(YF2d5) persecuting ex-gays

As of this date, 07-02-27, this folder contains 2 items. ******* item 1 PUBLIC SCHOOL COMMITTEE CENSORS EX-GAY MATERIAL ******* item 2 SEVENTEENTH LOVE WON OUT CONFERENCE ******************************************************************************************************** ******* item 1 PUBLIC SCHOOL COMMITTEE CENSORS EX-GAY MATERIAL ******* From: "PFOX" ******* November 5, 2004 ******* Montgomery County, Maryland board of education Committee approves gay advocacy materials for schools while denying ex-gay materials ******* Public School Committee rejects diversity and censors community information ******* Montgomery County, MD – Regina Griggs, executive director for Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX), called on the Montgomery County, Maryland Board of Education to reject the final recommendations by its Citizens Advisory Committee on Family Life and Human Development (“Committee”). The Committee advises the School Board on school curriculum dealing with family life, which now includes sexual orientation. The School Board will meet on November 9, 2004, to vote on the recommendations. ******* According to Jackie Rice, PFOX’s local representative on the Committee, the Committee has approved materials for students and teachers published by gay activist groups, yet rejected ex-gay materials. Said Rice, “The Committee approved a student video demonstrating condom use that encourages fruit flavored condoms for oral sex, even after being told to delete this phrase by the School Board. Yet the Committee rejected any mention of ex-gays in the school curriculum and resources unless it was something negative about us. As an African-American and a representative of the ex-gay community, I resent the Committee’s refusal to recognize diversity or an individual’s right to self-determination.” ******* Added Griggs, “The Committee’s decision to censor ex-gay materials while approving anti-ex-gay references hurts us and our families, and subjects the ex-gay community to hate and ridicule. For example, the Committee approved Just the Facts, a pamphlet published by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Educational Network (GLSEN), a gay advocacy group. This pamphlet instructs school administrators to ignore any other point of view concerning homosexuality – even from parents whose children are students at the school.” ******* According to Griggs, the Committee is violating state law by censoring ex-gay speech. Said Griggs, “The Board’s own policy states that citizen advisory committees are required by Maryland law in order ‘to ensure that local school boards will be informed by a variety of opinions from citizens.’ The School Board placed a PFOX representative on the committee in order to receive viewpoints from all segments of the community, yet our input to the Board is continually blocked by gay activist groups and others who serve on this Committee and deny equality for ex-gays. The Committee has failed to serve its purpose.” ******* The Committee is chaired by David Fishback. As the father of two gay sons, Mr. Fishback uses his position as chair to engage in hostile remarks about ex-gays to the Committee and promote gay advocacy materials while urging the rejection of ex-gay materials. “It’s unconscionable that in this age of civil rights, the Board allows its committee chair to be openly hostile of ex-gays,” said Griggs. “Having gay family members does not mean that we have to deny that ex-gays exist. We must promote inclusion and tolerance of everyone, both gay and ex-gay. Favoring homosexuality over another sexual orientation is discriminatory and hurts our schools.” ******* Ms. Griggs also calls on the Board to accept PFOX’s separate list of ex-gay materials for inclusion in the school curriculum. Explained Griggs, “The Board cannot make an informed decision when information about a minority group in its community is deliberately withheld from the Board. The Committee’s phobia of ex-gays demonstrates why the Board must include ex-gays in the school's educational curriculum on sexual orientation. Ex-gays are part of our community and should not be discredited or excluded. Inclusive information is in the best interest of students and teachers, and affects the safety of our children." ******* The Board will vote on the Committee’s recommended homosexual resources for the schools on November 9, 2004. A copy of PFOX’s letter objecting to the Committee’s specific recommendations is available on the Internet at http://www.pfox.org/asp/newsman/templates/newstemplate.asp?articleid=162&zoneid=4 ### PFOX -- Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays, Box 561, Fort Belvoir VA 22060, 703-360-2225 ******************************************************************************************************** ******* item 2 SEVENTEENTH LOVE WON OUT CONFERENCE - Soulforce & Neo-Nazis ******* From: "PFOX" ******* Date: 22 Dec 2004 ******* Stopping the Hate Against Ex-Gays - What do Fred Phelps, Soulforce and Neo-Nazis have in common? ******* Nearly 1,200 people packed the sanctuary of Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Liberty, Mo., on June 22 for Focus on the Family’s 17th Love Won Out conference. They came despite the protests of the notorious Westboro Baptist Church, home of the controversial Fred Phelps, who calls conference speaker Mike Haley and other ex-gays “Filthy, lawless, irreversibly doomed beasts.” Mel White’s Soulforce coalition also showed up with anti-ex-gay picket signs. Even a neo-Nazi group came to register its anger over ex-gays. ******* "This is another example of intolerance displayed by those who want to intimidate and silence us just because we provide another voice in the discussion of homosexuality," said Mike Haley, a "Love Won Out" conference speaker. "Ultimately, those who refuse to acknowledge that homosexually attracted men and women can change display a cruel disregard for those who do not want to be homosexual." ******* Haley, whose story as a former homosexual is featured in a Kansas City Star ad, said, "I and thousands of others know firsthand that true change is possible, and we will continue to share our message of hope with those who want it. Despite attempts to discredit our message, people continue to hunger for the truth, and tomorrow will be a day of hope and healing for them." ******* Focus on the Family helped generate some of the coverage by placing a full-page ad, featuring Love Won Out speaker and Exodus North American board member Mike Haley, in the Kansas City Star the day before the conference. ******* A gay reporter who was actually one of the organizers for the Soulforce protest summed up the hopeful, honest approach Love Won Out takes in addressing homosexuality: “Mike Haley’s [testimony] was hard to ignore. ******* He hit a chord with me about the emptiness he felt about the gay community and the obsession with sex. I found the gay life as empty as he did. I’ve only seen committed relationships one time. Mike never found what he was looking for and he scored points with me on that.” ******* For more information visit ### http://www.lovewonout.com ### PFOX -- Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays, Box 561, Fort Belvoir VA 22060, 703-360-2225, pfox_exgays@hotmail.com, www.pfox.org ******* To subscribe to this list of ex-gay news and views, send a blank email to: PFOX-subscribe@topica.com ********************************************************************************************************

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Who are your true friends: those who tell you what you want to hear or those who tell you what they really think? ***************************************************************** The following warning is a prophetic message given to me (Frank Wagner) in November of 1974. ******* LISTEN TO THE CRY OF THE ABORTED CHILDREN. THEIR CRY IS NO. THEIR CRY IS A CRY OF TERROR. HEED THEIR CRY. ******* This prophecy is now being fulfilled. ******* For details about the source, meaning and fulfillment of this prophetic message go to ******* http://www.oocities.org/abortedchildren/index.html ***************************************************************** Check out some of my other sites: ******* http://www.oocities.org/fwagner12/index.html (Vancouver Youth Alliance) ******* http://www.oocities.org/fwagner6/index.htm (Vancouver ex-gay alternatives club) ***************************************************************** email me (Frank Wagner) at friendsofexgays@yahoo.ca