John Bogna
If you didn’t hear about the #teens4truth conference Nov. 17-18, don’t worry:
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From the reported number in attendance, not many other people did, either.
Advertised as a conference on “traditional gender and sexuality,” and branded to try and appeal to a younger, Twitter-savvy audience, according to their website, a collection of “ex-gays,” Christian lobbyists and pastors reportedly led the event.
RELATED: A look back at the history of Houston’s LGBT Pride Weekend.
The conference opened with a prayer, asking the Lord for their words to bring influence to “a special influence on our beloved teenagers, our children,” according to the Texas Observer.
Other opening ceremonies reportedly involved a choreographed dance to Christian pop music, complete with twirling multicolored flags, and an endorsement of Roy Moore, an Alabaman Senate candidate accused of using his position of power as an elected official to sexually harass the multiple women coming forward.
Throughout the course of the conference, discussions on “the homosexual agenda” took place, with screenings of films, like “Light Wins,” which some who stand against the conference’s agenda consider to be propaganda.
One scene of the film depicts a woman standing in the middle of the road at night while headlights close in from behind her.
“Like a tank in Tiananmen Square, the homosexual agenda has been running over people since Anita Bryant’s courageous stand in the 1970s,” the narrator of the trailer can be heard saying as the lights close in. “If we are to keep our freedoms, we must have the courage to stand.”
The headlights reach the woman, revealed to be motorcycles, and she is unharmed as they pass by.
In a nutshell, the message of #teens4truth is homosexuality is an active threat to straight people and couples, and will bring moral ruin if society accepts it as normal, and, despite the lower-than-anticipated turnout, a number of people stand by their faith and this principle.
“Reformed” homosexuals took the stage to tell share their struggles from their time living gay, and how they said they felt called back to straightness by God.
Others spoke on their concerns for what they said they believe to be the “de-gendering” of America, citing transgender rights as the beginning of a slippery slope toward the “complete elimination of the categories of male and female.”
By the end of the second day, 16 people reportedly attended to see #teens4truth come to a close; the average age of the audience members spanned their 40s, according to the Observer piece.
Closing speeches included a warning:
If homosexuality continues unchecked, “the North American Man Boy Love Association will come for our children and grandchildren.” The speakers also reiterated how they believe transgenderism is a threat to our nation’s youth.
RELATED: Houston, Austin leaders: transgender military veterans welcome in our police forces
