Wash. Times editorial attacks "dangerous radical" Jennings' "bizarre sexual agenda" as "indoctrination"
October 16, 2009 11:12 am ET by Media Matters staff
From an October 16 Washington Times editorial:
Fifty-three Republican congressmen yesterday demanded that President Obama fire his embattled "safe schools czar," Kevin Jennings. Mr. Jennings' bizarre sexual agenda for American grade schools is one reason the president should dump this dangerous radical.
Mr. Jennings wrote the foreword to a 1998 book titled, "Queering Elementary Education." The book he endorsed was a collection of essays by different authors who supported teaching young children about homosexuality. Mr. Jennings' foreword explains why he thinks it is important to start educating children about homosexuality as early as activist-educators can get away with doing so. "Ask any elementary-school teachers you know and - if they're honest - they'll tell you they start hearing [anti-homosexual prejudice] as soon as kindergarten." And "As one third-grader put it plainly when asked by her teacher what 'gay' meant: 'I don't know. It's just a bad thing.' "
As another author in the book notes: "Any grade is 'old' enough [for the proper education] because even five-year-olds are calling each other 'gay' and 'faggot.' " Other writers claim there apparently is no problem getting into these discussions because, "The belief that children are not sexual beings is not substantiated by research."
The authors of "Queering Elementary Education" don't seem to be bothered by the dearth of evidence to justify their position in favor of teaching children about homosexual relationships. Because they do not provide the names of teachers who told various anecdotes included in the book, there's no way to check how many of the stories are secondhand exaggerations or even pure fiction.
One author in the book attacks the conservative notion that "artificial insemination, transient relationships, same-sex marriages and tangled family structures are not issues children should have to know about." Others contributors advocate that "sexual-diversity issues are central to multicultural education" and that schoolchildren should sing songs such as "In some families we have two Moms." Mind you, the authors don't provide scientific evidence that their policies accomplish the strange goals they push.
"Queering Elementary Education" argues consistently that children should be taught that same-sex-parent families are as normal and common as the traditional two-parent family or single-parent families. But it is one thing to argue certain behavior is acceptable; it is quite another to distort basic facts in an effort to change the worldview of children.
Mr. Jennings is one who claims that homosexual couples are more common than they actually are. One of his books titled "One Teacher in Ten" claims that 10 percent of people are homosexuals. Almost no one defends the old Alfred Kinsey survey that Mr. Jennings relied on to make this claim. That 1948 survey interviewed a high percentage of prison inmates and known sex offenders. There's plenty of more objective studies out there. For example, the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago found that the number of homosexuals in America was less than 1 percent.
Advocating the indoctrination of kindergarten children based on anecdotal evidence or flawed science isn't Mr. Jennings' worst offense. But it's certainly not what Americans expect from a White House "safe schools czar" who is responsible for making policy decisions that impact children's safety.
Previously:
Smears of "sick and immoral" "pervert" Jennings: the worst of the worst
Palin's book and Obama's bow: a media week to forget
Media Matters: The Palin chronicles
The Friday Rush: A series of conflicts
I thought not.
The idea that we can't expose kids to gay adults and let them know that different people behave in different ways is ridiculous. I don't want schools to be teaching children specific about heterosexual sex in elementary school, but I don't want them denying kids the facts about differing races, religions, etc under the guise of 'protecting' the students.
Regardless of what percentage of the population homosexuals make up, to deny rights or to label them as deviant would be wrong. This logic would justify the argument that it is okay to deny rights or not teach about African-Americans because they are a minority.
Majority rule with respect for the minority. This article does nothing of the such, and pushes the thought that the minority, and in this case homosexuals, should be further marginalized.
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The Midnight Review
Mum Is The Word
Few debates have been so contentious as the controversy over the sexual orientation of Americans (Billy, et al., 1993; Stokes and McKiran, 1993; Michaels, 1997; Mosher, Chandra, and Jones, 2005; and Swann, 1993). The gay and lesbian communities have long adopted 10% as the portion of the population that is homosexual.5 However, a series of recent national studies (Table 8A) indicate that only about 2-3% of sexually-active men and 1-2% of sexually- active women are currently engaging in same-gender sex (see also Anderson and Stall, 2002; Black et al, 2000; Butler, 1998; Horowitz, Weis, and Laflin, 2001; and Sell and Becker, 2001). These national American estimates are consistent with figures from local…
Notes:
aPeter D. Hart Research Associates (9/87) "How would you define your sexuality - are you homosexual, bisexual, or heterosexual in your orientation?"
bThe lower estimate is reported in Taylor, 1993 and the higher estimate in Sell, Wells, and Wypij, 1995.
cPeter D. Hart Research Associates (4/90) "And for statistical purposes only, could you tell me whether or not you are gay?" (men only)
dFrom VRS presidential exit poll.
I include the notes giving the authors' references to show just how difficult it would be to prove the accuracy of the reports claims. There is no indication that these surveys are in any way defensible.
But even the reported percentage the WT provides in not accurate. The report said that "only about 2-3% of sexually-active men and 1-2% of sexually- active women are currently engaging in same-gender sex" These stats add up to 3-5% of the population and they refer to actively engaging in same-gender sex. What about those who are not actively engaging in sex, are living a lifestyle with a different sex partner at the moment, or have not yet decided to accept their homosexuality (come out)?
I'd say that this source is not reliable.