This is the second article in a two-part series. Part one is available here.
In the first part of this series, we applauded Gays Against Groomers for opposing the sexualization of children with “drag queen story hours, drag shows involving children, the transitioning and medicalization of minors, and gender theory being taught in the classroom.”
At the same time, we explained that the gay activist movement helped set the stage for the “gender ideology” that has inundated our world. Homosexual ideology redefined what it meant to be human, basing identity on attractions, thoughts and behaviors, rather than on being male or female. It also redefined marriage and parenting, eradicating the need for a man and a woman for these foundational institutions.
Here are some more ways that the activist gay movement helped usher transgenderism to the forefront, inculcating children into this false, damaging belief system.
Gay activists and their allies insisted on bringing homosexual ideology into public schools.
Initial efforts to bring homosexuality into public schools were often driven by a desire to protect students from bullying. That’s a good goal, all children should be protected. But children should not be encouraged to label themselves “gay” or “lesbian” to be safeguarded.
And, these early education efforts quickly shifted toward celebrating homosexuality and teaching children about it – immediately followed by transgender ideology in schools.
In 1984, Virginia Uribe, an educator and counselor, started the Project 10 program in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The goal was to provide support for gay-identified students and keep them from dropping out. The project’s name was based on the myth that 10% of the population was “gay.”
A few years later, the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) and GLSEN (formerly the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network) were formed to combat “homophobia” and to support non-discrimination laws based on “sexual orientation.” Transgenderism became a focus early, with S. Bear Bergman, a woman who lives as a man, co-founding the first club.
Now, there are more than 4,000 GSAs in schools across the country, including elementary schools. Along with GLSEN, GSAs promoted special days and weeks to be celebrated in schools, such as the Day of Silence and Ally Week.
GSAs were soon re-labeled, morphing into Gender and Sexuality Alliances because “gay-straight” was “too binary.” The GSA Network embraces homosexuality and transgenderism, describing itself as “a next-generation LGBTQ racial and gender justice organization that empowers and trains queer, trans and allied youth leaders to advocate, organize, and mobilize an intersectional movement for safer schools and healthier communities.”
Beginning in the 1990s, activist groups focused on providing LGBT educational materials for kindergarten through 12th grade teachers. The Southern Poverty Law Center, the Human Rights Campaign and the National Education Association were among the groups which produced and endorsed supplemental classroom materials with LGBT themes for teachers and schools. Teachers would add these materials to classroom curriculums – often without parental knowledge or consent.
1996 saw the introduction of the documentary It’s Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in School. Again, adults thought it was important to talk with elementary school children about homosexuality, paving the way for teaching transgender ideology.
In 2011, California became the first state to mandate teaching about the “role and contributions … of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans” in K-12 social studies classes. The education code was amended to prohibit classroom materials “reflecting adversely upon persons because of their sexual orientation.”
Note the way the state law seeks to silence and vilify any opposition to the LGBT movement, a crusade that has only increased over the years. Gays Against Groomers should be familiar with this, after seeing their Twitter, Google, PayPal and Venmo accounts shut down in September 2022.
Other states have followed California’s lead, and publishers now produce curriculums and textbooks to meet these teaching standards and indoctrinate children of all ages into homosexual and gender ideology.
As Gays Against Groomers decries the sexualization and confusion of students in schools, the organization should remember one of the ways this started, with the promotion and teaching of homosexuality to children.
There are other things we could point to, including:
- Gay pride events for decades have included public nudity, kinky sexual activity and drag queens – often with children in attendance.
- Gay activists and their allies have vilified and attempted to silence anyone who believes marriage is only the union of a husband and wife, just as transgender activists do today.
- Adding sexual orientation and gender identity to non-discrimination laws puts those laws on a collision course with religious freedom, free speech and parental rights.
It’s important to remember that it wasn’t the gay community alone that brought us to where we are today. Shifting norms and practices have been part of this, including broken marriages and families and public attitudes toward divorce; the widespread embrace of Marxist, post-modern and existentialist ideologies; and our cultural shift toward “expressive individualism” and “the culture of authenticity.”
When groups successfully work to overturn moral standards and God’s good design for sex – being male or female, relationships, marriage and family, it leads directly to where we are today with the transgender movement. Other sexual movements are taking note and following on their heels, such as polygamy, kink and even pedophilia.
Gays Against Groomers is fighting to protect children – which we agree with and applaud. But what are they using as the moral foundation for their fight?
After gay activists and their allies shifted the biblical foundations of marriage and identity, working to inculcate children into homosexual ideology, what’s their basis for opposing teaching children about transgenderism?
Christians battle to protect children because we know each child is valuable – created to reflect God’s image and likeness. We rely on Scripture, which teaches this and emphasizes maleness and femaleness as key components of God’s design. We teach God’s Word, which explains the design of a marriage and its purposes. And we follow Jesus, who blessed little children and condemned those who lead them toward sin.
We encourage Gays Against Groomers to return to biblical teaching, with its eternal truths as the foundation for identity and practices, as well as for fighting this important battle on behalf of children.
Related articles and resources:
Focus on the Family exists to help families, and that includes help navigating the issues of homosexuality and transgenderism. Focus offers a free, one-time counseling consultation with a licensed or pastoral counselor. To request a counseling consultation, call 1-855-771-HELP (4357) or fill out our Counseling Consultation Request Form.
Drag Queen Story Hour Admits To Grooming Your Kids
Gays Against Groomers Decry NYC “Pride” March: “SICKENING”
Sixteen State Attorneys General File Brief Opposing Parents’ Rights
New York State Education Department ‘Doubles Down on Gender Ideology’
Sorry ‘Gays Against Groomers,’ But Gay Activists Helped Start This Transgender Fire – Part One
Photo from Shutterstock.
