Flyer On Gay Choice Stirs Controversy

ROCKVILLE, Md. - A flyer sent home with some high school students in Montgomery County, Md., is causing consternation among parents.

The flyer is from a group called PFOX, Parents And Friends Of Ex-Gays And Gays. In the one-page message, the group tells teenagers that no one is "born gay", and people can choose their sexual orientation.

Karen Yount-Merrell, a licensed, clinical social worker, got one of the flyers when her son came home with his report card from Einstein High School.

"I don't like it," Yount-Merrell declared. "Everything in this flyer make its sound like the goal is to be [an] EX-gay, [or an EX]-lesbian. It is not embracing of a different orientation. It reiterates a societal view that there's something 'wrong' with you, if you're not in the norm. If you aren't heterosexual. And teenagers have a hard enough time dealing with who they are and feeling good about themselves."

Supporters of the flyer say their literature simply calls for "tolerance" of a different viewpoint on homosexuality.

"If people were to actually read the content of the flyer that we're distributing, they will see there is nothing in here that is insulting or even critical of homosexuals,” said PFOX board member Peter Sprigg. “All it is telling kids [is] that you don't have to be gay if you don't want to be."

The group is taking advantage of school board policy in Montgomery County. Based on court decisions, the policy is: if a group can prove it is a non-profit, community entity, it can send flyers home with students on four occasions a year. Most of the time, it is the PTA or the Girl Scouts that send home flyers. There is little or no controversy over those messages.

LINK: Read Flyer