10-Year-Old Grand Marshal at Gay Rights Parade Sparks Controversy Across U.S.

[injest]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/06/24/year-old-grand-marshal-gay-rights-parade-sparks-controversy/

When the Fayetteville, Ark., Gay Pride Parade steps off on East Street Saturday on its way to the Wal-Mart parking lot, it will be led by a young man who has made a career out of fighting for gay rights.

Make that a young boy. Will Phillips, the grand marshal, is 10 years old, and his presence has thrust Fayetteville's Gay Pride Parade into the national spotlight.

Ordinarily, the annual parade is pretty low-key, residents say. The mayor issues a proclamation, the police close a few streets and a few hundred people show up, something that Skip Descant, who covers the city for the Northwest Arkansas Times, says is a lot for a Saturday morning in the summer.

Booths are set up in the Wal-Mart parking lot; people linger to hear a few speeches in the hot sun; sometimes there are a few jeers; and then everyone goes home early. It is a pretty low-key affair.

But the selection of young Will, who last November refused to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance in school to show his support for gay rights, has changed all that. This year the parade has drawn national attention, and it's promising to tread the line between farce and confrontation.

The American Family Association, based in Tupelo, Miss., has called Will's selection to be grand marshal “a form of child abuse,” and it has called on the city’s mayor to “cancel his plans to issue a proclamation celebrating homosexual behavior and gay pride.”

“We believe that it goes beyond the pale for adults to exploit a 10-year-old child for dark political purposes,” said Bryan Fischer, the director of issue analysis at AFA. “He is too young to understand. There is nothing about homosexual conduct to be proud of and much to be ashamed of.”

The AFA, according to Fischer, has sent an “action alert” to its members in Arkansas, and he says they have deluged the mayor’s and city council’s office with e-mails “asking him to stop this charade.” Though there are no plans to actively protest at the parade, Fischer said, “as of noon Thursday our records show that the mayor and city council had received 12,300 e-mails asking them to stop the parade.”

It is an argument that young Will Phillips doesn’t accept. The boy has begun a media blitz of local and national television stations, explaining that he refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance because it says “all men are created equal,” but gays don’t have the same rights as everyone else. That, the boy says, is why he has become an ambassador of gay rights.

Efforts to reach Will and his father were unsuccessful.

Will, who in March received the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) award for his stand, has complained that his support of gay rights has caused him trouble at school and that he has been called a “gay wad” by other students. That prompted comedian newscaster Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show, to hire professional wrestler Mick Foley to protect Phillips this weekend.

“If I find out that anybody has hassled this young man or teased him or called him a wad of any sort, I and perhaps a few of my friends will come to his school and bring a world of pain,’ Foley warned.

Even within the gay alliance in Arkansas, Will's role has sparked tension. In reaction to the AFA’s charges that children who attend the parade would be in danger, organizer Joney Harper said: “We are not San Francisco ... New York ... we’re pretty much a family affair, so it is pretty safe to be there.”

That remark prompted other gay groups to attack him for implying that children might not be safe at Pride gatherings in San Francisco or New York.

As one city hall worker remarked in taking a message for the mayor, “This year’s parade is going to be different.”

so in other words, the gay rights parade went on with acceptance and tolerance, everyone got along.. but that wasn't good enough so they had to think of something to cause a commotion...

[Milo]

There is no "hitting bottom" with these liberals. They will stoop to any level necessary to get their point across.

And, yes, this is child abuse.

[injest]

There is no "hitting bottom" with these liberals. They will stoop to any level necessary to get their point across.

And, yes, this is child abuse.

and will these libs be there beside him as he goes thru his teenage years? it is hard enough to grow up gay...but this kid, whether he is gay or straight will come in for YEARS of cruelty...teenagers are not nice in general, now they have a built in stick to use against him. Sure he may be riding high to all the accolades now but what about three years from now? or five? what about when he begins to date and all the kids are telling all his potential girlfriends that he is gay? Will he ever find a girl that won't have it in the back of her head?

in an ideal world everyone would be tolerant and sweet and accepting...but high school is the REAL world. He is going to find out that fame is fleeting and all these people that are so adoring of him right now will be gone on to the next sensational headline tomorrow but he'll still be paying.

