'Investigate Homosexual Influence in Public Schools' asks Southern Baptist Convention Resolution. New resolution submitted at 2005 annual meeting of Southern Baptist Convention may lead to exodus from public schools.

To: National Desk, Education Reporter, Feature Reporter

Primary Contact: Creative Resources, 800-858-9388, cmresource@aol.com, to schedule an interview with Dr. Voddie Baucham, Jr. or Bruce Shortt

Additional Contacts: Chaplain (Lt. Col., Ret.) E. Ray Moore, Jr., Th.M. (South Carolina): 803-714-1744; Dr. Robert Dreyfus (Florida) 352-216-1703; Pastor Larry Reagan (Tennessee) 731-364-6724; all of Exodus Mandate; or see individual contacts listed below.

COLUMBIA, SC, May 9 /Christian Wire Service/ -- Under the guise of promoting tolerance, safety, diversity, and multiculturalism, a growing number of government schools are influencing our children to regard homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle and silencing those within the schools who disagree.

In order to make Christian parents and pastors more aware of the aggressive homosexual activism being sponsored by many public schools, Dr. Voddie Baucham, Jr., a prominent Southern Baptist lecturer, preacher, and author of The Ever-Loving Truth, and Bruce N. Shortt, co-sponsor of the 2004 Christian Education Resolution and author of The Harsh Truth About Public Schools, have submitted a resolution addressing homosexuality and the public schools for consideration at the SBC's 2005 Annual Meeting.

The resolution encourages every SBC church to investigate whether the school district in which it is located has either a homosexual club or any curriculum or program that attempts to influence children to accept homosexual behavior as a legitimate lifestyle. If the school district has any of these, the resolution urges churches to inform parents of this fact and encourage them to remove their children from the district's schools immediately.

The Baucham-Shortt resolution also: (a) commends Christians working in government schools, (b) asks Baptists to make a greater effort to provide and support Christian educational alternatives to government schools, especially for the benefit of children from low income and single parent families, (c) calls upon Baptists to pray for homosexuals, and (d) rebukes homosexual activists for slandering minorities by claiming that homosexual behavior has any authentic connection with the civil rights movement.

Dr. Baucham believes it is urgent that Christian parents become better informed: "I am convinced that if government schools had to recruit students by sending out brochures outlining the academic, moral, and spiritual aspects of their curriculum, most Baptists would throw it in the trash without a second thought. However, when these schools can hide behind stealth phrases like tolerance, safe schools, multiculturalism, and safer sex, parents are often unaware of the dangers lurking beneath the surface. Moreover, parents who speak up are often branded as narrow-minded bigots with outdated values. This resolution is an effort to shine the light of truth in the dark corners of our schools and force our brethren to take a long, hard, honest look at what we have tolerated for far too long."

According to Shortt, "Homosexuals need our prayers and concern, but Christian parents must make sure that their children are not being endangered by false teaching in government schools. Under the guise of promoting "tolerance", "safety", "diversity", and "multiculturalism", government schools are influencing our children to regard homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle and silencing those within the schools who disagree. Education officials who would never dream of engineering acceptance of smoking among children are all too often complicit in promoting acceptance among children of a lifestyle that evidence indicates is at least as deadly and self-destructive as smoking."

Well-known experts consulted regarding this resolution confirm that mainstreaming of the homosexual lifestyle in public schools is widespread and poses a serious danger to children:

Peter LaBarbera, founder of Americans for Truth and Executive Director of the Illinois Family Institute, www.illinoisfamily.org, 630-790-8370: "I have monitored the homosexual movement for 15 years, with special focus on its campaign to penetrate schools. Groups like GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network and PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), working with pro-homosexual student groups, promote the false notion of inherent 'GLBT' (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and

Transgender) identity resulting in sexually-confused students 'coming out' at younger and younger ages. Radical gender and homosexual advocacy groups influence teacher-training programs dealing with 'sexual orientation' and 'diversity,' creating school environments that are heavily biased against Christian moral teachings. Even grade-school students are targeted, with manipulative programs and lesson plans about 'bullying' and homosexual parenting. Most parents, especially those living near big cities, simply have no clue as to the many ways that the 'sexual orientation' agenda works its way into their children's education."

Linda Harvey, President, Mission America, Columbus, OH, www.missionamerica.com, 614-442-7998: "Based on my 10 years of tracking and researching the growth of homosexual activism in public schools, I know that very few parents are aware that the majority of public school districts are selling our children the dangerous and false notion that homosexuality is a normal and acceptable lifestyle. Because most Christian parents and churches have been silent about this out of ignorance or apathy, they are essentially saying to their children that what the schools are teaching is accurate and acceptable; they are also saying to schools, we give you permission to proceed, to count on our silence, and to count on our children continuing to fill your classrooms."

Robert Knight, director, Culture & Family Institute, an affiliate of Concerned Women for America 202-488-7000: "Under the rubric of "diversity," "tolerance," "safe schools," and AIDS education, homosexual activists are selling a pansexual agenda right under parents' noses. They gain access to public schools by initiating something with obvious appeal, such as the anti-bullying program "No Name-Calling Week." Such projects are a Trojan horse for promoting homosexuality as normal and inevitable for some kids. Parents then find themselves being accused of bigotry for trying to steer children away from a set of behaviors whose risks are well documented. By the time it reaches that stage, the activists and their materials are entrenched in the school system."

Dr. Jeffrey Satinover, M.S., M.D., Department of Politics, Princeton University and Laboratoire de la Physique de la Mati�re Condens�e, Universit� de Nice USA, 203-221-0031 jsatinov@princeton.edu: "Any program, club, or curriculum that signals to students that homosexual behavior is 'just another lifestyle' places children at tremendous risk. Data from the Centers for Disease Control indicate that for boys and young men in North America who identify themselves as homosexual even if the identification is only temporary, which as has been documented in numerous large-scale sociological studies in America, France, Britain, Australia and New Zealand, as is the case with the majority of such self-identified homosexuals - the risk of being either HIV positive or dead by age 30 may now be as high as 65%."

Dr. Warren Throckmorton, Associate Professor of Psychology, Grove City College 724-458-3787, ewthrockmorton@gcc.edu: "As a result of over 20 years of clinical experience and academic research concerning education and sexual orientation, it is clear that schools are increasingly being used by groups such as the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network

(GLSEN) as focal points for their advocacy. Instruction time is being given over to political activism, much of which has as its purpose to change traditional beliefs concerning sexuality. Most parents have no idea that this is going on or that public school officials collaborate with political activists to attempt to alter the beliefs of school children."