Homosexual recruitment

Homosexual recruitment is a term used for the idea that LGBT people actively target impressionable individuals to persuade them to identify as LGBT. It is mostly used by activists in the United States who strongly disapprove of homosexuality.

Debate centers around education programs intended to reduce homophobic sexual discrimination by providing information about LGBT issues.

Examples of the term's use
People who use the term are often arguing against policies which present LGBT issues as acceptable topics for discussion in schools and in sex education. Some examples:


 * The conservative Christian organization "The Traditional Values Coalition" wrote: "The state-endorsed pro-homosexual teacher/teen 'Teach Out' held at Tufts University in Boston in March has outraged concerned citizens. There's growing concern among parents over the use of tax dollars to fund homosexual recruitment programs in the public schools. During the Teach Out, state HIV instructors taught teenagers how to engage in deviant sex acts and they also taught teachers how to indoctrinate children into accepting homosexuality as normal."


 * Anita Bryant campaigned to repeal an ordinance in Miami, Florida that prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Her campaign was based upon allegations of "homosexual recruitment." Bryant said "As a mother, I know that homosexuals cannot biologically reproduce children; therefore, they must recruit our children."


 * Pat Robertson has said that feminism was a front for turning women into lesbians. He had described it as a "socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians."

Related examples

 * "Section 28" of the UK's 1988 Local Government Act was a significant public controversy in the UK related to public presentation of homosexuality. Section 28 stated that a local authority "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality" or "promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship." No successful prosecution was ever brought under this legislation, and following intense debate the section was finally repealed in 2003. Its enactment caused the majority of schools in the UK to close, limit or self-censor discussion and acknowledgment of homosexual and bisexual relationships (and by relation transgender and sexual diversity issues) within classes, sex education and student activities, for fear of breaching the law.


 * In February 1999 an unattributed National Liberty Journal article that media outlets attributed to Jerry Falwell, claimed that Tinky Winky, a Teletubby, was intended as a gay role model. A 1998 Salon.com article previously had noted Tinky Winky's status as a gay icon. In response, Steve Rice, spokesperson for Itsy Bitsy Entertainment, which licenses the Teletubbies in the US, said, "I really find it absurd and kind of offensive." The immensely popular UK show was aimed at pre-school children, but the article stated "he is purple - the gay pride color; and his antenna is shaped like a triangle - the gay-pride symbol." Apart from those characteristics Tinky Winky also carries a magic bag which the NLJ article said was a purse. Falwell added "role modelling the gay lifestyle is damaging to the moral lives of children."


 * In 2002, Boston University Chancellor John Silber ordered that a B.U.-affiliated high school academy disband its gay-straight alliance, a student club that staged demonstrations to publicize the deleterious effects of homophobia. Silber dismissed the stated purpose of the club, that of serving as a support group for gay students that also sought to promote tolerance and understanding between gay and straight students, and accused it of being a vehicle for "homosexual recruitment." Silber denounced the group for "evangelism" and "homosexual militancy" with the purpose of promoting gay sex. At the time, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts funded gay-straight student clubs in 156 schools.


 * The Massachusetts Governor's Task Force on Hate Crimes under co-chair Don Gorton had nearly completed the task of developing an anti-bullying program before Mitt Romney, the new governor, eliminated all funds for hate crime prevention after taking office in 2003. The Task Force not only lost its staff but also the money to complete the guide when funds previously approved by Governor Jane Swift were impounded by Romney. The guide, which was to be made available to communities to provide guidance on implementing bullying prevention programs in middle schools and high schools, continues to attract the ire of right-wing Christian activists, who equate it with "homosexual recruitment."