Kevin Jennings is a former leader of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network — GLSEN — which since 1995 has been key to the formation of antibullying programs in thousands of public and private schools nationwide. Jennings was recently appointed by Secretary Arne Duncan to be Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools
This record of accomplishment angers the Family Research Council, which — in appeals here and here, has waged a smear campaign that accuses Jennings and GLSEN of promoting unsafe sexual behavior, and that equates antibullying efforts with “affirmation of homosexuality.”
Given these harsh allegations, in the spirit of fairness one might think that a benevolent FRC would give Jennings and GLSEN opportunities to disprove the allegations and defend their reputations — but that has not happened.
FRC’s supporters will not learn the truth about those who are falsely accused unless they venture on their own to sites that report facts about GLSEN which show religious-right critics to be distorting and fabricating key facts about GLSEN programs in order to scare conservative audiences, fuel anger and hatred toward gay students, and affirm bullying as a means of pressuring youths into fundamentalist ex-gay therapy.
