by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS Staff Journalist Outrage is growing over the selection of a 10 year-old boy to serve as grand marshal of the Northwest Arkansas Gay Pride Parade this weekend, an action that many are calling “child abuse.” According to Fox News, Will Phillips, a fifth grader at West Fork School District in Washington County Arkansas was chosen to lead the local Gay Pride Parade because of his activism on behalf of homosexuals. Phillips made a name for himself last November when he refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance in school because it says “all men are created equal” yet homosexuals do not have the same rights as everyone else. Raised by straight parents, his mother, Laura Phillips, has made it a point to be a “straight ally” of the homosexual community, going to pride parades and standing up for the rights of their gay and lesbian neighbors, such as the right to marry and adopt children. This is not the first time Will has been recognized for his activism. He received the Gay & Lesgian  Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) award in March for his work. However, pro-family groups are raising an alarm about allowing a child to lead a parade of this nature. The American Family Association, based in Tupelo, Miss., has called Will's selection to be grand marshal “a form of child abuse,” and is calling upon the city’s mayor to “cancel his plans to issue a proclamation celebrating homosexual behavior and gay pride.” “We believe that it goes beyond the pale for adults to exploit a 10-year-old child for dark political purposes,” Bryan Fischer, the director of issue analysis at AFA, told Fox News. “He is too young to understand. There is nothing about homosexual conduct to be proud of and much to be ashamed of.” The organization sent out an “action alert” to its members that has resulted in more than 12,000 e-mails of protest being sent to city officers.   “It’s shameful that adults would abuse a brain-washed child in this way,” said AFA president Tim Wildmon. “He’s obviously just parroting the nonsense he’s been told by manipulative adults. For gay activists to trot out this child and make him the poster child for promoting unnatural sexual expression is a form of child abuse. “When you realize that the FDA won’t allow a male to donate blood if he’s had sex with another male even one time since 1977, you begin to understand the enormous health risks involved in this kind of sexual behavior,” added Wildmon. “We call on Mayor Lioneld Jordan of Fayetteville to cancel his plans to issue a proclamation celebrating homosexual behavior and Gay Pride. There is nothing about homosexual conduct to be proud of, and much to be ashamed of.” © All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace®  http://www.womenofgrace.com