Despite ACLU, Gays Should Be Ruled Out as Big Brothers

This holiday season may be one of the saddest ever for thousands of fatherless boys in Southern California. These children crave a father figure to inspire them. Enter the American Civil Liberties Union to serve in the role of Christmas spoiler.

On Monday the ACLU filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court challenging the right of the Big Brothers of Greater Los Angeles to carefully and privately screen potential volunteers.

Specifically, the ACLU complains that, rather than considering an applicant on all the criteria needed to become a Big Brother, we excluded one solely because he was admittedly involved with men--a homosexual (or bisexual) relationship.

This legal action tragically challenges the very existence of Big Brothers and questions our ability to guide impressionable young boys toward traditional values and life style.

The ACLU evokes the California Unruh Civil Rights Act of 1959, which outlaws discrimination in any business establishment. It insists that the Big Brothers organization is a business that must be judged by the same standards as one that sells consumer goods like shoes or hotdogs, instead of as a social-service organization that deals with the long-term development of thousands of children.

Our program finds adult males who can work well with boys who are between the ages of 6 and 12. These boys are discovering their own identities and are often dealing with low self-esteem, loneliness and anger--byproducts of the belief that their fathers rejected them. They look to their Big Brothers, as they would to a father, for answers to their most personal questions.

A single mother who comes to Big Brothers for help trusts the professional judgment of our trained social workers to recommend a Big Brother who would be the most positive masculine role model for her son. She must feel secure that we have taken every precaution to protect her son, and that the Big Brother will guide the youth along a path that is socially acceptable.

The ACLU insists that a homosexual man is an appropriate primary masculine role model for a boy. We think not, and for very subtle reasons. The negative effects of having a homosexual Big Brother might not be seen for years. But, with the rise in gay pride over the last decade, a homosexual man may approach his life style with a sense of mission--the same zeal as any minority seeking acceptance. A gay Big Brother could easily go overboard in justifying his beliefs and life style to an impressionable boy. This missionary zeal, from a man to whom a boy clearly looks for guidance, may lead to a confused sexual identity and a heightened curiosity about homosexuality.

“If my Big Brother is gay, I think I’ll try it, too,” is a view that a Little Brother may form.

The reasons for homosexuality are only theories--there is no hard evidence that indicates whether sexual preference is a learned or a biologically determined behavior. Although I believe in a homosexual’s right to privacy and happiness, I do not believe that anyone should experiment with our children during their most impressionable years.

Big Brothers exists to help guide young boys who are suffering from the loss of their fathers. For many children, living in a broken home is a difficult enough adjustment. The Big Brothers organization does not want to expose these boys to yet another alternative life style.

Thus the screening of Big Brothers is our moral and ethical responsibility, and the interest of fatherless boys is of paramount concern. Each potential volunteer is subject to a stringent process that includes references, state and federal fingerprint checks, interviews and review by a Screening Advisory Committee. We question any man whose background suggests that he would make a poor role model. The ACLU challenges the basic right of the Big Brothers to deny applicants.

We enter a sad, strange and dangerous era when Big Brothers is under attack for affirming the conventional life style of marriage and family. Is this against the Unruh Act?