Laurie Higgins, Director of IFI's DSA, wrote, "I am so angry I could scream -- but instead I'll write." She reported that Nettelhorst Elementary School, a public school located in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago, IL, has the dubious honor of being the first Chicago public school to march in Chicago's "gay pride" parade. According to an article in the Windy City Times, and not surprisingly, "Brad Rossi, a gay parent of a first-grade girl, and Marcia Festen, a lesbian parent of two daughters, one of whom is in kindergarten, were both crucial in bringing the idea to the school. The two worked together in the 1980s, and Rossi says that the idea came from California." According to the Chicago Tribune, "The black metal fence in front of Nettelhorst Elementary School is obscured by thousands of strips of dyed fabric-yellows giving way to greens, then blues, purples and reds-each one tied on by the small hands of a student." How special. The National Education Association (NEA), the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), and pro-homosexual proselytes employed in public schools conspire to use public education to eradicate the belief that volitional homosexual acts are immoral. Public education is transmogrifying into public indoctrination right before our very eyes. The evidence is proudly displayed in thousands of rainbow-colored flags tied by little hands. Consider what else Laurie wrote. "We have become so desensitized that we no longer view homosexuality as the perversion it is. And those who have retained a modicum of moral discernment have become so cowardly they are no longer willing to call perversion by its rightful name. We care more about our comfort than we do about children. We care more about our comfort than we do about how our money is exploited for someone else's political agenda. We care more about how the world views us than how God views us. We are apathetic, self-centered, acquiescent cowards who allow paid public servants -- activist ideologues -- to exploit public education in the service of their pernicious, subversive, dystopian vision for America. Volitional homosexual acts are depraved. How dare public educators suggest that children in publicly funded schools march in a parade that celebrates and affirms depravity. No public school educator in their professional capacity has any right to espouse, affirm, endorse, promote, or support either explicitly or implicitly any position on the nature and morality of homosexuality. To espouse, affirm, endorse, promote, or support any position on the nature and morality of homosexuality stands way outside the purview of their jobs and way outside their professional expertise. Have Nettlehorst administrators and teachers read, studied, and thought deeply about the nature and morality of homosexuality? Have they studied what some of the greatest theologians, historians, and philosophers throughout history have written about it? Have they read the best contemporary scholarship on the subject from both liberal and conservative thinkers? What astonishing hubris, foolishness, and irresponsibility this parade decision represents. Those Nettelhorst parents who want their children to attend this reprobate event can take their children themselves. Under no circumstances should participation in this parade of profligacy be deemed either an official or unofficial school event. And under no circumstances should any school time be used to discuss or prepare for this event. Conservatives must wake up. To use a cliche, we must see the forest for the trees. Cultural change rarely occurs through dramatic single events, but rather through the slow accretion of little events that we dismiss or ignore." [Editor's note: I know that it sounds as if I keep harping on this subject, but it does help to explain why homeschooling is becoming such a necessity for people who want to raise their children to believe the truth. WSW.]