The Anti-LGBT Movement - It's All About the Children...Exploiting Them That Is

You hear it time and time again, the false assertion (one among many) by the Anti-LGBT movement that we queers are somehow a threat to children.  And yet somehow it seems that it is that very movement that is so often exploiting children.

Take the National Organization for Marriage, who, despite having continually said they are focused on one specific issue (marriage), has been unusually interested in reparative or conversion therapy (also known as 'pray away the gay'), a technique that has been condemned by the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, and virtually every reputable mental health agency.

NOM, and other organizations have had little to say about the very real dangers of this type of therapy, those being depression, self-harm, and suicide (especially among youth).  Instead these groups have focused on condemning proposed laws that would ban the therapy for minors, and espousing organizations like Exodus International (whose former head Alan Chambers has said that the therapy doesn't work...but who's counting?)  You see, it isn't actually about the welfare of the children, it's about advancing their political agenda.

Worse still has to be when such groups attack anti-bullying campaigns and legislation.  The sheer callousness here is amazing; that these people see a child being picked on and their first thought is something other than sympathy.  From Equality Matters:

• No LGBT-Oriented Student Groups. NOM chairman John Eastman is a vocal opponent of gay-straight alliances in public school. In 2000, he condemned the groups, calling them “incubators of moral relativism.” The organization has also condemned the Canadian government for requiring publicly subsidized Catholic schools to allow for gay-straight alliances.
• No LGBT-Inclusive Curricula. In September, NOM’s Brown repeatedly urged his supporters to sign a petition to repeal California’s SB 48, the FAIR Education Act, which would require public schools to teach students about the  contributions of the LGBT community to California and the U.S. throughout history. Brown warned that the law would teach kindergartners about “homosexuality, bisexuality and transgenderism as part of a social science curriculum.”
• No LGBT-Specific Musical Productions. In October, NOM’s Brown attacked a Connecticut public school for presenting a school musical about homophobia, which included a kiss between two male actors. Brown decried the musical as evidence that public schools were promoting a “new moral norm” in the wake of the state’s legalization of same-sex marriage.
• No LGBT Tolerance Or Diversity Lessons. NOM has objected to several attempts to promote tolerance toward LGBT in schools. The group warned supporters about a school in California that began a lesson plan to teach students about gender diversity, asking, “Coming to a public school near you?” NOM also highlighted a Toronto school district’s promotion of the “homosexual agenda” through the creation of “diversity education” lessons to combat heterosexism. 
• No Access To LGBT-Supportive Websites. In August and September, NOM’s Ruth Institute criticized the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for its “Don’t Filter Me” campaign, which aimed to end the censoring of pro-LGBT websites on public school computers. Ruth Institute contributor “Betsy” called the ACLU “just evil” and promoted a column referring to it as the “devil’s law firm” for trying to expose kids to pornography.
• No “It Gets Better” Project. In August, NOM’s Ruth Institute promoted a column which smeared the “It Gets Better” Project – a campaign to reduce suicide among LGBT youth – calling it “the youth campaign that makes everything worse.” The column criticized “It Gets Better” for “aggressively promot[ing] deviant sex” and a lifestyle that includes “STDs, HIV, AIDS, rates of drug abuse, domestic violence, and infidelity.”
• Teachers Are Allowed To Publicly Condemn Homosexuality. NOM launched an impassioned defense of New Jersey school teacher Viki Knox, who used her publicly accessible Facebook page to call homosexuality a “perverted spirit” created by Satan. NOM even created a petition on her behalf, telling supporters that Knox was under attack from the “PC crowd” following calls for her resignation.
• No Scholarships For LGBT Students. In August, NOM’s Ruth Institute mocked Elmhurst College for including a voluntary question about applicants’ sexual orientation on its application: “What’s to keep students from lying for the sake of a scholarship?” 

These groups have been especially vocal in condemning literature that points out the many different family structures, single, married, and unmarried homo- and heterosexual parents.  Evidently children with gay or lesbian or transgendered parents shouldn't feel welcome in having their families talked about.  Once again the anti-gay movement has an agenda to push and it comes at the expense of the children they claim to be protecting.

But that's not even the worst case.  What if you told people that you were going to deny children basic human necessities unless you were allowed to discriminate? Sounds pretty awful, right?  That's exactly what Illinois Catholic Charities did in 2011.  You see, due to state laws, Illinois Catholic Charities would not be allowed to receive state money if it continued its practice of barring LGBT couples from adopting children in their care.  Rather than focus on the welfare of the children (many of whom were probably LGBT themselves) OR continuing to adopt out children as a private organization, thus ensuring that some children found homes, the ICC decided to close entirely.  Catholic Charities in Boston, after adopting to LGBT couples for years, ended up making a similar decision in 2006.  It's disappointing how little flak Catholic Charities gets for holding children hostage in their quest to discriminate.

Anti-LGBT groups will yell and scream that they're concerned with 'the children,' and they are, but it certainly isn't their welfare.  It is how they can be used as a political tool to advance their agenda.  Funny how these people call themselves pro-family.