Anti-Gay Activist to Parents: Watch Out for LGBT Doctors, Nurses
An activist with an anti-gay organization has sent word to America’s parents to watch out for gay doctors and nurses, and to be sure to let their children’s physicians know that GLBT hospital staff shouldn’t be allowed near injured kids, Dan Savage reported at his blog on Oct. 24.
"Do you think these folks provide good role modeling at a time when your child is very vulnerable?" Mission America’s Linda Harvey asked, going on to invite parents to imagine "your eleven year-old has broken her leg rather badly and needs to be in the hospital a few days, which would you prefer: A nurse who’s proud of her lesbianism, who has rainbow identifiers on her work clothing, or a nurse who does not?"
Harvey went on to suggest the children treated by GLBT staff at hospitals might get the idea that gays are actually okay.
"If you want your children to admire people who proclaim a homosexual lifestyle, they’re involvement with your child during a hospital stay is sure to be an influence," Harvey wrote.
"And let me be clear that folks involved in these behaviors can be certainly competent workers but they are tacking on to their workplace identity one that is highly offensive to many people and can be erroneously influential to children who won’t, or shouldn’t, see the whole picture of how this behavior really manifests itself."
Harvey gave voice to her worries that gay professionals coming into contact with "vulnerable" children might pose a moral hazard to the young during an Oct. 18 broadcast of her radio program, reported People for the American Way at the group’s "Right Wing Watch" blog.
"There are a few homosexual doctors treating kids, there are far more nurses, LPNs, technicians and other health care workers in these lifestyles," Harvey declared, going on to add, "Should your child ever be hospitalized, you do not want your child treated or cared for by one of these members of the Children’s Hospital gay employees group."
Harvey said that she had become aware of the pressing issue of gay professionals who might prove to be positive role models upon learning of a group for gay hospital personnel.
"I was thinking about this recently when I heard that Children’s Hospital in Columbus has a homosexual employees group called NCHARGE, which stands for Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Advocates Representing Gay Employees," Harvey said in her radio comments, People for the American Way reported.
"The meeting minutes of this groups reveal that they participated in last June’s gay pride parade, that they participated in a health expo on adolescent health this summer and that they’re concerned about same-sex partner benefits.
"They’re also planning to be identified with rainbow lapel pins," Harvey noted, before suggesting that parents file a letter directing that their kids not be attended by GLBT hospital staff except in emergencies.
"But for routine in-hospital care where contact with your child would be required, your values should be respected," added Harvey.
The idea that children are liable to be corrupted through casual contact with gays is a persistent one. In the 1950s, schoolchildren were shown filmstrips warning them about the "pathology" of gay men. In the 1970s, anti-gay activist Anita Bryant popularized the notion that gays "recruit" the young as a means of perpetuating their demographic.
No scientific evidence exists to suggest that heterosexuals can be "turned" gay. Conversely, the idea that gays can be "cured" and turned straight has come under fire from gays themselves, who say that their sexuality is natural and innate, and mental health professionals, who warn that so-called "reparative therapy" programs can do considerable harm to gay people.
Even leaders of the "ex gay" movement have begun to acknowledge that attempts to "counsel" gays and "cure" them are futile. GLBT equality advocates have expressed the hope that once evangelicals and others who cling to the idea that being gay is a "lifestyle" that is "chosen" come to understand that sexual orientation is inborn and unchangeable, anti-gay attitudes and opposition to full legal and social equality will dissipate.
But even as social acceptance for gays continues to rise dramatically, conservative politicians lag behind the curve. Last week, GOP presidential hopeful Herman Cain claimed on television that the struggles of sexual and racial minorities were not comparable, suggesting that, unlike gays, the identities of racial minorities do not "wash off" in the shower.
Cain made the comments during an Oct. 19 appearance on CNN in a discussion with host Piers Morgan, to whom he expressed the notion that gays "choose" their sexual orientation.
"I respect their right to make that choice," Cain told Morgan during the exchange. "You don’t see me bashing them or anything like that. I respect their right to make that choice. I don’t have to agree with it. That’s all I’m saying."
