Monday, I posted a rebuttal to David Barton’s claims that the “leading pediatric association in America” called on the nation’s school superintendents to stop indoctrinating kids to become gay.
Yesterday, a spokeswoman for the American Academy of Pediatrics, Deborah Linchesky, refuted Barton’s claims saying, “the American College of Pediatricians (ACP) – not the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) – sent a letter to school superintendents regarding homosexuality and gender identity.” Linchesky stated the obvious in support of the fact that the AAP is the nation’s leading group of pediatricians: “The AAP, founded in 1930, is an organization of 60,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric specialists committed to providing comprehensive health care for all children, adolescents and young adults.”
When I asked Linchesky about the substance of Barton’s claims – that schools were indoctrinating students to become gay – she pointed me to the 2010 statement from the AAP about the ACPeds letter to school superintendents on the AAP website. There the pediatricians say
On or around March 31, 2010, school superintendents may have received another letter from the American College of Pediatricians, which is in no way affiliated with the American Academy of Pediatrics. The letter promotes another campaign titled “Facts About Youth,” which professes to offer guidance to educators on “approaches to students experiencing sexual orientation and gender identity confusion.” Their campaign does not acknowledge the scientific and medical evidence regarding sexual orientation, sexual identity, sexual health, or effective health education.
David Barton should correct his error immediately. His beliefs are not likely to change because the real leading group of pediatricians did not do what he said they did. But integrity demands that he correct the false impression he created with his followers.