|
NEWS
RELEASE
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September
17, 2003
CONTACT:
Diane Gramley 1.814.271.9078 or 1.814.437.5355
STATE
REP AND MAYOR CHOSE TO UNDERMINE TRADITIONAL FAMILIES AND TURN THEIR
BACK ON CONSTITUENTS
(Erie) -- Last year's Erie Pride Weekend organizers invited eighteen
elected officials to speak, each of them made the right decision and
declined the invitation. Unfortunately,
this year State Representative Linda Bebko-Jones and Erie Mayor Rick
Filippi chose to turn their backs on the majority of their constituents
and promote a dangerous lifestyle instead.
''Apparently there are elected officials who still don't get it
-- when they participate in so called gay pride events, they are
participating in the efforts to undermine and redefine marriage and
family," Diane Gramley director of the American Family Association
of Pennsylvania said today.
This
past weekend's Erie Pride Weekend was hosted by Trigon, the GLBT group
from Penn State Behrend and Saturday's parade was co-hosted with the
Erie/Crawford County PFLAG. "I'm
sure both these organizations really believe they are doing what is best
for the community, but the promotion of this unnatural lifestyle is
destroying lives. If Trigon
and PFLAG were really concerned with ones involved in the homosexual
lifestyle or those who are supposedly struggling with their sexual
identity, then they would be honest about the dangers."
continued Gramley.
Gramley said medical studies and other
evidence indicates that individuals who engage in homosexual
behavior experience dramatically higher risks of domestic violence,
mental illness, substance abuse, life-threatening disease, and premature
death by up to 20 years. She cited the following documentation:
* College-aged men who engage in homosexual
behavior are at risk of dying up
to 20 years younger than other men,
according to Oxford University's
International Journal of
Epidemiology,
which reported: "Life expectancy at
age 20 years for gay and bisexual men is 8
to 20 years less than for all
men. nearly half of gay and bisexual men
currently aged 20 years will not
reach their 65th birthday."
* "The probability of violence
occurring in a gay couple is mathematically
double the probability of that in a
heterosexual couple," write the editors
of the National Gay & Lesbian Domestic
Violence Network newsletter.
* The Journal of the American Medical Association reports that
"people with
same-sex sexual behavior are at greater
risk for psychiatric disorders" - including bipolar,
obsessive-compulsive, and anxiety disorders, major
depression, and substance abuse.
* The Medical Institute of Sexual Health
reports: "Homosexual men are at
significantly increased risk of HIV/AIDS,
hepatitis, anal cancer, gonorrhea
and gastrointestinal infections as a result
of their sexual practices. Women
who have sex with women are at
significantly increased risk of bacterial
vaginosis, breast cancer and ovarian cancer
than are heterosexual women."
(Executive Summary, "Health
Implications Associated with Homosexuality,"
1999 )
* The Institute reports that
"significantly higher percentages of homosexual
men and women abuse drugs, alcohol and
tobacco than do heterosexuals."
* A Detroit homosexual newsmagazine
columnist last month wrote regarding his
partner: "This is his first
relationship, so he has not yet been ruined by all the
heartache, lies, deceit, and game-playing that are the hallmark of
gay relationships...A study I once read
suggested that nine out of 10 gay
men cheat on their lovers."
* The Center for Disease Control warns that men who have sex with men
"have
large numbers of anonymous partners, which
can result in rapid, extensive
transmission of sexually transmitted
diseases."
This past spring Trigon sponsored the so-called Safe Sex Cabaret at Penn
State Behrend. The approach
was that of a "fun and safe" sex education class.
Participants included drag queens, guys wearing dental dams as
headbands, girls pouring chocolate syrup over themselves and phone sex
skits. The evening ended
with students parading in a sexy fashion show and condoms and
lubrication being distributed. (source:
February 8, 2003 edition of The Behrend Beacon)
Was there education of the inefficiencies of condoms when it
comes to STD prevention?
A look at some of the materials published by PFLAG and listed on their
website also reveals the true nature of this organization.
Representative
Bebko-Jones and Mayor Filippi's participation in Pride
Weekend provides
endorsement of the weekend's activities.
It gives the message that they also endorse the tactics of Trigon
and PFLAG. AFA of PA urges not only these elected officials but others
who may be considering participation in such events to stop and think
about the implications of their participation.
"Our
concern is the message they are sending when promoting a lifestyle that
is so dangerous. We are sure Representative Bebko-Jones and Mayor
Filippi do not want the lives of anyone in Erie or the state shortened
by their lifestyle choice and we hope that they will reconsider any
future participation in events that promote such a lifestyle.
We need politicians who will stand with and support the
traditional family, not groups that want to redefine the historical
definition of family and marriage," Gramley concluded.
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Copyright 2002 - 2008 American Family
Association of Pennsylvania | 
