Linda Harvey
America is doing a terrific job of pushing homosexuality in schools, and as a result, more of our kids are engaging in this behavior and adopting the identity.
A major Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study provides the gruesome stats.
This disastrous news should be major media headlines. A few progressives are happy, I’m sure, along with radical homosexual groups like GLSEN as well as the corrupt teachers’ unions, the NEA and others.
But for most of us, the CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) paints a grim picture with dire consequences for the long-term well-being of our nation’s youth.
In 2017, almost 15% (14.6%) of teens labeled themselves “gay, lesbian, bisexual or unsure.” In 2015, that figure was 11.2%.
And reckless, risky conduct remains higher among this self-labeled non-heterosexual group. The CDC biennial study included surveys of 9th through 12th graders in 39 states and 21 large urban school districts.
The survey asked students to check a box about what best describes them —“heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or unsure.” The “transgender” label is not part of this survey. Teens were then quizzed about various risky behaviors. Here are some of the findings.
The “bisexual” label is rising fast, especially among girls. In 2015, 9.8% of girls called themselves bisexual. In 2017, that number rose to 13.1%. And sexual experimentation is sharply higher among the “GLB” or “unsure” teens than among their heterosexual peers.
As the YRBS survey found in 2015, the “gay, lesbian, bisexual or unsure”(GLBU) students are much more likely to be sexually active, to have had sex before age 13, to have had sex with four or more partners, and to have experienced sexual or physical (non-sexual) violence.
Homosexual, bisexual or unsure teens were more likely to have drunk alcohol, even before age 13; to be current cigarette smokers; to drive a car after drinking alcohol; to not wear a seat belt when riding in a car driven by someone else; or to ride with a driver who had been drinking alcohol.
They were more likely to use marijuana and other drugs, to carry a weapon on school property, to be threatened with a weapon or to have been in a fight on school property.
They also reported more victimization, including a higher incidence of being bullied electronically or on school property, and not going to school because of safety concerns. They are also more likely to have considered or even attempted suicide.
The “GLB” or “unsure” teens are more likely to spend three hours or more a day on video or computer games or watching television. They are also more likely to be overweight.
Some questions yielded unique and troubling results. For instance, on a question about whether the student had ever driven a vehicle after smoking marijuana (Table 13), 12.2% of the heterosexually-identifying kids said “yes.” But among those identifying as “gay, lesbian, bisexual or unsure,” 42.2% answered in the affirmative.
The trend veers sharply toward self-destructive choices. Certainly, victimization reflected by bullying is an action initiated unjustly by others. But most of the rest of the surveyed behaviors are totally within the power of these confused homosexual and “questioning” kids to refuse.
The ready explanation of progressives is to blame harmful “LGBTQ” behavior on low self-esteem and “stigma,” but this doesn’t hold up. Why sexual experimentation? Why drinking and drugs? Immaturity, confusion, prior victimization through molestation and lack of sound adult guidance are probably more likely factors than “discrimination.”
When answering a question about drinking alcohol before age 13 (Table 96), 14.9% of the students who call themselves heterosexual said they had done so. But 41.6% of “GLB or unsure” students answered yes.
And heterosexual students were much less likely (39.1%) to have had sexual intercourse (Table 133). Homosexual, bisexual and questioning students answered yes much more often– 76.8%.
Schools and parents should recall these results when considering pro-homosexual lessons or “comprehensive sex education” (CSE) curricula that normalize anal, oral and vaginal sex for adolescents.
The evidence shows many teens are experimenting with these behaviors. Unfortunately, the dire outcomes—teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease—are not the topics of questions in the YRBS.
They should be.
A non-heterosexual identity – or considering one – is highly associated with having sex as a teen or younger.
While only 3% of heterosexual teens experienced sexual intercourse before age 13 (Table 135), 10.2% of the “GLBU” teens had done so. This tragic statistic probably reflects sexual abuse. Such a heartbreaking experience is very likely a factor in the child’s later sexual confusion.
No study has found that homosexuality is inborn. A major study in 2016 reviewed current research and found no genetic linkage, despite numerous attempts to discover one.
Why are schools promoting “LGBTQ” behaviors as if they are positive and necessary?
Among large urban school districts (Table 4), higher numbers of students reporting homosexual or questioning identities were found in New York City (25.3%); Baltimore (22.4%); Duval County, FL (Jacksonville – 21.5%); Chicago (18.4%); District of Columbia (18.4%); Cleveland (17.9%); Houston (17.6%); Detroit (17.5%); DeKalb County, GA (Atlanta area—17.3%); and Shelby County, TN (Memphis—17.2%).
Do you see a pattern here? Large, progressive-leaning urban school districts – those friendly to the “LGBTQ” and Planned Parenthood school agendas – are getting predictably rotten results.
Does homosexual attraction cause these other hazardous behaviors? Well, certainly not all of them, but this is a picture of teens who are unstable and reckless, and whatever issues cause this recklessness are possibly the root of confused sexual feelings as well.
Should we be trying to prevent all these high-risk behaviors, including homosexuality? Absolutely. It is changeable and preventable. But will our schools listen?
They may if you step out and tell them, parents.
Take this information to your next school board meeting.
Linda Harvey, President, Mission America
The media ministry of Linda Harvey is an outgrowth of her Christian faith and a successful career in marketing and public relations.
As a former advertising executive, Mrs. Harvey specialized in creating new communications’ vehicles. She has started more than twenty-five publications and overseen multi-million dollar advertising campaigns, primarily in the health care field. She was formerly Director of Marketing Communications at Ohio State University Hospitals.
In 1995, she founded Mission America, a Christian pro-family organization tracking current cultural issues with weekly e-newsletters sent to a national audience.
Linda hosts daily commentaries and a weekly radio show on the Salem Network station in Columbus, OH, 880 AM WRFD which broadcasts throughout the state, and airs a weekly commentary on the national Moody Radio Network. She is also a regular columnist for conservative news site www.WND.com , for www.AmericanThinker.com, for www.barbwire.com, and for www.ohioconservativereview.com .
She is interviewed frequently by local, state and national media outlets, and is author of two Christian books, Maybe He’s Not Gay: Another View on Homosexuality and Not My Child: Contemporary Paganism and the New Spirituality.
In addition, Linda is a frequent conference speaker, with presentations at events sponsored by Concerned Women for America, Focus on the Family, Heartbeat International, American Family Association, EPC (the Education Policy Conference), Americans for Truth and TruthXChange. She has also spoken to many Ohio Tea Party groups..
Mrs. Harvey attended a United Nations international conference as a media representative; has participated in a briefing on Capitol Hill; and has testified numerous times before Ohio legislative committees. She serves on the National Pro-Family Forum and the Ohio Pro-Family Forum.
Linda Harvey holds a B.A. in English from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, and has done graduate work at Miami, Ohio State University, and Trinity Lutheran Seminary. She is the wife of Tom Harvey and the mother of two children. They live in Columbus, Ohio.
