Homosexual recruitment

From ArticleWorld

Homosexual recruitment is a belief of some people, who are generally considered homophobic, that there is a conspiracy to 'recruit' and 'convert' young people, usually men, to the homosexual agenda. This argument is often used by the religious right, especically in the United States by the Christian right. The range of attitudes and behaviours that are judged to be part of the homosexual recruitment campaign include everything from writing a book like Heather Has Two Mommies to a transperson wearing drag and using the 'wrong' bathroom.

It is a debated issue because like all alternative lifestyles, it is threatening. Any visible sign that people are playing with gender identity can be seen by conservatives as a threat to the heteronormative structure of society. In its milder forms, the homosexual recruitment belief is manifested as individual discomfort with public acknowledgement or displays of homosexuality, or statements about tolerance that add a caveat about children being 'too young' to be exposed to same-sex couples.

While it is accepted that newly 'out' young men and women are zealous about their new self-identification, liberals and LGBT communities meet allegations of 'chickenhawking' with comparisons to the sexual behaviour of some heterosexual men, which is also, more often, it is argued, exploitative. The charge of social engineering is countered with the same.

Sometimes the phrase is also used by LGBT people in discussion about pedophiles, often older men, who 'groom' young boys to enter into physical relationships with them by mentoring the boys, giving them presents etc, but this is a secondary usage.