Ed Vitagliano
AFA Journal news editor
July 1997 – America has undergone profound changes since the 1950s, especially in the way its people view human sexuality. Now we often find ourselves passionately debating an issue that only a short time ago would have been unthinkable: whether homosexuality is a normal, natural and healthy alternative lifestyle.
Since the 1960s, and especially during the “Gay ’90s,” homosexuals have made great strides in forcing society to change in ways favorable to their beliefs. While homosexuals claim to want only equal protection under the law, their real agenda is much deeper: the complete alteration of American society to fit the homosexual view of human sexuality, personal freedom, marriage and family.
This is not an exaggeration. Lesbian activist Paula Ettelbrick, former legal director of the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and now policy director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, stated, “Being queer is more than setting up house, sleeping with a person of the same gender, and seeking state approval for doing so…. Being queer means pushing the parameters of sex, sexuality, and family, and in the process, transforming the very fabric of society.… We must keep our eyes on the goal…of radically reordering society’s views of reality.”
This would not appear to be an easy task, given the natural aversion of people to homosexuality. A recent USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll, for example, found that 56% of Americans think homosexuality is an unacceptable lifestyle, and 68% oppose the legal recognition of homosexual marriage. How can the gay movement possibly change the mind of straight America?
The answer is simple: the homosexual advocates have captured some of the most powerful institutions in American life, enlisting them as allies in a broad-based assault on what they perceive to be America’s “homophobia.”
The major instruments of change being used by the homosexual movement are the government, the entertainment industry, the secular news media, the education establishment and even many U.S. corporations. Currently the two most influential seem to be the mainline news media and the entertainment industry.
In a 1995 Times-Mirror poll, 83% of members of the national media said they felt that homosexuality should be accepted by this country as a legitimate lifestyle. Writing in The Advocate, the nation’s most prestigious homosexual magazine, Steve Warren, a spokesman for the radical homosexual group ACT UP, boasted, “We have captured the liberal establishment and the press.”
The recent uproar over Ellen DeGeneres’ “coming out” episode on the Disney/ABC sitcom Ellen – even when most Americans disapproved of the entire concept – is proof that the homosexual cause has a willing ally in the smoke-filled boardrooms of New York and Hollywood media corporate giants. Viewers can expect a pro-gay message to come through loudly, clearly, and continuously until America cries “uncle,” and capitulates to homosexual radicals.
AFA offers hope for homosexuals
The homosexual world-view represents – not the vanguard – but the rear guard of the sexual revolution which began in the 1950s. The main body of the army of those revolutionaries has already entered the gates of the city through the promotion of premarital and extramarital sex. Now, in the homosexual movement, comes the culmination of the new sexual morality that demands the legal recognition of pure hedonism in even its most perverse forms.
For two decades, AFA has been one of the many conservative and Christian groups on the front lines of the fight against this destructive philosophy. In many ways, AFA has been raising the standard of God’s Word in order to call America back from the brink of moral disintegration.
In the area of media/entertainment, AFA monitors the television industry and its product in order to identify the source of pro-homosexual propaganda. Once that is done, we inform supporters so they, in turn, can contact advertisers which promote this ungodly message by sponsoring shows. Letting companies know that consumers will vote with their wallets can be a very effective method in getting advertisers to take a second look at what they will sponsor.
And while AFA tries to influence all advertisers with a pro-family message, the Walt Disney Company has been specifically targeted for a boycott campaign. Not only has Disney abused its previously family-friendly reputation by its overt attempt to normalize homosexuality, but by its inherent squeaky-clean image, the Mouse has become a standard bearer for the rest of the entertainment industry: “If it’s good enough for Disney, it’s good enough for us.”
But AFA is also reaching out to help those who are trapped by the spiritual darkness of homosexuality. Through AFA’s Outreach Division, many are being set free from sexual addictions of every ilk, using biblical principles of spiritual freedom. And AFA has helped support the “Hope ’97 Tour,” in which ex-homosexual Michael Johnston hopes to bring the message of Christ’s freedom to gays and lesbians around the country.
AFA continues to meet moral challenges head-on. We pray for more and more Christians to join us in our efforts, that perhaps AFA might play its part in leading this country out of her dark night and into the holy and glorious light of God’s mercy. May God shed His grace on thee, America, once again. 
