Countering ACLU Bullying for School Sexualization

A campaign has been launched to halt an effort by the ACLU to pressure schools to open their Internet filtering options for children to allow sites such as polybi.com, where a woman's naked torso is fondled by three hands; gaydatingtips.com, which advertises a see-through boxer for men; and gayquestions.com/hc3.asp, where students would see an image of two naked men apparently engaged in a sex act.

For background, read ACLU Threatens Schools: Must Teach Homosexuality

UPDATE 3/14/12: Federal judge agrees with ACLU that schools must remove Internet filters

UPDATE 8/29/11: ACLU sues Camdenton, MO school district (which yielded to the ACLU, but not good enough)

-- From "Alliance Defense Fund to Gwinnett schools: Don't be bullied by ACLU's 'radical sexual agenda'" by Dyana Bagby, Georgia Voice 8/1/11

“School districts shouldn’t be bullied into exposing students to sexually explicit materials,” said ADF Senior Counsel David Cortman in a statement. “This latest scare tactic — under the façade of illegal censorship — is just another act of intimidation designed to forward the ACLU’s radical sexual agenda for children.”

On May 23, the ACLU threatened the Gwinnett School System with legal action if it did not remove the filter because it prohibited lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students from access to such websites that could be helpful, including how to start a gay-straight alliance or how to deal with bullying.

“Allowing students equal access to LGBT-related websites is not just a legal duty; it also makes sense from a safety perspective, particularly in light of the epidemic of LGBT youth suicides and bullying,” states the ACLU of Georgia letter.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Campaign fights ACLU demand to let kids have porn" by Bob Unruh, World Net Daily 8/1/11

The ACLU had told Gwinnett officials they had no legitimate interest in blocking the porn images and that its Blue Coat filtering "engages in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination by blocking sites that express acceptance and tolerances toward LGBT individuals but not blocking sites that urge LGBT persons to change their sexual orientation."

The ACLU has launched a similar campaign in many other states in which it cites several filtering companies -- including Blue Coat, M86, Fortiguard, Websense and URL Blacklist -- for preventing students from having access to such explicit material.

"The district is well within its legal rights to keep the filter in place, especially since deactivating the filter would expose students to sites with sexually explicit content," the ADF said.

The ACLU's argument that the filters violate the First Amendment lacks merit because the district has "broad authority" over what materials students may access, the ADF said.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Alliance Defense Fund Letter to Gwinnett County Schools

Internet Porn Viewed by Most Children: Study

About 1/3 of children consume a flood of pornography by age ten, and 80% of teens regularly pursue Internet pornography.

Campaigners warned that exposure to these images inflicts ‘serious mental harm’ on children and prevents them forming healthy adult relationships in later life.

-- From "A third of pupils aged ten view pornography on the internet" by Gerri Peev, UK Daily Mail 11/23/10

The average age of a child first exposed to pornography is just 11.

Parenting expert Tanya Byron . . . said: ‘The new generation of mobile phones is making accessing pornography easier with two-thirds of children admitting they had accessed explicit material on their handsets.

'Worryingly most parents are oblivious to how easy it is for children to download images.’

The figures were compiled from polls by YouGov, research in America and a study by child behavioural expert Tanya Byron.

To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.

Australian Government to Filter Internet Content

Officials say that "illegal and unwanted content" will be barred from citizens, but refuse to identify what may be deemed "unwanted" -- critics concerned that may include Scripture and Christian content.

-- From "Australia planning to block 10,000 websites" by Bonnie Malkin, The Telegraph in Sydney 11/14/08

The websites will be blocked as part of a government-sponsored trial of its filter technology that will start before Christmas and last six weeks.

The government has already identified 1300 websites that it wants to black list as part of the clean feeds scheme.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said the sites mostly contained child pornography and other unwanted content, including images and videos.

Colin Jacobs, board member of Electronic Frontiers Australia said he was concerned at what would be deemed "unwanted content".

"Conroy said the list would contain illegal and unwanted content but we still have to see what would end up on that list."

To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.

House Committee Passes Library Internet Filtering Bill

Good News! The library Internet filtering bill passed out of committee late this morning by a vote of 9 to 5 (8 votes were needed). (Hat tip: Rhonda) Now begins the hard work of convincing 60 House members of the importance of this bill to safeguard our families and children.

The Bill will require Internet Screening in our Public Libraries that will filter obscene material which includes hard core and child pornography. Hopefully, the bill will now go the House for a vote within 3 weeks and then to the Senate.

Efforts to get a law like this have been ongoing since 1998 but the ACLU and ALA have been able to block it. The Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled to enforce obscenity laws. They have ruled in the past decade that filters in libraries are constitutional, do not violate First Amendment rights, are not censorship. The Public Library is not an open public forum where anything goes.

Find out how your legislator voted at the Illinois Family Institute website.