The following three full-text articles, all published in recent issues of AFA Journal, document our claims concerning a DVD (video) and associated teaching materials that We Are Family Foundation is planning to distribute to schools nationwide.

We offer these articles for two reasons:

• To counter reports by numerous media oulets – including national news companies – that AFA has said that certain cartoon characters are ‘gay.’

• To encourage Christian parents to contact their schools and ask about plans to use the DVD and teaching materials.

1. January 2005 AFA Journal
CHILDREN’S TV UNITES TO LAUNCH PRO-GAY CAMPAIGN

This was the original AFA Journal story on the controversy involving the We Are Family Foundation (WAFF) and its project intended for elementary schools across the nation. It was the first story to underscore AFA’s concern that WAFF’s innocuous music video might open the door for a secondary discussion with children about homosexuality.

2. March 2005 AFA Journal
WE ARE FAMILY FOUNDATION THREATENS LAWSUIT

This follow-up article highlights the reaction of We Are Family Foundation (WAFF) to the original AFA Journal article, including WAFF’s removal of virtually all the objectional content from its Web site. Also included in this article: AFA’s suggested response from parents to their elementary schools.

3. March 2005 AFA Journal
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

In light of the media firestorm surrounding the “SpongeBob controversy” and the We Are Family Foundation project, Ed Vitagliano wrote this first-person account of the sloppy journalism and biased coverage evident throughout much of the major news media.

CHILDREN’S TV UNITES TO LAUNCH PRO-GAY CAMPAIGN
Spongebob, Arthur, Pooh, Bob the Builder, Little Mermaid, many others enlisted in stealth effort

It is as unprecedented as it is cunning, using all the right words and happiest faces in an attempt to speak directly to the nation’s children about “tolerance and diversity.” Once again, of course, those ideas include homosexual advocacy.

On November 10, a video remake of the song, “We Are Family,” was created using the voices and images of over 100 beloved children’s TV characters. On March 11, 2005, the video performance will air simultaneously on the Disney Channel, Nickelodeon and PBS. A similar video aired on those networks in 2002.

The nation’s children will be all too familiar with the characters on the video, incuding those from Arthur, Barney, Blue’s Clues, Bob the Builder, The Book of Pooh, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Dora the Explorer, Jimmy Neutron, Kim Possible, Lilo & Stitch: The Series, Little Mermaid, Madeline, The Magic School Bus, The Muppet Show, Rugrats, Sesame Street and SpongeBob SquarePants.

Also in March, the DVD of the song will be distributed to 61,000 public and private elementary schools across the country. It will be accompanied by a teacher’s guide, designed by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL, www.adl.org), a group that, among other things, promotes the normalization of homosexuality.

Driving the project is the We Are Family Foundation (WAFF, www.wearefamilyfoundation.org), which states on its Web site that the song was remixed “to speak the message of diversity and tolerance to elementary school children nationwide.”

On the surface, the project may appear to be a worthwhile attempt to foster greater understanding of cultural differences among all Americans. However, a short step beneath the surface reveals that one of the differences being celebrated is homosexuality.

WAFF was founded as a non-profit organization in 2002 by Nile Rodgers, who wrote the song “We Are Family” with his late music partner, Bernard Edwards. The WAFF site says that the group “celebrates our common humanity and the vision of a global family ….”

The Web site is filled with pro-homosexual materials. A “Tolerance Pledge,” for example, created by Tolerance.org, part of the leftist Southern Poverty Law Center, encourages signees to pledge respect for homosexuals and work against “ignorance, insensitivity and bigotry.”

Most Christians are now aware of what those code words mean, said AFA Chairman Don Wildmon. “If you are a person who accepts the homosexual lifestyle, then you are tolerant,” he said. “If you don’t, then you are a bigot who is motivated by ignorance and hate.”

One of the teacher’s guides available online at the WAFF Web site is called “Writing for Change: Raising Awareness of Difference, Power, & Discrimination.” Full of politically correct lessons on feminism, it is also a primer for teachers who want to indoctrinate children regarding sexual orientation issues.

Lessons include such topics as “Talking About Being ‘Out’” and “Uncovering Attitudes About Sexual Orientation.” In these lesson plans, teachers are taught how to introduce students to “the concepts of homophobia and compulsory heterosexuality.”

According to the teacher’s guide, children should be taught to reject the idea “that women are ‘naturally’ or innately drawn sexually and emotionally toward men, and men toward women,” or that heterosexuality is normal and should be the only model for marriage.

Students are expected to be influenced by the lesson plans. One of the follow-up questions asks the kids: “How will understanding these definitions change your thinking about compulsory heterosexuality and homophobia?”