His father should be ashamed.

[HerrKaiser]

If the kid is 10, he was much younger when his father or other adults were indoctinating him on sexual preference and sexual topics. That would put him in the 4th or 5th grade.

Now, if a Catholic priest had exposed a boy of this age to the gay lifestyle, do you think the libs and media would be filing yet another multi million dollar law suit and trying to bring down the church?

[delalluvia]

If the kid is 10, he was much younger when his father or other adults were indoctinating him on sexual preference and sexual topics. That would put him in the 4th or 5th grade.

Now, if a Catholic priest had exposed a boy of this age to the gay lifestyle, do you think the libs and media would be filing yet another multi million dollar law suit and trying to bring down the church?

Do you think if a Catholic priest exposed a boy of this age to his belief system and the boy had stood up for Catholic rights in school which caused him trouble, then had him ride in a religious parade, would that also be child abuse?

I mean, if we're going to discuss indoctrination of young children as a bad thing...

[injest]

Do you think if a Catholic priest exposed a boy of this age to his belief system and the boy had stood up for Catholic rights in school which caused him trouble, then had him ride in a religious parade, would that also be child abuse?

I mean, if we're going to discuss indoctrination of young children as a bad thing...

I dont' see Catholicism (sp) as being such a controversial subject...everyone has a religion (or lack thereof); when was the last time you heard someone say "Oh that is SOO catholic"?? or heard of someone being bashed for being Baptist?

we may feel that sexuality shouldn't be any bigger a deal than religion but the fact is it IS a  big deal and it is unfair and abusive to lay the responsibility of the fight for rights off on a child.

[injest]

I was just thinking, looking at the board that I know you probably aren't going to agree with me, but I don't have that knot in my stomach when I open a response from you....

and do you have any idea what a relief it is to know I can read a dissenting opinion KNOWING there will not be a nasty attack or mockery in it? You truly are a class act, Del and I really appreciate your input and value your insights. You can hold your own with the best of them on FACTS and reasoning ability, not personal attacks or cheerleading squads. Thank you.

[delalluvia]

I was just thinking, looking at the board that I know you probably aren't going to agree with me

You know me well. 

but I don't have that knot in my stomach when I open a response from you....

and do you have any idea what a relief it is to know I can read a dissenting opinion KNOWING there will not be a nasty attack or mockery in it? You truly are a class act, Del and I really appreciate your input and value your insights. You can hold your own with the best of them on FACTS and reasoning ability, not personal attacks or cheerleading squads. Thank you.

You're welcome.

I agree that at 10 years old, this kid is probably hugely influenced by his parents, but why would that disqualify him for actually believing it himself?  At least for now?

I bring up the Catholic thing because some non-religious folk think it's child abuse to indoctrinate a child in a religion while they're young and don't have the analytical skills to know what is being done to them.  Especially religions that have good and bad parts. 

Obviously little children only get the sunny-side Jesus-loves-me stories and songs and are not taught about his father God the Father who ordered children, pregnant women and everyone else not his own slaughtered in his name, the mind control, the misogyny.  But of course by the time children are old enough to discover this, it's too late, the indoctrination is done.

It's difficult to overcome this but people do.

In Will Phillips' situation, what is he being indoctrinated with that will cause so many problems?  That everyone should be equal but aren't?  How is that bad?

[injest]

You know me well. 

You're welcome.

I agree that at 10 years old, this kid is probably hugely influenced by his parents, but why would that disqualify him for actually believing it himself?  At least for now?

I bring up the Catholic thing because some non-religious folk think it's child abuse to indoctrinate a child in a religion while they're young and don't have the analytical skills to know what is being done to them.  Especially religions that have good and bad parts. 

Obviously little children only get the sunny-side Jesus-loves-me stories and songs and are not taught about his father God the Father who ordered children, pregnant women and everyone else not his own slaughtered in his name, the mind control, the misogyny.  But of course by the time children are old enough to discover this, it's too late, the indoctrination is done.

