We all had a good laugh recently when James Dobson and his Focus on the Family empire launched a broadside against “We Are Family,” a video intended to promote tolerance among children. In particular, Dobson lashed out at SpongeBob SquarePants, whom Dobson said was part of this underhanded, “pro-homosexual” scheme.
For those of us who aren’t paranoid homophobes, the whole thing was fairly amusing. Editorial cartoonists had a field day, the foundation that produced the video said Dobson “needs medication,” it made for some humor at the Oscars, etc. A good time was had by all.
Right up until Dobson got exactly what he wanted. As Focus on the Family told its supporters:
A public school curriculum tied to the much-publicized “We Are Family” video featuring SpongeBob SquarePants and other children’s characters contains no overt references to homosexuality — quite a change from what was reported to be in earlier versions of the document.
It appears the teachers guide produced in partnership with the maker of the video, the We Are Family Foundation, was cleaned up after the media reports earlier this year about the group’s ties to homosexual advocacy groups.
Both the video and the guide are being sent to 61,000 schools nationwide this week.
“We were not surprised to see no mention of homosexuality in the teachers guide we reviewed, even though media who saw an earlier draft of the document noted that it contained several references to same-sex parents,” said Gary Schneeberger, director of media and constituent communications for Focus on the Family.
“We can only assume the We Are Family Foundation removed those references after realizing the majority of American parents do not want such material to be foisted on their children under the guise of ‘tolerance and diversity.’ “
All of a sudden, this doesn’t seem quite as amusing.
It was entertaining to see Dobson look foolish and become the butt of jokes because many of us more or less assumed their complaints were too absurd to be taken seriously. But while we were laughing, Dobson’s supporters were keeping the pressure on — and they got everything they wanted. As a result, the tolerance video makes literally no effort to extend those lessons to kids of gay families or gay kids themselves.
For what it’s worth, Focus on the Family still doesn’t like the video and worries there may be subtle messages that could be construed as tolerance for gays.
The guide itself treats the classroom as a family, defining a family loosely as any group that is bound by love and caring for each other. Sometimes, pets and imaginary creatures are seen as family.
That, while not specifically pro-gay, is cause for concern among pro-family analysts.
What’s actually cause for concern is that Dobson and his group are still kvetching after winning a fight many of us thought they lost weeks ago.