Homosexual recruitment

"Homosexual recruitment" and similar terms are used to describe the notion that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people attempt to convert otherwise heterosexual people into a "gay lifestyle". Allegations of recruitment in this fashion have been used in opposition to institutionalized HIV prevention programs, anti-bullying legislation, anti-discrimination laws, in-school discussions of feminism and LGBT rights, and against the establishment of Gay-Straight Alliance school programs.

"Homosexual recruitment" and similar terms refer to the allegation that LGBT people engage in a concerted effort to indoctrinate children into being LGBT as well, and becoming, according to some social conservatives and Christian right groups, part of a "lifestyle that can kill them". Supporters of recruitment allegations point at "deviant" and "prurient" sex education as evidence. They express concern that anti-bullying efforts teach that "homosexuality is normal, and that students shouldn't harass their classmates because they're gay", suggesting recruitment as the primary motivation.

Supporters of this theory cite the inability for same-sex couples to reproduce as a motivation for recruitment.

Critics of the term describe it as an anti-gay myth, and a fear-inducing bogeyman. Many critics believe the term promotes the myth of homosexuals as pedophiles.

In a 1990 New York Times piece, gay writer David Leavitt criticized the term stating, "Of course, to any gay person who, as a frightened and confused teenager, searched desperately for books or films or television shows that offered even a mention of homosexual experience to latch on to, the idea of gay 'recruitment' is laughable. It is also profoundly insulting."

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