DSS Forces Parents To Accept Homosexuality
Goverment decides appropriate ways to address questions of sexuality

By Nev Moore

If your child decides he might be homosexual and you take him to a psychiatrist for help, you could lose that child to the DSS.

We've witnessed cases where DSS became involved with families because there was conflict between the parents and adolescents who wanted to be free to become active in the gay lifestyle at the ages of thirteen and fourteen. There were no beatings or physical assaults, but the fact that the parents didn't accept their children's wishes and "support" them provided grounds for DSS to remove the children and place them in gay foster homes. 

DSS also transported at least one child we know of to gay rallies, dances and other social events at the age of fourteen. They instructed this particular boy that he did not have to have any contact with his Christian mother if she would not support his gay activism. They would prepare him for independent living.

The DSS Policy and Procedure Manual states that parents must be receptive and supportive if their children disclose that they are gay or bi-sexual. In their assessment questions, DSS policy reads: "If the adolescent has identified a sexual orientation of gay, lesbian, or bi-sexual, has he/she disclosed this information to a parental figure or trusting adult? If so, has the adolescent received an appropriate, receptive and supportive response?"

An appropriate response?

It is not the place of any government agency to determine if our responses to our children on sexual disclosures are "appropriate." If gays demand the right to have their homosexuality accepted, the other side of that equality is that other individuals must have the equal right to not accept homosexuality in their personal belief system. How a parent responds to their children's sexual disclosures, of any nature, is a private and individual choice that the government has no business being involved with. 

Although my personal belief system is one of non-judgment because I believe we each must walk our own paths for a reason, I do not feel we can allow the government to dictate personal values, thoughts or how we handle life's situations within our home and family. As long as we are not committing criminal acts of violence, we have the right to think, feel, believe or not believe, accept or not accept, whatever we want without governmental intrusion and control. Conflict is an inevitable part of the human condition. It occurs between adolescents and parents as adolescents begin to feel an urge to be independent and free of parental constraints, even when their age does not provide them with the experience and sound judgment to make all of their own decisions for themselves. Conflict between parents and adolescents revolves around many things: dress, hairstyles, rebellion, music, responsibility. It always has, and it always will. A child's awaking sexuality is always part of this conflict. 

No responsible parent encourages unchecked sexual experimentation in his or her adolescents. What if we applied DSS's homosexual dictates to a heterosexual situation? What if someone's 12- or 13-year-old came to them to disclose their desire to become active in various heterosexual activities? What if the child "disclosed" an interest in, say, group sex, making porn movies, or bondage? The child is making the statement: "This is my sexuality, and I have the right to express it unhindered and without parental judgment or interference. If I am not allowed to express myself fully, I will be emotionally damaged." 

I wonder how DSS would respond if the parent met this situation with a "receptive and supportive response." Does "supportive" mean that we are to accept and encourage the child's wishes? If DSS takes 14-year-old boys to gay dances and events, then is it equally appropriate to take heterosexual 14-year-olds to strip clubs? I know for a fact that any parent doing that would lose their child and be charged with sexual misconduct. As they would be if they engaged in any kind of discussion or encouragement of heterosexual practices with a 12-, 13-, or 14-year-old. You would be branded a pervert and put on the Central Registry. Why is there such a discrepancy in policy? 

Parents are accused of sexual abuse based on the most innocent, ludicrous allegations, yet they are considered unfit if they do not support and accept homosexual activity by their children. According to DSS, parents must accept and encourage the free expression and experimentation of homosexuality in their children but could be accused of sexual abuse if they take photos of their kids playing in the bathtub. 

At the same time, DSS is actively recruiting for gay foster homes and has special gay fosterparent training programs. The gay fosterhomes are not just for gay kids; they are open for all kids. I am not saying that these gay people may not be kind, caring caretakers. I am saying that parents have the right to not have their children exposed to the gay lifestyle or to a same sex partnership if that is not part of their family's belief system. No child should have forced exposure to any sexual influences - homosexuality, bestiality, whatever - by a government agency. It is not DSS's place to influence a child's sexuality in any way. 

Nev Moore is President of Justice for Families. It can be reached at (508) 362-6921 or P.O. Box 141, Barnstable, MA 02630.
 
 
 

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