Anti-gay ‘Day of Truth’ fails to make its mark in US schools
Gay rights groups across America have breathed a sigh of relief after the homophobic ‘Day of Truth’ failed to make an impact on American schools.
Gay news group, GoodasYou.org described that events failure:
“The so-called “Day of Truth” went by yesterday with less than a whimper.
“While last Friday’s pro-acceptance, anti-bullying ‘Day of Silence’ attracted considerable attention, there was barely a mention of Monday’s anti-gay endeavour on either mainstream or “pro-family” news sites, and none of the usual social conservative groups issued so much as a press release celebrating the event.
“In fact, a Google News search doesn’t turn up even one “DOT” mention posted after 4/27.”
The event came three days after the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) ‘Day of Silence’, which highlights the persecution that many LGBT students in America, and around the world, still regularly face daily.
The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) established the ‘Day of Truth’ to oppose the promotion of same-sex marriage legalization and to express their viewpoint on homosexuality from a conservative Christian perspective.
It is held annually following the ‘Day of Silence’.
According to the ADF, students who have attempted to speak against gay rights have been censored or, in some cases, punished for their actions under campus hate-speech rules.
ADF bills the ‘Day of Truth’ as an opportunity for students to, “Counter the promotion of the homosexual agenda,” and publicly exercise their freedom of speech.
The event aims to be student-led in the same model as the ‘Day of Silence’, with students forming small groups at their own school to organize and promote participation, though it is organized by the national ADF.
The organisers website advises students on what to do if teacher attempt to halt their homophobic actions:
“ADF has more than 1,000 allied attorneys who are available to assist you if you run into complications with school officials or pro-homosexual advocacy groups on your campus.”
The website continues:
“We are merely trying to point those who struggle with homosexual behaviour to Christ’s love and healing.
“When Christ loved someone, like the woman caught in adultery, he did not condemn her but expressed compassion for her. He also gave her the loving admonition to “go now and leave your life of sin” (John 8:11). As followers of Jesus Christ, we cannot sit idly by while someone is trapped in sinful behaviour that separates him or her from God.
“We must be able to show people their need for a relationship with Jesus Christ, which often comes through illuminating the sinfulness of their behaviour that separates them from their loving God.”
The Alliance Defense Fund has many connections with Christian ex-gay organizations that claim that LGBT persons can change to heterosexuality through prayer, intervention and psychological counselling.
The Alliance Defense Fund receives funding from Focus on the Family, a group that also funds Exodus Ministries. ADF also lists Exodus as an allied organization on their webpage.
Resources for the group’s ‘Day of Truth’ event were prepared by Exodus Ministries, which claims to be able to help LGBT persons become heterosexual, included in their “Homosexuality FAQ Sheet.”
The fact sheet reports a 52 percent success rate for treating “unwanted homosexual attraction.”
On the day of this years ‘Day of Silence’ American talk show host Larry King made an emotional plea to viewers that Americans must demand tolerance for LGBT students.
The event was particularly poignant after the homophobic murder of a gay teenager.
Fifteen year old Lawrence King was gunned down by 14-year-old Brandon McInerney earlier this year in Oxnard, California because he was gay, and had allegedly asked McInerney to be his valentine.
