Minnesota, “Don’t Say Gay” Bills in Utah and Tennessee, and Rick Santorum’s promise to “force-divorce” thousands of legally married gay and lesbian couples as motivation for their pro-gay message to kids.

“We are recruiting kids to the cause of promoting the acceptance of homosexuality in schools,” said Luke Montgomery, director of the H8SUX.com video. “In a world full of bullies, suicide and hate, thousands of school kids wearing a pro-gay message in classrooms can be lifesaving and great. Kids are born gay, lesbian, bi and trans – and when I came out at 15, I was brutally beaten and left unconscious and bloody in a ditch. In 2012, kids should not be bullied and attacked just for being who they are. This free T-shirt will be a pro-gay billboard plastered on the chests of thousands of kids in classrooms across the nation. Our agenda is simple: to tell kids that it’s “OK4U2BGAY.” H8SUX.com is all about giving kids, gay and straight, the power to speak out against hate – and get a cool free T-shirt while doing it. Everyone says ‘it gets better’ – this makes it better.”

Featuring T-shirts with slogans such as “Legalize Love” and “Bullies Suck,” the H8SUX.com website is also making an appeal to adults using a model like the successful “One for One” charitable efforts of the TOMS shoe company. For every hoodie, tank to or tee sold on H8SUX.com, the organization will give a teen an “OK4U2BGAY” tee for free.

Video Sound Byte: “It’s OK to be gay. It’s great if you’re straight. But I ain’t down with this homo-hate!”

The H8SUX.com campaign also plans a national “Pink School Bus Tour” of T-shirt & wristband giveaways at schools in “homophobia hot-spots.” Using funds received through branded product sales, including T-shirts, bumper stickers, and wristbands, the company will continue to produce creative video campaigns targeting kids designed to be spread by teens and adults alike on YouTube, Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter.

The company will be holding frequent T-shirt and wristband giveaways via Facebook and Twitter to grow the online           movement of teens and to promote acceptance of homosexuality in classrooms across the nation. (emphasis added)

I will shortly post my email response to Mr. Montgomery.

Make sure your Illinois friends & neighbors see the IFI Voter Guide 
before they go to the polls on Tuesday!

On Friday April, 12, 2019 the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) is once again exploiting public schools to promote homosexuality and gender confusion as moral and normative through the political protest called the Day of Silence.

A coalition of pro-family groups is urging parents to keep their children home from school on the “Day of Silence,” if your school is allowing students to refuse to speak in class.

GLSEN’s Day of Silence, which began on college campuses and has now infiltrated even middle schools, exploits anti-bullying sentiment to undermine the belief that homosexual acts are immoral.

GLSEN shamelessly exploits teen suicide in order to create a climate of hysteria which they then use to falsely impute culpability for teen suicide to conservative moral beliefs.

GLSEN’s end game is the eradication of conservative moral beliefs and the creation of a social and political climate in which it is impossible to express them. Their cultural vehicle of choice for this radical social experiment is public education. What a strategic coup for homosexualists: use our money to capture the hearts and minds of our children.

Efforts to exploit public education for the purpose of eradicating conservative moral beliefs are dramatically increasing every year. Homosexual activists and their allies are aggressively targeting younger and younger children through “anti-bullying” laws, policies, and curricula; through the effort to nationalize “comprehensive sex ed”; through laws mandating positive portrayals of homosexuality and gender deviance in curricula; and through events like the Day of Silence, National Coming Out Day, Ally Week, Transgender Day of Remembrance; and Spirit Week.

And conservatives do virtually nothing. Our complacence makes us complicit in the damage done to our children and our culture.

Moreover, we teach our children by example to be cowardly conformists. It’s time to resist and there’s no easier way to resist than to call your children out of school on the Day of Silence.

Parents and Guardians: Call your children’s middle and high schools and ask if students and/or teachers will be permitted to refuse to speak during class on Friday, April 12, 2019. If your administration allows students and/or teachers to refuse to speak during class, call your child out of school. Every student absence costs school districts money.

When administrators refuse to listen to reason and when they allow the classroom to be exploited for political purposes, parents must take action. If they don’t, the politicization of the classroom and curricula will increase.

If your administrator tells you that they do not permit students or teachers to refuse to speak in class, ask him or her how that is communicated to faculty and students and how it is enforced.

The ACLU has issued this statement to students regarding silence in class:

“You DO have a right to participate in Day of Silence and other expressions of your opinion at a public school during non-instructional time: the breaks between classes, before and after the school day, lunchtime, and any other free times during your day. You do NOT have a right to remain silent during class time if a teacher asks you to speak.”

The idea that homosexual acts are moral, good, or normative is not a fact. It is an unproven, non-factual, controversial moral belief. As such, no government employee or publicly subsidized institution has the ethical right to teach it to children implicitly or explicitly. It is entirely possible for schools to work toward the important goal of eradicating bullying without affirming homosexuality or gender confusion.

It is unconscionable that conservative parents remain silent, acquiescent, fearful non-participants in our public schools while homosexuals and their ideological allies engage continuously in vociferous, vigorous, and bold action.

Conservatives need to start acting and speaking as if we think our moral beliefs are objectively true. Conservative teachers need to create activities that require students to speak on the Day of Silence, and conservative parents need to teach their children by example to take a stand for truth.

Please call your children out of school if your administration permits students to refuse to speak on the Day of Silence.

For further information, including parental instructions and a sample calling out letter, visit http://www.doswalkout.net/