It's difficult to overcome this but people do.

In Will Phillips' situation, what is he being indoctrinated with that will cause so many problems?  That everyone should be equal but aren't?  How is that bad?

I am not so worried about the indoctrination angle so much as I am the exploitation angle..and honestly I am much more relaxed about it being a parade in Oklahoma (there won't be all that nudity and crap like at the big city parades). No the thing that bothers me is them setting him up as a symbol or spokeman when he is not old enough or mature enough to foresee how other people will react to him later. In an ideal world his father could teach him to ignore the idiots, and he would have enough courage to do so but why put him thru that? What is the gain to him to be put up as a gay rights activist poster boy at the age of ten? Sure it may make the bigots look stupid but at what cost?

[delalluvia]

I am not so worried about the indoctrination angle so much as I am the exploitation angle..and honestly I am much more relaxed about it being a parade in Oklahoma (there won't be all that nudity and crap like at the big city parades). No the thing that bothers me is them setting him up as a symbol or spokeman when he is not old enough or mature enough to foresee how other people will react to him later. In an ideal world his father could teach him to ignore the idiots, and he would have enough courage to do so but why put him thru that? What is the gain to him to be put up as a gay rights activist poster boy at the age of ten? Sure it may make the bigots look stupid but at what cost?

I think he would make a good role model for other 10 year olds.  As for the exploitive thing, depends on his parents.  If they canvass him around the media, selling his story for their own gain, then yes, I can see it.  But I don't know.  For all I know, his parents truly believe in what he stood for.  For all I know, if they get any payment for appearances, they're giving it to gay rights groups.  As for being harassed and bullied, well, some kids go through that without any socio-political stance needed as a cause.  His parents/father should teach him to ignore the idiots regardless of why they're harassing him. 

[injest]

I think he would make a good role model for other 10 year olds.  As for the exploitive thing, depends on his parents.  If they canvass him around the media, selling his story for their own gain, then yes, I can see it.  But I don't know.  For all I know, his parents truly believe in what he stood for.  For all I know, if they get any payment for appearances, they're giving it to gay rights groups.  As for being harassed and bullied, well, some kids go through that without any socio-political stance needed as a cause.  His parents/father should teach him to ignore the idiots regardless of why they're harassing him. 

yes, some do...so why deliberately set a kid UP for more teasing and more bullying?

and do you really think "ignore them and they'll stop" works? it doesn't, Del. Kids commit suicide over bullying and harassment, it is NOT something to be taken lightly and dismissed.

[delalluvia]

yes, some do...so why deliberately set a kid UP for more teasing and more bullying?

Was he getting bullied before?  Or did it just start because of his stance?  Makes a difference.

and do you really think "ignore them and they'll stop" works? it doesn't, Del. Kids commit suicide over bullying and harassment, it is NOT something to be taken lightly and dismissed.

What else can you do about bullies? 

[injest]

Was he getting bullied before?  Or did it just start because of his stance?  Makes a difference.

What else can you do about bullies? 

no idea if he was bullied before, I just know he'll be bullied now.

you can work to eliminate reasons for the bullies to target your child.

[delalluvia]

no idea if he was bullied before, I just know he'll be bullied now.

Yep, good cause though.

you can work to eliminate reasons for the bullies to target your child.

Like?

[injest]

Yep, good cause though.

so it's ok to sacrifice this child for gay rights? how pagan is that!? Are we not past the point of laying innocents on the alter and slitting their throats to achieve goals for the adult members of society?

Like?

teaching them a sport, encouraging them to lose weight, getting them involved in a club that will provide fellowship, making your home welcoming for other age mates so friendships are fostered, foregoing activities that are viewed with suspicion by the majority of your neighbors (or at least keeping them a bit more private), drive him to school instead of letting him ride the bus, get him a tutor so his grades will be good, look at what other kids are wearing and try to get him similar clothes so he doesn't stand out.