Innocence Lost

On Valentine's Day, a group of women stood inside the doorway of a Massachusetts elementary school handing out small bags of heart-shaped candy. Was it a group of parents helping out with the festivities? No, it was the Lesbian Avengers, an aggressive gay rights activist group. Along with the candy, they handed out leaflets that said, "Lesbians are everywhere!...Girls who love girls and women who love women are OK!! Happy Valentine's Day." Parents were outraged. And no wonder. The children who received the candy and leaflets were only 7, 8, and 9 years old. They came home confused and upset. One little girl said, "Nora is my best friend and I love her. Does that make me bad?" Parents found themselves forced to explain the difference between homosexuality and heterosexuality to children too young to be burdened with such detailed sexual information. As one mother put it, "It's not fair for someone to rob our children of their innocence." The Lesbian Avengers are more flamboyant than most gay rights groups, but their stunt reveals some of the uglier truths about the movement. The most disturbing is this determination to push kids into sexual knowledge—and even sexual activity—at an ever younger age. Of course, introducing youngsters to sexuality is always couched in terms of defending their rights. In 1986, the International Lesbian and Gay Association adopted a position supporting what it called "the right of young people to sexual and social self-determination." And in 1990, the association said it "supports the right of every individual, regardless of age, to explore and develop her or his sexuality." But of course, children are too young to be capable of asserting any kind of rights. So what all this talk about children's rights really means is, Let's get young people out from under their parents' protection—so they can be approached by gays and other adults. Today gay groups are starting to admit openly that this is their real agenda. When the Lesbian Avengers came to school, they were wearing T-shirts emblazoned with a simple slogan: "We recruit!" Obviously they had no scruples about recruiting even small elementary-school children. This is frightening—but what's really disturbing is that the language used by gay groups is exactly the same as the language used by mainstream sex education leaders. For example, Mary Calderone, long-time president of the Sex Information and Education Council of the United States—better known as SIECUS—said children have a fundamental right "to know about sexuality and to be sexual." Family therapist Larry Constantine is even more explicit. He says, "Children are a disenfranchised minority. They should have the right to express themselves sexually—which means that they may or may not have contact with people older than themselves." This is dangerous stuff, and it shows that gays are part of the most explosive aspect of the culture war—a debate over the purpose and meaning of sexuality, of families, and of childhood. Christians need to make it absolutely clear that God gave parents the responsibility for raising and protecting their children. And no one else should dare to take away their innocence.

03/4/94