GLSEN’s Day of Silence is still a month-and-a-half away, but Exodus International is already mobilizing antigay teens in schools across North America with Exodus’ misnamed “Day of Truth” campaign.

The DOT mobilizes antigay churches and students to harass LGBT students and their friends, and — under the guise of so-called “conversation” — to lobby schools to exclude LGBT students from schools’ antibullying policies.

In a press release last week, Exodus applauded its past successes in convincing antigay youths to be ignorant, misinformed, and sanctimonious toward their lesbian and gay “friends.” (If you’re wondering why Exodus doesn’t mention transgender students, it’s because the organization effectively denies the existence of people who are not conventionally male or female, equating them with drag queens.)

Here are some of Exodus’ “success” stories:

“One girl in particular asked me if it was hard because I have a friend that is a lesbian. I told her that “yes” it is hard, but I’m not going to give up on her. I think that God has so many awesome plans for that girl and for the rest of us. The Day of Truth is something that is so awesome!” – A high school freshman in Arizona

“I was so glad to hear about the Day of Truth. My daughter is a freshman.. and we have both been in shock that the school counselor would promote a club to encourage gay lifestyles. We need to pray for these kids and people encouraging this sinful and deadly lifestyle and give our kids a voice to proclaim the truth.” – Pam, a parent

“I still disagree with your views, and I always will. However, you’ve expressed your views in a polite and forthright manner, without being confrontational, and I wanted to tell you that I very much appreciate that.” – An adult who does not support Exodus International’s views on homosexuality

Please note that Exodus lacked sufficient integrity to identify these people for purposes of confirmation; that none of these people indicate any knowledge of specific truths about their friends and children; none of them acknowledge the violence and harassment that is happening against their LGBT classmates; none of them admit the truth that Exodus ex-gay counseling programs are a dismal failure; and that the two antigay poster-persons view the task of having gay friends or relatives as a chore — or worse, a threat. That’s Exodus-style “love” for you.

Truth Wins Out urges schools and GSAs around the country to become alert to Exodus’ possible formation, in coming months, of affiliate student groups that intend to harass and ostracize religious and sexual minorities — and to sabotage nascent efforts by parents and friends of assaulted youths to make schools safer for LGBT students.

Eight religious-right organizations — three of them, identified as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center — are escalating a war of words against antibullying programs in U.S. schools.

Exodus International, Focus on the Family, Americans for Truth, Liberty Counsel, Mission: America, MassResistance, Illinois Family Institute, and Abiding Truth Ministries are leading three campaigns to smear the Day of Silence, which is an April 17 event planned at 8,000 U.S. schools to “just say no” to verbal, sexual, and physical assault.

All eight organizations oppose antibullying programs unless they exclude gay youths. Instead, these organizations want same-sex-attracted youths to be compelled by abusive peers and school faculty to be admitted — or worse, involuntarily detained — in amateur-operated and unsuccessful ex-gay boot camps.

Because of these organizations’ callous indifference to violence, youths are dying and parents are suing school districts for negligence, reckless endangerment, and complicity in violence committed by the children of antigay parents.

Exodus this year has assumed responsibility for a Day of (Un)Truth which encourages antigay students to ignorantly and mistakenly assert that anyone can change their sexual orientation and therefore — Exodus reasons — no antiviolence programs are necessary in schools. Exodus defines organized opposition to antigay violence as a sinister promotion of the “homosexual agenda.” Exodus claims that its event, scheduled for April 20, aims to promote conversation in schools. But in fact Exodus refuses to engage in discussion of antigay violence either in North America or in Uganda, where Exodus continues to be complicit in a campaign to promote vigilantism, involuntary ex-gay detention, and imprisonment against gay Ugandans.

Focus on the Family, meanwhile, is collaborating with Exodus to espouse one-way tolerance of antigay students in a “True Tolerance” campaign which redefines tolerance to permit 1) privileges for antigay evangelical bullies to relentlessly insult and threaten classmates during school hours on school property, combined with 2) character assassination and official efforts to silence those who oppose antigay violence and who, therefore, are accused of promoting a supposed “homosexual agenda.”

Six other far-right organizations are, if nothing else, honest about opposing conversation in schools: They support a “walkout” — a pseudo-Christian excuse for antigay students and misinformed or negligent parents to play hooky on the day when their peers are taking positive steps to stop on-campus violence. Scott Lively’s “Abiding Truth Ministries” headlines the recent Uganda ex-gay conference which launched a campaign of antigay vigilantism in that nation. Americans for Truth is a nameplate for antigay activist Peter LaBarbera, whose sexually graphic website produces offensive homoerotic pornography for consumption by antigay donors and antigay private-school assemblies.

Box Turtle Bulletin offers a detailed analysis of each campaign by self-styled Christians to defend antigay violence and oppose positive steps to restore safe learning in schools.

