PFOX Counters PTA Convention Snub With Pro-Family Conference Nearby
by Jim Brown
June 24, 2005
(AgapePress) - A pro-family group snubbed by this year's National Parent Teacher Association Convention in Columbus, Ohio, is getting its message out today (June 24) by holding a counter-conference next door.
The Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, also known as PFOX, is holding its conference in response to the National PTA's decision to deny the group exhibit space at the 2005 PTA Convention. Officials with the parent and teacher organization did, however, invite members of the pro-homosexual activist group Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) to exhibit at the PTA Convention, which will focus on the issues of bullying and school safety. (See earlier story)
Psychology professor and sexual orientation expert Dr. Warren Throckmorton is among the featured speakers of the PFOX conference. He says the pro-family event will take a radically different approach to the issue of safe schools from what will be presented at the PTA event.
One objective of the conference, he notes, is to make people aware of the difference between PFOX's goals and the agenda being pursued by the pro-homosexual activists who are exhibiting at the PTA Convention.
"PFLAG won't support anti-harassment or anti-bullying policies unless they contain the term 'sexual orientation,'" Throckmorton points out. "PFOX [in contrast] will want to protect all students. So we're going to make that message clear." This weekend, he says, PFOX will be presenting materials and methods designed to protect all students and ensure safe schools for everyone.
Also, at the National PTA Convention, the professor expects PFLAG will be promoting its view that sexual orientation is inborn and cannot be changed. Meanwhile, at the PFOX conference, he and other presenters will argue that if sexual orientation is to be discussed in schools, all sides of the issue must be presented.
Throckmorton recalls an incident in which a school's material dealing with these controversial issues was so biased that it was challenged in court. He notes, "The recent Montgomery County, Maryland, decision concerning health education curriculum there that dealt with homosexuality and sexual orientation was recently thrown out by a federal judge because it was so one-sided."
The psychologist and sexual orientation expert says PFLAG favors that kind of presentation -- "the one-sided curriculum that views sexual orientation as being a matter of genetics and destiny -- whereas PFOX favors a balanced approach."
In addition to its roster of pro-family speakers, the PFOX Conference in Ohio will feature two showings of Throckmorton's documentary, Is Change Possible?, a film that looks at the lives of five former homosexuals.
PTA -- the 'Playground Bully'
At a press conference on Friday, PFOX called on the PTA to demonstrate true diversity. PFOX spokesman Greg Quinlan, who heads the Ohio-based Pro-Family Network, said the PTA's snub is a direct assault on him and others who have left homosexuality.
"By denying the vital, well-researched, substantiated, scientific documentation and reference material offered by [PFOX], the PTA has made a political statement and shown their preference for the unsubstantiated information of PFLAG," Quinlan stated.
"The PTA has become the bully on the playground of fair and balanced education. Education is about information and viewpoint[ and] PFOX offers information that parents and educators need to respect the choices of all individuals."
Quinlan says the fact ex-homosexuals exist deserves the attention and the scrutiny of all the members of the PTA.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
