by Fred Jackson, Allie Martin, and Jody Brown
(AgapePress) – A report says a major homosexual group which has taken credit for helping get the Dr. Laura TV show cancelled is now planning a much more extensive campaign aimed at silencing any “anti-gay” opinions on radio.
According to Family News in Focus, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is now training its members to protest local radio programs that do not kowtow to the homosexual agenda. GLAAD calls this campaign “AM/FM Activism.”
As the Focus report notes, homosexual activist Elizabeth Dunn stated during the Dr. Laura protests that “we are going to nag, pester, and pressure every sponsor on this television show until there is not a single one left.” Focus says GLAAD now wants to move beyond mere protests, and is calling on its members to push for a new definition of defamation. Specifically, a radio station's use of any anti-homosexual voices in the name of journalistic balance would be considered “vicious slander.”
In a press release, GLAAD describes local radio as a place where “defamation and exclusion often thrive unchallenged.” To combat that environment, GLAAD says it implemented the campaign to address what it describes as “defamatory talk radio hosts, programs that routinely insult or ridicule gays and lesbians, music stations that play anti-gay music, music dedication shows that ignore LGBT [lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender] couples, news reporting that stereotypes our community, and other kinds of offensive radio content.”
In recent years, many conservatives have noted the hypocrisy of pro-homosexual forces. While labeling Christians who speak out against homosexuality as intolerant and extremists, they themselves work to silence any opposition to their cause.
Meanwhile, battles continue in Washington State and Illinois over pro-homosexual legislation. It appears Christians in Washington have scored at least a temporary victory in their battle against an “anti-bullying bill” that would have forced school districts to implement policies against harassment, bullying, and intimidation. Opponents have been fighting the measure, saying it could lead to censorship of their right to simply speak out against homosexuality. They also fear it might result in mandatory “homosexual sensitivity training” for all public school students. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper reports that although the Senate version of the bill has already passed, the House bill will likely be scrapped this year because of the opposition.
And in Illinois, Governor George Ryan is being accused of backing a slate of legislative initiatives favoring homosexuality in order to win votes for other projects he favors. The State Senate is set to vote soon on House Bill 101, which would make it illegal for employers to discriminate against homosexuals in the hiring process. Ryan recently signed another bill that sets aside $24,000 in tax money for a homosexual museum in Chicago. Many pro-family groups are calling for people to turn their backs on the Republican governor. Jack Roeser, president of the Family Taxpayers Foundation, says the homosexual museum funds were included as part of a package to entice liberal lawmakers to vote for a $12 billion spending package that could not pass without Democratic votes.
(This update courtesy of Agape Press.)
Study Shows Sexual Orientation Can Be Changed
(AgapePress) – Pro-homosexual forces are condemning a study released yesterday which says homosexuals can change their sexual orientation.
For Christians who accept the Bible's teaching that homosexuality is a chosen sin, the findings are not particularly shocking. What is causing the stir is that the study was done by scientists at a well-known secular university.
Robert Spitzer is a psychiatry professor at Columbia University and the man who led the research. Associated Press reports that after interviewing 200 people who reported they had left the homosexual lifestyle, Spitzer concluded most of them had arrived at good heterosexual functioning.
Even before Spitzer releases his findings today at the American Psychiatric Association meeting in New Orleans, homosexuals and their sympathizers are condemning it. One group calls it “snake oil packaged as science,” while others are trying to discredit it by saying some of the study's participants were referred by religious groups that condemn homosexuality. A spokesman for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is criticizing the study, saying “the sample is … totally unrepresentative of the gay and lesbian community.”
Spitzer, who says he began this study as a skeptic, is the same psychiatrist who spearheaded the APA's decision back in 1973 to remove homosexuality from its list of mental disorders. These new findings clash with that of organizations like the APA, which say that sexual orientation is fixed and that reparative therapy may be harmful.