Exodus International’s Day of Truth is a campaign to oppose students and faculty — especially in public schools — who oppose anti-gay bullying.

For 13 years, the Day of Silence has encouraged students and faculty to end the silent tolerance of antigay violence. This year, Days of Silence are planned on or around April 17. Several thousand schools across the United States have established anti-bullying programs to stop the harassment of minority students, including gay youth.

Exodus has yet to endorse a single antibullying program. Not one.

The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, which coordinates Day of Silence vigils, explains why antiviolence programs are necessary:

GLSEN’ 2007 National School Climate Survey found that 9 out of 10 LGBT students report verbal, sexual or physical harassment at school and more than 30% report missing at least a day of school in the past month out of fear for their personal safety. The Day of Silence helps bring us closer to making anti-LGBT bullying, harassment and name-calling unacceptable in America’ schools.

GLSEN encourages participating students not to be unnecessarily disruptive:

GLSEN advises all students to secure school permission for the event. We believe that such support is critical for many reasons. We encourage students in those schools where support is unlikely to build campaigns to try and secure that support or work with their administration on compromises of activities the school will allow. We also encourage students to identify events and ways to participate outside of the school.

If your administration does not support an official Day of Silence event there are alternative activities that you can engage in. Please refer to: “Tips for the Last Minute Organizer or Those Whose Administration Has Said No” [PDF].

Exodus, unfortunately, refuses to acknowledge that antigay violence is a serious problem for U.S. schools.

Instead, Exodus grossly mischaracterizes those who oppose antigay violence in schools. According to Exodus Youth:

The Day of Silence is a national program of the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN), which asks students to remain silent for an entire day to express their support for the promotion of the homosexual agenda in the public schools.

In Exodus’ view, it seems, anyone who stands firmly and unconditionally against antigay violence and harassment is guilty of “promotion of the homosexual agenda.”

Exodus — and its ally in the project, the fundamentalist legal-attack group Alliance Defense Fund — assert that organized, explicit, and unconditional opposition to violence is un-Christian. What is Christian, in their view? Sadly, they appear to consider it a Christian mandate to verbally harass gay youth and the friends of gay youth at the same time that these youths are opposing school inaction against violence. They also affirm conservative evangelical conversion of gay youth in public schools, even when the youths are already Christian or when they and their families are members of minority faiths. Finally, they encourage hostile faculty to coerce gay youths to seek help from discredited and disreputable ex-gay counselors — again, regardless of the wishes of the youths’ families. And if schools seek to limit antigay harassment in order to ensure that gay youths can learn like everyone else, then Exodus and its ADF lawyers recommend:

If a principal, teacher or someone else in authority asks you to stop, ask them graciously to check with a supervisor first. If this does not resolve the issue or the school official persists in confronting you, stop immediately and call 1-800-TELL-ADF so that we can resolve the situation quickly.

The Day of Truth is, in short, has nothing to do with clearing up misinformation in schools regarding homosexuality — misinformation that is deliberately created by religious-rightist bigots in the first place. Nor does the Day of Truth foster understanding or support for so-called “ex-gays.”

The DOT is a lobbying day for religious-right trial lawyers who proclaim a supposed right of conservative Christians to harass gay youths, their family members, and youths from minority religious backgrounds — throughout school hours, on school property. It also encourages conservative Christians to ignore the physical violence that occurs around them; to make any reduction in violence conditional upon unilateral acceptance of antigay and anti-minority bigotry; and to misuse religion to incite violence and ostracism against members of minority social and religious demographics, including Christians who affirm or tolerate same-gender attraction.

Of Exodus’ Day of Truth, GLSEN observes:

Those who do not support the Day of Silence often protest, but rarely contribute positively to finding ways to end anti-LGBT harassment. Some individuals and groups organize events in response to the Day of Silence. These events grossly mischaracterize or simply misunderstand the basic purpose of the Day of Silence. Bringing attention to these events only adds a false credibility to their misinformation about the Day of Silence, GLSEN and the thousands of American students taking action on April 17th. If you face hostile students or organizations in your school on the Day of Silence remember to remain calm. We encourage you to not get into a debate, make gestures, and certainly not to get into a physical altercation. If you continue to be harassed, we encourage you to contact your GSA advisor or other ally school staff person.

Until Exodus and its religious-right allies unconditionally oppose antigay violence — until they renounce their implicit support for harassment and bullying in the United States and their public support for antigay vigilantism, imprisonment, and murder from Jamaica to Nigeria to Russia to Uganda — there remains a compelling need for Days of Silence to stand vigil over those who equate violence with “Truth.”

Days of Silence seek to restore schools as a safe learning place for all students, regardless of orientation or choice of religion.

Exodus’ Day of Truth seeks to turn schools into centers of harassment and relentless fundamentalist ex-gay proselytization.