Federal Department Drops Pro-Homosexual Website
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has removed an agency website containing numerous pages of what some conservatives called “pro-homosexual propaganda.” The website of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration boasted of “celebrating the pride and diversity among and within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender populations.”
The Family Research Council had called on the government to take down the site. Conservative columnist Dr. Warren Throckmorton said the website contained inaccurate statistics and was a waste of tax dollars. The prominent mental health expert had expressed concern over the federal government website that celebrated homosexuality.
Earlier in the week, the Family Research Council had revealed that an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services had numerous pages of “pro-homosexual propaganda posted on one of its websites.” A website of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) boasts of “celebrating the pride and diversity among and within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender populations.” (Link to website — Warning: This website contains pro-homosexual material)
Throckmorton said the website contained erroneous information, and pointed out that “one of the so-called ‘facts’” on the website quoted a 1989 Department of Health report saying that homosexual youth are up to five times more likely to attempt suicide. “Anyone who knows this literature at all knows that that report … was speculation,” Throckmorton said. “There are no data, there’s no research to support that. That’s been debunked many, many times.”
The mental health expert also noted that the website touted information from homosexual advocacy groups. For example, the website blamed society for the “high-risk” behavior of homosexuals, and even offered a quiz that purportedly allowed individuals to determine if they were “heterosexist” or “homophobic.”
Throckmorton, who is director of college counseling at Grove City College, believes it is an improper use of taxpayer money to post information from homosexual advocacy groups on a government website.
“The sourcing of some of the information [on the website] is linked back to groups like GLSEN — the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network — which is an advocacy group,” he said. “And inasmuch as they do research, … it’s not peer-reviewed.”
The danger in this, said Throckmorton, is that “the person seeking this information on a government website would have no idea that this is advocacy-related information.”
Other pro-homosexual groups with links on the website included the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association; Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG); and the National Association of Lesbian & Gay Addiction Professionals. A representative of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration would not comment for this story.
By Jim Brown, AgapePress – Copyright, 2006. All Rights Reserved.
RELATED INFORMATION:
US Government Promotes Homosexuality: See earlier article