Part of the fun of being in this community is the sense of, well, community that can be easily accessed by a shared sense of questing or purpose.
Yesterday I was alerted to some anti-LGBT rhetoric that was listed on a website maintained by Porterville College for a campus Christian club. It appears that after our intrepid GayPorterville writer Melissa alerted us via the GayPorterville.com blog, other community members chimed in, shared it on Facebook, wrote in their own blogs, wrote open letters, made calls, and worked together to spread the word.
More than just some of the more mundane “The Bible says gay is wrong” propaganda that many of us are almost used to from certain Christian groups, this information was presented as factual evidence and statistics about the choice of gay… presented by a club who’s faculty advisor is a current Anatomy and Microbiology professor.
The page in question contained the following…
Homosexuality, at its root, is not a sexual problem – it is a gender-identity problem. Four gay myths 1. 10% of the population is homosexual 2. A person can be born gay. 3. Once gay, always gay. 4. Homosexuality is normal in every way.
It went on from there, but you can get the gist. It breaks down the reasons that someone might decide to be gay… such as a bad relationship with one’s parents or a bad example of love from one’s parents, etc.
Again, our community acted quickly with a call to action. And within hours the page had been removed.
Hours.
Wow!
Now, a few caveats, there is a bit of evidence that the page had not been maintained for over five years. It wasn’t easily linked to the college’s pages but was embedded there. A google search early in the day could find it if you had direct quotes, but again it wasn’t easily connected to the current One In Christ page.
Still, our community reacted quickly and with purpose. The page has been removed which means that an impressionable youth or community member won’t stumble upon it and be led to incorrect conclusions.
A big “tip of the hat” to Melissa over at GayPorterville for her diligence.
I would like to end with this, as part of the page’s diatribe of negativity and soul crushing wrong information presented as fact, there is this little gem… The Gay Agenda! (Now, in my world the Gay Agenda is usually a rainbow colored list of things to do in a day, but they find it much more sinister….)
Top Ten Strategies to promote gay agenda:
1. Promote victim status; exploit safety rhetoric.
2. Start with very young children
3. Discuss alternative families / Celebrate diversity.
4. Enact school nondiscrimination codes
5. Promote coming out and”GLBT pride.
6. Encourage (and fund) pro-homosexuality student clubs.
7. Adopt homosexuality-affirming curricula.
8. Use openly homosexual teachers and role models.
9. Pro-homosexuality counseling for troubled youth.
10. Equate opposition with hate, bigotry, and prejudice.
All I can say is Yes, Yes Yes Yes… Ten times, YES! That is a great agenda! Let’s actively work on that agenda, every day!
The now removed page: can be found here
Melissa and the awesome GayPorterville.com entry: is here!
UPDATE: I received a message from the faculty advisor on record for the club. As suspected, the page was old and reflected the notes taken at a Love Won Out Conference in Fresno. The page had been taken down years ago and was only accessible via an old embed. So, it shouldn’t be searchable and no one should accidentally stumble upon the “facts” contained there.
