Our freedom to express ourselves as gay is protected by the Constitution ONLY because these nut cases are equally protected to openly hate us. That does not mean they have room to bash, harass, or defame us, but it does mean that they are afforded an equal right to speak their minds.

I think Dale’s got it right. The best way to oppose ignorance is through education. If you don’t like what these people are saying, you have to tell them why before you can shut them up.

“The philosophy behind groups like PFOX is simple: if gay people don’t want to be harassed or discriminated against, they should change.”

That is precisely the concept of PFOX operations.

Steve, no gay person is asking you to be gay, hon, so stop “pushing your sexual behavior” here.

They are a religious organization with direct ties to James Dobson’s group Focus on the Family. The promote “reparative therapy” as a means to change sexual orientation, though it doesn’t work, is denounced by every organization of medical and mental health professionals as both unethical and dangerous. Even a number of “ex-gay” groups are now abandoning the idea that they can change someone’s sexual orientation.

The philosophy behind groups like PFOX is simple: if gay people don’t want to be harassed or discriminated against, they should change. It follows that if they refuse to change then they should expect to be harassed and discriminated against, and prohibiting harassment and discrimination against them only encourages them not to change. So they also seek to ensure that gays & lesbians are harassed and discriminated against.

That adds up to hell for gay & lesbian youth, and suicide for some.

PFOX shouldn’t be distributing literature in our schools any more than the Klan or holocaust deniers should.

Therefore, the school has misstepped badly and should be spanked (says the professional educator).

I don’t care if the literature is about how horrible it is to kick puppies, if it ain’t approved by my administration and vetted by myself to be appropriate and useful, I’m not handing it out.

Puuuleeeeeze!

There’s definitely some money to be made in a law suit by some parent on this one.
Someone go for it!

Pro-tolerance(/acceptance!) literature suggests people accept other people, and judge them less. I’m guessing Steve is Christian, so it may be worth mentioning that this is a very Gospels message.

PFOX’s website makes clear, their message is that some people are so depraved that one might as well return to the Old Testament and stone them.

The two messages couldn’t be more different; about all they have in common is that both can be printed on a flyer. Schools have an interest in promoting tolerance – in a comfortable, safe environment students can learn all the things they are there to master (math, science, literature etc), while in a judgemental environment they are distracted by either judging or hiding that for which they might be judged.

Steve, your comparison might as well be between a pro-civil-rights flier and one for the Klan; not all messages are born equal.

-RS

Moreover, finding something morally reprehensible is not the same thing as being personally attacked. It does not hurt me when someone disagrees with my choices or behaves in a manner I don’t condone. It does hurt me when someone says that my choices are evil and that I should be eradicated.

Yes–during class.

When my dad found out, he was LIVID. The school was astonished–before him, no parent had ever complained. But the next year, no Gideons. And he was just one guy.