By Fang Zhi Yuan The Aware saga showed no signs of abating even after the new exco took office as proxy battles take place behind the scene in retaliation for “outsiders” for purportedly take side in the sordid affair which led to a public humiliation for Josie Lau and team. The latest tussle occured over the online ST Forum where ‘feminist mentor’ Dr Thio Su Mien traded angry barbs with John Hui Yip Kiong over the speech made by the former’s daughter NMP Thio Li Ahn in Parliament on ‘militant secularism’. In her defence, Dr Thio wrote that she shares the government’s view that ‘the conventional family, a heterosexual stable family’, is society’s building block. She went hold to berate Aware for promoting the homosexual agenda with its CSE in schools: “Aware did much to promote women’s concerns. However, I found its apparent recent shift to advocating the homosexual agenda alarming…..The CSE instructors guide contained ‘explicit and inappropriate’ content which conveyed ‘messages which could promote homosexuality’. This violated MOE guidelines that sex education must promote ‘family values’.” (Straits Times Forum, 1 June 2009) Dr Thio, like the “concerned parents” who wrote to MOE quoted two examples to support her allegations against Aware: 1. The 1 minute segment in the Aware’s instruction manual containing the following sentences that “homosexuality is neutral” and “anal sex can be healthy”. 2. Screening of a movie ‘Spider Lilies’ about the life of two lesbians. For Dr Thio’s hypothesis to hold true, we must assume that a 1 minute talk to secondary school children about homosexuality being normal and screening of movies with a homosexual theme will somehow “convert” heterosexuals into homosexuals. However, this notion perpetuated by Dr Thio is no more than a mere fallacy which has been debunked by several secular, scientific and medical associations: In the publication “Just the facts About Sexual Orientation and Youths A Primer for Principals, educators and School personnel” which is endorsed by the following: American Academy of Pediatrics American Association of School Administrations American Counseling Association American Federation of Teachers American Psychological Association American School Counselor Association American School Health Association Interfaith Alliance Foundation National Association of School Psychologists National Association of School Principals National Association of Social Workers National Education Association School Social Work Association of America It is stated: “The idea that homosexuality is a mental disorder or the emergence of same sex attraction and orientation among some adolescents is in any way abnormal or mentally unhealthy has NO support among any mainstream health and mental health professional organization.” Furthermore, the Royal College of Psychiatrists state that “there is no sound scientific evidence that sexual orientation can be changed…. that lesbian, gay and bisexual people should be regarded as valued members of society who have exactly similar rights and responsibilities as all other citizens.” (Source: Royal College of Psychiatrists) Dr Thio’s fears and concerns that Aware’s CSE will lead to a “generation of gays and lesbians” are seriously and cldearly misinformed, misguided and misrepresented which she used to justify the takeover of Aware in order to defend “family values”. How does one defend “traditional mainstream family values”? I supposed Dr Thio is referring to a civil union between a heterosexual couple to set up a family. As homosexuals are unable to procreate, they are perceived as a “threat” to the heterosexual family unit. The real threat to the “conventional family” in Singapore lies not in the homosexual community, but in the rising number of divorces which has doubled over the last decade. The most common reasons cited for divorce are financial difficulties, incompatibility of characters and adultery and not the husband or wife changing their sexual orientation halfway into the marriage. Dr Thio Su Mien is barking up the wrong tree. If she is genuinely concerned about promoting “family values” in Singapore, she should think of ways to help the government bring down the divorce rates and encourage young Singaporeans to marry instead of harping on the homosexuality agenda which is destroying the good work done by the Christian community to empower young couples through pre-marital counselling and marriage workshops. While we uphold the ”heterosexual family” as the basic building block of society, we should not ignore the blind spots, that “traditional families” have the potential to become dysfunctional too which may do more harm than good to the next generation. Take for example a heterosexual family whose parents are divorced and their child end up neglected, unloved and uncared for compared to a homosexual couple in a stable, loving relationship who adopt a child and bring him/her up as a responsible member of society. As in all relationships, be it heterosexual or homosexual, the key to sustain it lies in open communication, trust, honesty, sincerity and a committment to make it work. Parents should be more concerned whether their children are equipped with the necessary knowledge and communication skills to build a stable, long-lasting and fulfilling partnership with their spouses in future rather than them being influenced by homosexuals to become one themselves. Let us not get distracted from the real battle to defend mainstream family values which is encourage more couples to tie the knot and to save marriages on the brink of divorce. Homosexuals should be left alone to their own privacy. There are more pressing tasks at hand. We should stop polarizing our secular society further with a ‘crusade’ against the sexual minorities based on misguided beliefs under the guise of defending “family values”.