PFOX Protests PTA Convention's Exclusion of Ex-Homosexual Perspective

by Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
May 20, 2005

(AgapePress) - The National Parent-Teacher Association is being criticized for inviting a pro-homosexual activist group to its annual conference, while at the same time denying equal access to a group that reaches out to individuals and families adversely affected by homosexuality and supports those who want to leave that lifestyle.

For the second year in a row, the National PTA has invited the group Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) to set up an exhibition and conduct a workshop at the PTA's June convention. The PTA has meanwhile denied exhibit space to a group that maintains homosexuality is not an inborn trait and that homosexual orientation can be changed.

Regina Griggs, executive director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX), believes the PTA does not want families to hear that there is help for people with unwanted same-sex attractions. "I just can't even imagine it," she says. "I cannot imagine that an organization that promotes family-teacher-school participation is promoting homosexuality and gay marriage, denying that ex-gays exist, and withholding information to families and students that change is possible."

PFOX of Alexandria, Virginia, was rejected as an exhibitor at the PTA's annual convention this year, ostensibly because the parent-teacher organization and its membership "have not identified homosexuality or same-sex marriage as an issue," according to the explanation of Jennifer Gaster Sopko, the National PTA spokeswoman in Chicago. Yet, somehow, the PTA is actually welcoming, again, both a workshop and an exhibit table from PFLAG. Last year marked the first time the national parent-teacher organization has featured a homosexual advocacy group addressing homosexual issues at its annual conference.

According to the National PTA website, this year's conference will emphasize three vitally important topics -- diversity, wellness, and membership. But Griggs feels as though the event has been to some extent hijacked by a pro-homosexual agenda. "The purpose of this conference was not about promoting homosexuality or gay marriage -- at least not to my knowledge," she says, "and I submitted nothing on those terms."

The PFOX spokeswoman is urging members and supporters of her group to protest the National PTA's exclusion of "ex-gay" ministries and their viewpoint from its conventions. "I think we need to call, we need to say people have a right to hear from us," she insists, "and they have a right to know that ex-gays exist. I have friends that are schoolteachers who are former homosexuals. I mean, this [exclusion] is an insult."

The National PTA's 2005 annual convention is being held in Columbus, Ohio, from June 23 to June 26 and will include several featured speakers, around 75 workshops, and some 200 exhibitors. Past and present sponsors of the national PTA or its annual convention include such major corporate entities as Target, FamilyFun (Disney Publishing Worldwide), the National Education Association, and Nickelodeon's "Let's Just Play" program.