The ADL has partnered with WAFF on the “We Are Family” project in other ways. The WAFF site includes the ADL’s pamphlet, “Close the Book on Hate,” a diversity tome that normalizes homosexuality. It also contains a reading list for children and adults that includes such homosexual favorites as Daddy’s Roommate, Growing Up Gay, Heather Has Two Mommies, Is It a Choice?, Two Teenagers in Twenty, and What If Someone I Know Is Gay?

Wildmon said it is difficult taking a stand against such projects. “Nobody I know has a problem with teaching children to be respectful and tolerant. It is wrong, however, to use such concepts to open the door to a secondary discussion about a controversial subject like homosexuality,” he said.

For those people who find it difficult to understand AFA’s objection, Wildmon said they should imagine a scenario in which the shoe is on the other foot. “What if these television characters were singing about personality, but then when children went to the Web site, or when the teacher opened up the accompanying lesson plan, the topic was Christianity?” he said. “A lot of people would be angry with that kind of approach. And that’s why many Christians will be upset with the strategy taken by the We Are Family Foundation.”

While the March launch of the school project was still a few months away, Wildmon advised parents to be on the lookout to see if the DVD, teacher’s guide, and other WAFF materials find their way into their local schools.

WE ARE FAMILY FOUNDATION THREATENS LAWSUIT
Music video OK, but classroom follow-up is primary concern

The We Are Family Foundation (WAFF) has threatened a lawsuit in federal court against AFA because of an article that appeared in the January AFA Journal, which exposed the pro-homosexual content on WAFF’s Web site.

The letter from WAFF attorneys charged that the statements of fact within the AFA Journal article were false, malicious and “clearly uttered with a reckless disregard for the truth.” WAFF demanded that AFA recant its statements, remove the article from its own Web site, and in its place post an apology. AFA refused.

The AFA Journal article focused on a video project involving the 1970s hit song, “We Are Family,” co-written by WAFF founder Nile Rodgers. The remix of the song, which was produced in November 2004 as a music video using over 100 characters from children’s television, is scheduled to be distributed via DVD format to over 61,000 elementary schools. A teacher’s guide will accompany the DVD to encourage discussions after children view the music video We Are Family.

“The video itself is fine,” said AFA chairman Don Wildmon. “But a teacher’s guide that promotes the homosexual agenda is not acceptable. All we’ve ever said is that parents should know how their school will use the video to teach values.”

Under the guise of promoting tolerance for other categories such as race, gender, age, disabilities, etc., the WAFF Web site openly promoted homosexuality as a normative lifestyle. There was a “Tolerance Pledge” that encouraged signees to pledge respect for homosexuals, and work against “ignorance, insensitivity and bigotry.” The site included a teacher’s guide that aggressively normalized same-gender attraction and same-sex marriage. There was also a recommended reading list for children and adults that included such illustrated children’s books as the lesbian-themed, Heather Has Two Mommies, which discusses artificial insemination, and Daddy’s Roommate, with an illustration of two men in bed together. As well, the WAFF Web site had a list of “allies” that virtually ran the gamut of homosexual advocacy groups: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation; Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network; Human Rights Campaign; National Gay and Lesbian Task Force; and Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians & Gays.

Interestingly, subsequent to the publication of the AFA Journal article, the controversial materials on the WAFF Web site were removed from public viewing. The only exception was the tolerance pledge, which was itself altered from its original format.

“We stand by the article as written, and frankly are not surprised by the threat of a lawsuit from the We Are Family Foundation,” said Wildmon.

AFA suggests parents contact schools
The music video We Are Family will be sent to elementary schools in the U.S. March 11, according to the We Are Family Foundation Web site. Accompanying the video will be a teacher’s guide. Because of the other materials found on the WAFF Web site, AFA is concerned that discussions about homosexuality may be initiated with students.

“A good school system will always work with parents, not against them,” said Wildmon. “We are encouraging parents to simply find out what, if anything, will be going on in their schools in connection with the We Are Family video.”

AFA is recommending that parents take the following simple steps – always ensuring that communications with school officials be conducted in a Christian manner:

• Contact your school’s principal and your child’s teacher. Ask them if they plan to show the We Are Family DVD at school.
• Ask if any discussions with students will be initiated after the DVD is viewed.
• If so, ask if the WAFF teacher’s guide will be used in facilitating that discussion, and if any materials from the WAFF Web site will be included. Ask for the opportunity to review the teacher’s guide.
• Ask very specifically if the subject of homosexuality will be brought up by teachers or discussed if brought up by a student.
• Act accordingly. If the school assures you that homosexuality will not be discussed, thank them politely. If you are informed that homosexuality will be discussed, you may want to make plans to keep your child home that day. Or you may even ask for permission to sit in on the discussion.

