Editor's note - I apologize to those who were expecting my daily midday news briefs. But as you can see, religious right groups and figures are especially ornery today. It must be the beginning of a season.
The People for the American Way has come out with an excellent report on the ways religious right groups are attempting to undermine efforts to protect lgbt children in schools.
The report, Big Bullies: How the Religious Right is Trying to Make Schools Safe for Bullies and Dangerous for Gay Kids, should be mandatory reading for all of us who care about keeping our lgbt children safe.
Among the highlights is a detailed table of contents listing a host of religious right distortion techniques used to derail anti-bullying efforts:
The introduction says it all:
So apparently that nonsense we saw this morning from Peter LaBarbera about GLSEN only scratches the surface of religious right chicanery and lies.
Again, read this report, save it, and send it out to as many people as possible.
The People for the American Way has come out with an excellent report on the ways religious right groups are attempting to undermine efforts to protect lgbt children in schools.
The report, Big Bullies: How the Religious Right is Trying to Make Schools Safe for Bullies and Dangerous for Gay Kids, should be mandatory reading for all of us who care about keeping our lgbt children safe.
Among the highlights is a detailed table of contents listing a host of religious right distortion techniques used to derail anti-bullying efforts:
- Introduction
- Facing the Problem
- The Indoctrination Myth
- The “Special Rights” Smear
- Playing the Victim
- Blaming the Victims
- Conclusion
The introduction says it all:
Students deserve an education that is free from bullying and harassment, and in many districts parents, teachers, principals, community members and students are working together to create a safe and welcoming environment for all children. Bullying can impede learning and ruin lives. As Education Secretary Arne Duncan has said, “bullying is doubly dangerous because if left unattended it can rapidly escalate into even more serious violence and abuse.” Close to nine in ten Americans believe that bullying is a “serious problem,” and many communities are directly challenging harassment and violence in schools.
However, many Religious Right activists want to derail efforts to combat bullying. An increasing number of conservative leaders and organizations have fiercely opposed anti-bullying programs developed by schools and education groups for the sole reason that such programs identify and attempt to combat the widespread bullying of LGBT youth.
Rather than recognize and address the problem of bullying against students who are gay or perceived to be gay, Religious Right groups want schools to embrace a policy of inaction. Many resort to repeating discredited lies about sexual orientation and vilifying the LGBT community and its allies to back up their opposition to anti-bullying programs that mention anti-gay bullying. Concerned students, families, teachers, education professionals, and public officials should not be fooled by the far-right’s attempt to smear anti-bullying programs, and should instead ensure that schools address bullying with a direct, honest and comprehensive approach.
So apparently that nonsense we saw this morning from Peter LaBarbera about GLSEN only scratches the surface of religious right chicanery and lies.
Again, read this report, save it, and send it out to as many people as possible.
1 comment:
Under the "Special Rights" Smear section:
"Writes Sprigg in Homosexuality in Your School: “singling out ‘sexual orientation’ for special protection (along with the usual categories of ‘race, color, national origin, sex, and disability’) is illogical. The latter qualities are usually inborn, involuntary, immutable, and innocuous—none of which is true of homosexual behavior, despite the claims of its advocates."
This particular argument always strikes me as a such a self-defeating argument when coming from religious activists. Note how he conveniently leaves out religion as one of the "usual categories" even though he would have a hissy fit if it was pulled from anti-discrimination / anti-bullying efforts that they are always fighting to have sexual orientation excluded from. Religion is most definitely not inborn, involuntary, immutable, or innocuous, therefore it should not be given special consideration and protection. I wonder what would happen if we were to decide that people should be able to discriminate based on religion since it is just a choice people make...
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