By Pat Centner, AFA Journal staff writer

September 2000 – Karen Battles, Rusty Benson, Brad Bullock and Ed Vitagliano. Four AFA staff members assigned the task of producing a video documentary exposing the downside of the homosexual lifestyle. It’s Not Gay is its title. It is scheduled for release in September of this year.

Producing a short documentary on such a broad topic was a tall order, one which the team approached with mixed emotions. Nevertheless, they gathered their equipment and notepads and hit the road.

After countless hours of interviewing and videotaping dozens of people, the four were interviewed by the Journal to discuss the filming and see if, and how, their own perceptions had been affected by their experience. Following are some of their comments.

Q: Why did AFA produce this video?
A: Several important factors were mentioned, but all four agreed with Karen’s desire “to counter the overt pro-homosexual agenda moving into our public schools.”

Rusty said, “Homosexual activists are pushing harder than ever to get our society to view their behavior as normal. Our schools are a particular target of that initiative. And with a couple of influential pro-homosexual videos already produced for both school administrators and children (It’s Elementary and That’s a Family), AFA felt a deep responsibility to produce a video that highlights the profoundly negative aspects of homosexuality. We hope It’s Not Gay will help school policy decision-makers realize that any decision to affirm homosexuality as normal or natural can have devastating effects on the lives of students who enter that lifestyle.”

Q: Who is the target audience for AFA’s new video?
A: School administrators, teachers, and school board members were named by all four. Ed pointed out that It’s Elementary, a pro-homosexual video released in 1996 and aired nationwide last summer on PBS, was initially targeted for educators, apparently to help them feel validated in allowing children to discuss homosexuality in the classroom and to promote it as a normal lifestyle. “And now, That’s a Family (first in a three-part series) is intended for viewing by the children themselves,” explained Ed.

“Obviously, we are opposed to this. It’s Not Gay is intended to make school curriculum decision-makers think twice before allowing these videos to be shown in their schools,” he said.

“There is also a second audience,” Ed continued. “And that’s our AFA supporters. We’re hoping they’ll get a copy of the video and show it to their friends. Then we hope they’ll take it to someone they know within their school system, maybe a teacher or school principal, and let him or her see it in hopes of enlisting sympathetic members of the education establishment to help us.”

Q: What is the main message AFA wants the video to convey?
A: “We want teachers and leaders in the schools to think about what they may be doing to our youth,” Brad responded. “We want them to understand the huge physical and emotional downsides to the ‘gay’ lifestyle, and the need for them to consider that before they present it to their students as something positive.”

The rest of the team agreed, citing the numerous negative physical consequences, in addition to AIDS, that often accompany the lifestyle.

Ed concurred, “When educators get a clear view of this, we hope they will say, ‘You know what? I do not want little fifth- grade Johnny winding up like the people in that video, and I will not tell him he may be homosexual just because he feels different from other kids.’”

Q: As you think about the people you met and the life stories you heard, which story was most meaningful to you?
A: “For me, that’s pretty easy,” replied Rusty. “The one that just brought tears to my eyes because I could so easily relate to it, was the interview with John and Suzanne Villaggio, whose 28-year-old son was still in the lifestyle. While her son was attending college, the mom had discovered her son was gay. She found homosexual pornography in his closet and confronted him. “You could still see the devastation in both the mom’s and dad’s faces when they talked about it – even after six years.” The dad, especially, seemed to feel at fault, and said he “hadn’t been there” for his son the way he should have.

“I just thought about my own sons, both in college, and how I would feel if I were ever confronted with a situation like that,” he concluded.

Brad was most touched by “the lesbian we talked to outside the bar. She said she had gone to several churches and had been shunned there – that one church member bluntly told her she’s going to hell because she’s homosexual. That really hit me, because I don’t think our churches are doing a good job of dealing with this issue at all. We need to be more loving and understanding, without compromising God’s call to holy living,”

Q: What impact, if any, did producing this video have on your own views about the validity of children discussing homosexuality in schools?
A: Rusty answered by saying, “It didn’t change my opinion on whether that subject should be discussed in schools. I don’t think it should, especially from the standpoint of a teacher or school principal telling a child he might be homosexual because he feels ‘different.’

“But for me, and for all of us, I think, producing this video and being involved in the interviews put a human face on the whole issue. Because on one level, this is a cultural, even political, issue as homosexual activists try to promote their agenda and find public affirmation for their behavior; while on another level, it is all about human lives – many of which are being ruined – and that is so sad and tragic.”

Ed said the impact on him was a deepened concern and solidified disapproval. “It deepened my concern because it became a more personal issue for me, hearing people discuss the tragedy of their lives. And it solidified my disapproval because every person we interviewed said that teachers and educators have such an impact on children’s lives. Children believe in them and listen to what they say. Because of this, I don’t believe they should be telling kids they might be homosexual or that they should reject what their parents have told them about homosexuality.”

Q: What do you feel is the most important lesson you learned from your work on the video?
A: “Most Christians don’t have a clue how to really minister or build relationships with people who are living very different lives from ours,” was Karen’s reply. “We can’t say, ‘You’re living in sin, and you need to change,’ because right there, we’ve created a barrier. Instead, we need to say (and mean), ‘I may disagree with your choices and how you live out your sexuality, but I care for you and want to build a relationship with you.’ And only by genuinely caring and building relationships can we open the door to sharing Christ and the hope He can give to people who may wish they could change but have no hope that it’s possible.”

Q: What advice would you give Christian parents of elementary school children as a result of having worked on the video?
A: Brad’s response: “Communicate with your kids. Teach them your values, instead of relying on the schools to tell them what’s acceptable and what they should believe.

“And affirm them for who they are instead of who you’d like them to be. Just because your son doesn’t like sports, or your daughter is a tomboy, doesn’t mean he or she is abnormal. It just means they like different things.”

Karen said, “My biggest advice to all parents would be: love your kids. Help them develop their self-esteem by instilling in them their value as a person. Help them learn how to protect their bodies and their minds and their hearts, because while we are forgiven for our sins, we still have to live with the consequences of our sin, and those are weighty.

“I’d like to add that in doing this video, I met a lot of wonderful people, some still in the homosexual community and some who have left.

“It’s unfortunate that so often our opinions of people are based on what they do, rather than who they are. We have a strong tendency to label people. I think we need to stop seeing labels and instead see hearts and souls.”