Should you have problems with your school, or if you would simply like to tell us about your experience in dealing with this issue, call AFA director of special projects Randy Sharp at 662-844-5036, Ext. 240, or E-mail him at rsharp@afa.net.

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT
SpongeBob controversy highlights media bias on ‘gay’ issue

BY ED VITAGLIANO | AFA Journal news editor
Admittedly, it’s hard saying the words “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “homosexual agenda” in the same sentence.

But the recent controversy over SpongeBob and the promotion of homosexuality to children spawned a secondary story about how the media covers this issue, and how they often seem intent on ridiculing Christians.

Genesis of a controversy
The dispute had its beginning when the Associated Press (AP) released a brief story on November 16, 2004, describing a children’s music video based on the popular song, “We Are Family.” Produced by the We Are Family Foundation (WAFF) – founded by Nile Rodgers, who co-wrote the song itself in the 1970s – the video included over 100 characters from children’s television programs, such as SpongeBob, Barney, Jimmy Neutron, Rugrats and others. It is being sent in DVD format to over 61,000 elementary schools, along with a teacher’s guide for after-viewing discussions.

Since the AP story stated that the video was intended to promote “diversity and tolerance in classrooms,” I decided to examine the WAFF Web site to discover whether or not the issue of homosexuality was included. It was – and in spades.

AFA became concerned that, along with the innocuous content of a children’s video, public school teachers who were sympathetic to the homosexual movement might use WAFF materials to initiate a discussion of tolerance and diversity that would include homosexuality. And might do so without parental knowledge or approval.

I wrote about these concerns in the front page story for the January issue of the AFA Journal. Apart from follow-up stories on American Family Radio and in AgapePress, the story appeared to die out as 2004 ended.

On January 18, however, at a dinner for political allies and members of Congress hosted by Focus on the Family (FOF) and two other pro-family groups, FOF president Dr. James Dobson mentioned SpongeBob and the video project, warning that the Web site contained materials that many parents might find problematic.

At that dinner was David Kirkpatrick, a reporter with The New York Times, who published a story in the Times on January 20 about Dobson’s comments concerning WAFF and its video project.

Missing in translation
The media picked up the New York Times’ piece and the story exploded. According to a LexisNexis search, 68 newspapers covered the story, countless radio talk shows called for interviews, and virtually every network news and cable news channel did stories on it.

This media brouhaha produced some of the sloppiest journalism I’ve ever seen, as some members of the media pounced on and then spread a rumor: that AFA and FOF had claimed that SpongeBob – as a cartoon character – was “gay.” The rumor was so persistent in the media that SpongeBob creator Stephen Hillenburg was forced to issue a denial.

Even more disappointing, however, was that some television news programs went out of their way to present one-sided programs on the controversy. Most notable in this respect were the January 21 editions of both NBC’s Today Show with Matt Lauer and ABC’s Good Morning America, as well as Fox’s January 24 The O’Reilly Factor.

Irritatingly, the Today Show and O’Reilly refused to have a live representative of AFA on to explain our views, preferring instead to have Rodgers – live – on both programs. In fact, O’Reilly, who had already scheduled to have me on the program, dropped me and had Rodgers on by himself.

What did Rodgers proceed to do with his appearances on these programs? He “spun” the truth in such a shameful manner as to nearly make this writer apoplectic. For example, concerning a Tolerance Pledge on the WAFF Web site, he told host Bill O’Reilly, “Even on our Web site, we don’t ask people to sign our pledge.”

Of course, what he neglected to say was that, after the AFA Journal article had been published, the section of the pledge that kids could sign was removed.

Moreover, Rodgers told O’Reilly that AFA had gotten the original article wrong because it had investigated the wrong Web site. How Rodgers could maintain this fantasy – a falsehood he also promoted on the Today Show – is strange, since he and WAFF attorneys had been sent a letter by AFA attorneys on January 13 which proved that this was not the case.

Finally, Rodgers told O’Reilly that the only thing I had found in my WAFF research was the tolerance pledge. Unfortunately left out in Rodgers’ explanation was the fact that everything I mentioned in my original article – with the exception of the tolerance pledge – also had been removed from public access. Everything.

The producers of The O’Reilly Factor were informed of these “disappearances” on January 25, the day after Rodgers appeared on the show. Our requests to have a representative come on the show and explain our position were ignored. So much for the Fox News slogan of “Fair and Balanced.”

In a snide editorial in USA Today, columnist Bruce Kluger ridiculed conservative attempts to protect children from pro-homosexual programming. He said “gay” content should be included because “Good parenting relies on telling the truth to kids – not hiding it.”

To Kluger, O’Reilly, Lauer and other members of the media elite, I say, so does good journalism.