Conservative
groups
are
taking
a
page
out
of
the
gay
activist
playbook
in
a
new
effort
to
promote
the
"ex-gay"
movement.
Liberty
Counsel
and
Parents
&
Friends
of
Ex-Gays
&
Gays
have
launched
a
new
campaign
called
"Change
is
Possible,"
which
mimics
the
effort
by
gay
rights
advocates
to
create
student
clubs
and
participate
in
school-sponsored
"diversity
days."
Instead
of
gay-straight
alliances,
the
"Change
is
Possible"
campaign
urges
students
to
start
"Gay
to
Straight"
clubs.
The
Alliance
Defense
Fund
has
even
sponsored
a
"Day
of
Truth"
to
counteract
the
"Day
of
Silence,"
a
day
when
students
remain
silent
to
protest
harassment
and
discrimination
targeted
at
gay
students.
The
"Day
of
Truth"—scheduled
for
April
27,
one
day
after
the
"Day
of
Silence"—was
"established
to
counter
the
promotion
of
the
homosexual
agenda
and
express
an
opposing
viewpoint
from
a
Christian
perspective."
As
part
of
the
"Change
is
Possible"
campaign,
which
was
announced
earlier
this
month,
the
Liberty
Counsel
website
details
"health
statistics"
for
ex-gay
student
activists
such
as:
"Acting
out
on
same-sex
attractions
also
has
devastating
psychological
effects,
including
increased
drug
and
alcohol
abuse."
"If
we’re
having
a
diversity
day,
it
ought
to
be
really
a
diversity
day
and
show
different
perspectives,"
said
Mat
Staver,
president
of
Liberty
Counsel.
The
University
of
Connecticut
and
Ohio
State
University
already
have
resisted
attempts
to
include
ex-gays
in
diversity
days,
he
said.
"We’re
going
to
see
if
we
can
resolve
the
matter
or
[if
we
have
to]
resort
to
legal
challenges,"
he
said.
Last
year,
Liberty
Counsel
and
PFOX
sued
the
Montgomery
County,
Md.
school
district
for
excluding
information
about
ex-gays
in
a
revised
sexual
education
curriculum
and
over
complaints
that
it
"normalized
homosexuality."
"The
reason
PFOX
got
involved
is
because
in
Montgomery
County
we
were
denied
equal
access,"
said
Regina
Griggs,
PFOX
executive
director.
"We
decided
this
doesn’t
just
exist
in
Montgomery
County."
For
Griggs,
it’s
an
issue
of
tolerance.
"What
parent
wants
to
teach
their
children
that
tolerance
for
all
people
is
not
acceptable?"
she
said.
"Teaching
respect
is
key
to
all
of
this."
‘Cleverly
disguised
bigotry’
Critics
argue
that
schools
should
not
condone
unsubstantiated,
unscientific
opinions
by
including
those
views
in
the
curriculum
or
in
a
diversity
day
presentation.
"They
have
no
more
business
in
the
health
curriculum
than
flat-Earth
theories
in
the
geology
curriculum,"
said
David
Fishback,
a
member
of
Teach
the
Facts,
a
Montgomery
County
parents
group
that
formed
to
support
a
comprehensive
sex-education
program
that
addresses
homosexuality.
"The
ex-gay
viewpoint
is
not
just
another
viewpoint—it’s
at
odds
with
what
our
doctors
tell
us,"
said
Fishback,
echoing
the
American
Psychological
and
American
Psychiatric
Associations,
which
have
discredited
ex-gay
therapies.
"Trying
to
slam
round
pegs
into
square
holes,
the
pegs
are
going
to
get
hurt."
Jim
Kennedy,
the
Teach
the
Facts
representative
on
the
Montgomery
County
Citizens
Advisory
Committee,
agreed,
saying
that
the
ex-gay
issue
is
"cleverly
disguised
bigotry."
The
advisory
committee
is
charged
with
reviewing
the
sex-education
curriculum
revisions.
"No
matter
how
you
look
at
it,
the
ex-gay
camp
is
really
an
anti-gay
camp,"
he
said.
"They
really
disguise
it
so
the
ugliness
is
hidden."
Both
Fishback
and
Kennedy
said
that
while
school
officials
should
not
include
ex-gay
information
in
the
curriculum,
students
should
be
permitted
to
form
clubs.
Judy
Hoff,
the
safe
schools
coordinator
for
Parents,
Families
&
Friends
of
Lesbians
&
Gays,
said
that
ex-gay
ministries
often
make
gay
youth
feel
guilty,
and
their
message
can
even
lead
to
depression
and
suicide.
"As
these
efforts
are
getting
younger
and
younger
kids,
it’s
becoming
more
and
more
dangerous,"
she
said.
Ken
Choe,
a
staff
attorney
with
the
Lesbian
&
Gay
Rights
Project
at
the
American
Civil
Liberties
Union,
said
that
just
as
students
can
form
gay-straight
alliances,
their
peers
can
start
"Gay
to
Straight"
clubs.
The
1984
federal
Equal
Access
Act
requires
that
schools
treat
all
student
groups
equally.
In
1990,
the
U.S.
Supreme
Court
ruled
the
act
was
constitutional
in
Board
of
Education
of
Westside
Community
Schools
vs.
Mergens.
The
school
was
sued
after
it
refused
to
recognize
a
religious
student
club.
Gay
rights
groups
now
use
the
1984
Equal
Access
Act
to
ensure
that
schools
permit
gay
student
clubs.
"When
talking
about
free
expression
you
can’t
have
your
cake
and
eat
it,
too,"
said
Choe.
"If
you’re
going
to
seek
a
constitutional
protection
you
have
to
let
others
seek
the
same
protection."
If
a
"Gay
to
Straight"
club
was
created,
school
officials
could
use
it
as
a
"teaching
moment"
and
explain
why
they
disagree,
he
said.
"You
fight
speech
with
more
speech,"
he
said.
However,
Choe
said,
there
is
a
distinction
between
student
clubs
and
curriculum.
Schools
are
not
bound
to
teach
every
opposing
viewpoint,
he
said.
"During
Black
History
Month,
it
doesn’t
mean
you
have
to
let
white
supremacists
in,"
he
said.
Elizabeth
Weill-Greenberg
can
be
reached
at
eweill-greenberg@washblade.com.
