February 11th, 1997
Vancouver, WA—In testimony at a hearing on Senate Bill 5167 before the Senate Education Committee in Olympia today, WTV executive director Bob Larimer stated: "In Washington’s public school system, the homosexual political agenda has become ‘a little more equal’ than basic education, and that is one reason academic achievement is still riding in the back of the bus."
Larimer was referring to a recurring pattern of pro-homosexual advocacy under authority of the public school system. He
provided documentation showing that, from at least 1991 onward, impressionable minor children have endured coercive
presentations - often by adult homosexuals - which seek to portray such ‘alternative lifestyles’ as the legal, cultural and public
health equivalent of heterosexual marriage relationships. Many parents have had no knowledge of the true nature of this
teaching until after the fact, and parents from various communities from around the state have sought the help of WTV in
exposing and canceling such programs.
Noting that taxpayer funding of pro-homosexual teaching is a nationally recognized problem (Larimer has traveled to
Washington D.C. and, along with parents from around the nation, presented testimony before the House Subcommittee for
Oversight and Investigation), he said that SB 5167, banning public school presentations of homosexuality as positive and
normal, is "A reasonable, timely and appropriate response to special interest advocacy in the schools."
Regarding pleas by pro-homosexual groups at the hearing, Larimer observed that so-called "safe schools" harassment incident
reporting, with its special focus on avowed homosexual students, is redundant and politically motivated since state law already
mandates a thorough, complete and centralized report on all such incidents by all law enforcement agencies in our state.
Larimer concluded his remarks to the Senate Education Committee by stating: "It is an offense to academic freedom to insist
that our students cover their eyes, deny biological reality and pretend that claimed homosexual conduct deserves special
attention, training and advocacy in a school system which should be focusing on basic academic subjects."
Contact: Robert R. Larimer Jr.
(360) 695-4845
Email WTV: blarimer@e-z.net
Return to: WTV-PAC News Releases