By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Homosexual activists within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are pushing to impose their radical version of homosexual “sensitivity training”, which compares heterosexism to racism, on a government-wide basis.
According to an internal newsletter received by The Washington Times, USDA officials have asked the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which oversees all federal employee policies, to impose its gay-awareness programs on all federal departments. The program was launched by Agriculture Secretary Thomas J. Vilsak as a department-wide “cultural transformation” that includes a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Special Emphasis Program. This program, which the OPM calls “groundbreaking” was developed by USDA senior training program Bill Scaggs.
The Times lists some of the slides used in the presentation:
– One slide on gender identity states: “Individuals are conscious of [sexual identity] between the ages of 18 months and 3 years. Most people develop a gender identity that matches their biological sex. For some, gender identity is different from biological sex (transsexuals).”
– Another slide claims that an attempt to change someone from gay to straight “Usually doesn’t work and may even be harmful. Can produce feelings of depression, hopelessness, shame and anxiety. Some people become suicidal.”
– It refers to the term “down low,” explaining this to mean: “Men who discreetly have sex with other men while in sexual relationships with women are said to be on the ‘down low’ (or ‘DL’ for short).”
– The briefing defines “heterosexism” as an “’ism’ like sexism or racism, where one is considered better than others.” It gives as examples the ban on gays serving openly in the military and laws that define marriage as a union between one man and one woman.
There are particular concerns about imposing such a program on the military. Elaine Donnelly, who heads the Center for Military Readiness and opposed the repeal of the military’s ban on gays serving openly in the military, said it would be a mistake for the administration of President Obama to impose the USDA sensitivity training program on the Pentagon.
“There are disturbing implications for national defense in the USDA’s development of a ‘groundbreaking’ training program that is to become a model for other federal agencies,” she told The Washington Times.
The proliferation of such programs within the Department of Defense “would drive out thousands of experienced troops, starting with chaplains and people of faith who do not support LGBT ideology and activism,” she said.
In spite of these objections, Veronica Villalobos, OPM’s director of diversity and inclusion, told The Times: “OPM strongly encourages all agencies to conduct diversity and inclusion training. USDA is one of the many agencies we are currently working closely with, and while OPM continues to encourage this type of training, the effort has not gone government-wide.”
In the meantime, the USDA will continue to impose this training on its employees, which spokesman Justin DeJong told The Times is being made available “as part of our commitment to ensuring that all constituents and employees are treated fairly and equally.”
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