Image by Eddie Colla.
Hot off the front lines, so I’ll just quote the source (with permission):
FYI, the so-called “American College of Pediatricians” (americancollegeofpediatricians.org) has just sent a letter to schools across the country, giving supposed information about how to deal w/LGBT students. The letter links to this site: factsaboutyouth.com.
It looks all official, but it’s actually quite homophobic (they believe that gay conversion therapy works and that homosexuality can be “encouraged” by parents). They even have a page called “Health Risks of the homosexual lifestyle.” Unsurprisingly, the American College of Pediatricians is also pro-abstinence and anti-abortion.
Maybe this isn’t huge news (because hundreds of organizations with these views exist), but it’s probably a good thing to be aware of in case educators don’t do their homework and decide to believe the information.
VB note: This is the press release summing up the letter that went out to to all 14,800 school district superintendents in the U.S.
I think the AAP would have a good case for getting the ‘ACP’ to change its name or make explicit that it is not related to are affiliated with the AAP. What the ACP is doing is just plain wrong!
@peter: I don’t think that the ‘American College of Pediatricians” has *anything* to do with the AAP and I am certain that it is not a legitimate professional association like the AAP. It is just a bunch of people with a political agenda that are trying to borrow legitimacy by choosing that particular name for themselves. And while I am all for political agenda’s, I think that it is outrage that they try to pose as a medical society.
I was surprised to see this, as the dominant professional organization for pediatricians (the american academy of pediatrics aap.org) is quite supportive of the idea that sexuality is inborn and the child should be encouraged to make their own choices. It is the official position of AAP that “conversion” therapies are ineffective and dangerous and that the role of physicians, parents and educators is to support the adolescent, regardless of their sexual orientation. If is sound a bit forceful on this, it is only because I just a had a lecture on it from a pediatrician.