Ed Vitagliano

AFA Journal news editor

February 2001 – In a recently-released book that publisher Penguin Putnam says is for "children and teenagers," homosexual author Eric Marcus endlessly spouts homosexual propaganda, trashes religion and attempts to isolate children from parental authority. 

Given the politically correct climate and fierce push of the homosexual agenda in public schools, Marcus' book, What If Someone I Know Is Gay? Answers to Questions About Gay and Lesbian People, will no doubt begin appearing in local public libraries and in public school libraries. The author is perhaps best known outside the "gay" community for Breaking the Surface, the best-selling biography of homosexual Olympic diver Greg Louganis. 

While his other books, including Is It a Choice? and Making History, are generally targeted toward adult readers, Marcus said his latest work is an attempt to provide "the common sense answers" that kids are "looking for." Unfortunately, Marcus is interested in providing only the "common sense answers" that are in agreement with a pro-homosexual worldview. Even though Penguin Putnam calls the book "fair-minded," What If Someone I Know Is Gay? makes every pro-homosexual assertion known to activists. 

For example, what if kids want to know, "How do you become gay?" Marcus answers, "[Y]ou can't become gay, just like you can't become heterosexual. You are what you are." 

What about all those folks running around who say they once were "gay," but are no longer homosexual? Marcus tells curious young people that, "When it comes to feelings of sexual attraction, no amount of hoping, praying, psychotherapy, or wishful thinking will make them go away." Later, Marcus refers to the idea that a homosexual can change his sexual orientation through prayer as "silly." 

Furthermore, Marcus tells children that, whatever their "feelings of sexual attraction" may be, those feelings are "a gift--from God, from nature, from our genes." 

Marcus tells children that those sexual feelings can be fulfilled in ways that might give many parents the willies: he defines mutual masturbation, oral sex, and anal intercourse as appropriate sexual behavior between people--both heterosexual and homosexual. 

Rejecting rival authorities 
In setting up their own authority as experts on human sexuality, homosexual activists obviously must overthrow any rivals--at least where such authorities disagree with "gay" dogma. 

It is therefore no surprise that Marcus takes several shots at Christianity and religion. In one instance, he says, "While many people continue to draw inspiration from the Bible, most have wisely rejected many of the outdated laws and customs first set down in the Bible centuries ago.…I think that most Christians will eventually reject the Bible's teachings on homosexuality as an excuse to condemn gay and lesbian people and to deny them equal rights." 

However, as irritating as it may be to wade through Marcus' endless assertions, straw-man arguments, and disdainful treatment of organized religion, what is most infuriating is his blatant attempt to separate children from their parents. 

In answer to the question, "If I think I'm gay, can I tell my parents?", Marcus says, "[Y]ou need to think carefully about how your parents are likely to react.…If there is any reason for you to think that your parents will react badly, then the best thing to do is to find other people to talk to now and wait until you're older and no longer living at home or financially dependent on your parents before you tell them that you're gay or lesbian." 

It is probably unexceptional for one teenager to say to another, "Don't tell your parents." How outrageous is it, however, for an adult to do the same thing? Marcus--or the school authorities that may place his book in the library--have taken the unconscionable step of telling kids, who may only think they are homosexual, to hide this fact from their parents. 

Marcus' reasoning on this score is obvious, however, since he paints parents as ignoramuses--at least those parents who think that homosexuality is immoral or unnatural. What If Someone I Know Is Gay? boldly asserts that parental revulsion to homosexuality is based on "old negative myths." Not many schools would dare to explicitly tell children that the religious or moral beliefs of their parents are mere mythology. 

Penguin Putnam seems to share Marcus' disdain for parents who oppose homosexuality. In a letter introducing What If Someone I Know Is Gay?, the publisher explains, "At a time when far too many adults still accept ancient myths and hateful prejudice as fact, Eric Marcus provides a much-needed, fair-minded voice for a new generation of young people." 

If the current generation of young people is not accepting enough of homosexuality, it is clear that activists like Marcus are intent on creating one that is. With a continued stream of books like What If Someone I Know Is Gay?, that day might not be far off.