By MIKE WILSON, Times Staff Writer
Published March 17, 2005
As our PFLAG story was about to go to press, Juvenile Welfare Board member Cecilia Burke called to give her side of things.
She said, to begin with, that she is just "a volunteer and a mom" who feels overwhelmed by the attention her comments have received.
Burke said one of her goals is to promote sexual abstinence among young people. She is concerned about "the sexualization of children in our culture" and doesn't think young people should be experimenting with sex, either gay or straight.
She singled out PFLAG and GLSEN for criticism because, she said, both groups recommend books that give "a positive accounting" of sexual experiences between young people and adults. She mentioned the young adult novel Rainbow Boys as an example.
Rainbow Boys, by Alex Sanchez, is about three high school seniors and the difficulties they face coming out. The book, which has a reference to PFLAG, includes a scene in which a teenager has unprotected sex with a stranger he meets online.
"Some of the language and sexual situations may be too mature for some readers," according to Publisher's Weekly, "but overall there's enough conflict, humor and tenderness to make this story believable - and touching."
Burke said the book is not appropriate for young people. The JWB does not make it available, but since the board refers young people to PFLAG, she fears they would see the book.
"When an adult recommends a book like that, the adult is saying this is okay," she said.
Ron Schlittler, PFLAG's national deputy director, said Burke is unfairly singling out one or two passages in one of many books the group recommends. "To make the leap that this means PFLAG endorses sexually inappropriate behavior is really a very far reach," he said.
Finally, Burke said she objects to PFLAG characterizing gay sex as "normal and healthy." She said she does not believe it is, and cited AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, alcoholism and drug abuse as consequences.
She said parents need to be upfront with children about these issues. "There's nobody saying it's wrong, there's nobody saying it's dangerous, there's nobody saying it's unhealthy," she said.
