By Gudrun Schultz
WASHINGTON, D.C., United States, March 1, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Family Research Center (FRC) has succeeded in convincing the federal Department of Health and Human Services to remove pro-gay content on the department’s website.
In January 2006 the FRC sent a letter to Michael Leavitt, secretary for Health and Human Services, (HHS) complaining that the website was “loaded with biased, politically-charged language, such as condemnations of so-called ‘homophobia,’‘heterosexism,’ and ‘sexual prejudice.’” The FRC also objected to the website’s use of material from pro-homosexual activist groups, such as Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG).
Peter Sprigg, with the FRC, said the web page focused on celebrating homosexuality, while useful health information on the site was minimal.
“There were links to outside organizations as information sources that people could go to and virtually all of those links were to pro-homosexual organizations. There was no balance,” he told Family News in Focus, a website of Focus on the Family.
Eleven days after HHS was contacted, the information on the site was removed, reported Cybercast News Service. HHS sent a letter to the FRC saying the information had been removed because it was not with the mission of the agency.
Regina Griggs, with the organization Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX), told Family News that organizations claiming homosexuals can’t change should not be allowed to advertise on a government website dedicated to health.
“I think if you’re not a medical association, if you’re not providing fact-based, replicated studies and information you ought to not be listed. We ought to be concerned about the AIDS infection rate, drug use, sex outside of marriage.”
The HHS website was targeted last year by gay activist groups who orchestrated the re-wording of information on the site using gay-friendly language. PFLAG was one of the organizations involved. Under their direction, the wording “alternative lifestyle” was changed to read “lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender lifestyle,” to avoid the implication that sexual orientation is a choice.
As well, the section advising parents of gay children to seek therapy with a family counselor was changed to read “counselors and other health professionals may by helpful to both teens and parents when addressing difficult issues.”
PFLAG was listed on the site as the primary resource for heterosexuals who wanted to be better educated on gay issues.