CRAZY Californian Bill to FORCE text books to include gay history

Calif. bill would require textbooks include 'gay history'
Apr 12, 2006
By Michael Foust
Baptist Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (BP)--A bill that would require California public school textbooks to include "gay history" is making its way through the state legislature, and experts warn it could have an impact nationwide.

The bill, SB 1437, passed a state Senate committee April 4 by a vote of 3-1 and is expected to be debated in the full body in the coming days. It would require textbooks to include "the contributions of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender to the total development of California and the United States."

The bill also changes state law to prohibit teachers from saying anything "adversely" about homosexuality. That in of itself could change the way schools teach about the natural family (mom, dad and children).

The bill specifically is aimed at the social sciences -- which includes history -- but presumably could have an even wider reach.

"It's blatantly one-sided and would portray homosexuality, through curriculum in the schools, as mainstream," Lynne Fishel, spokesperson for the California Family Council, told Baptist Press. "It would end any open discussion about the issue of homosexuality in the public classroom."

The fear among conservatives is that if the bill becomes law, it could influence the content of textbooks in other states. California is the nation's largest textbook purchaser.

"As they say, 'As California goes, so goes the nation,’" Fishel said.

Just last year, the California Senate and Assembly, both controlled by Democrats, passed a bill that would have legalized "gay marriage." But it was vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican who has yet to take a public position on the latest bill.

Geoffrey Kors, executive director of the homosexual group Equality California, applauded the committee for advancing the bill.

“Current California law recognizes the importance of teaching about a variety of people and groups that contribute to our diverse society," Kors said in a statement. "Adding the important contributions of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community and individuals is in keeping with that educational goal.”

But the Campaign for Children and Families, a California-based pro-family group, argues that the bill could mean the end of "kings" and "queens" during homecoming and prom week as well as sex-specific sports such as boys and girls basketball. The bill says that "no teacher shall give instruction nor shall a school district sponsor any activity that reflects adversely upon persons because of their race or ethnicity, gender, disability, nationality, sexual orientation, or religion." That part of the bill, CCF says, could result in homosexuals and transsexuals arguing that sex-specific sports, as well as homecoming "kings" and "queens," are "discriminatory."

"There’s no mistaking that the California Department of Education will use SB 1437 to erase all traditional distinctions of gender or sexual standards," a statement on CCF's website states.

Said Fishel, of the California Family Council, "This bill legitimizes the pro-homosexual viewpoint and negates any traditional views of family. While it's shrouded in an anti-discrimination tolerance bill, it's really discriminatory against people of faith, who would question homosexuality as a behavior.

"It elevates homosexuals and transgenders into the category of men, women, blacks, Hispanics and other culture and ethnic groups.... I wasn't aware that we call out sexual orientation when we're teaching history. That would be very new for our kids," Fishel said.
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For information about the national debate over "gay marriage," visit http://www.bpnews.net/samesexmarriage

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.Shane. said:

While I agree w/ the idea of toleration that the bill seems to be going after, I really think legislating this is a bad idea.

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Xanikk999 said:

Its a good step for teaching tolerence i agree. I just find legislating this into history books is kind of silly.

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Xanikk999 said:

I dont think being gay has enough of a cultural history for it to be tought in history yet.

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THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


SECTION 1. Section 51204.5 of the Education Code is amended to
read:
51204.5. Instruction in social sciences shall include the early
history of California and an age-appropriate study of the role and contributions of both men and women, Black Americans, American Indians, Mexicans, Asians, Pacific Island people Islanders , and
other ethnic groups, and people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or
transgender, to the economic, political, and social development of
California and the United States of America, with particular emphasis
on portraying the role of these groups in contemporary society.
SEC. 2. Section 51500 of the Education Code is amended to read:
51500. No teacher shall give instruction nor shall a school
district sponsor any activity that reflects adversely upon persons
because of their race or ethnicity, gender, disability, nationality,
sexual orientation, or religion, as those terms are defined in
Section 422.56 of the Penal Code .
SEC. 3. Section 51501 of the Education Code is amended to read:
51501. No textbook or other instructional materials shall be
adopted by the state board or by any governing board for use in the
public schools that contains any matter reflecting adversely upon
persons because of their race or ethnicity, gender, disability,
nationality, sexual orientation, or religion , as those terms
are defined in Section 422.56 of the Penal Code .
SEC. 4. Section 60040 of the Education Code is amended to read:
60040. When adopting instructional materials for use in the
schools, governing boards shall include only instructional materials
which, in their determination, accurately portray in an
age-appropriate manner the cultural, racial , gender,
and sexual orientation diversity of our society,
including:
(a) The contributions of both men and women in all types of roles,
including professional, vocational, and executive roles.
(b) The role and contributions of Native Americans, African
Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, European Americans,
and members of other ethnic and cultural groups to the total
development of California and the United States.
(c) The contributions of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or
transgender to the total development of California and the United
States.
(d) The role and contributions of the entrepreneur and labor in
the total development of California and the United States.
SEC. 5. Section 60044 of the Education Code is amended to read:
60044. No instructional materials shall be adopted by any
governing board for use in the schools that, in its determination,
contains:
(a) Any matter reflecting adversely upon persons because of their
race or ethnicity, gender, disability, nationality, sexual
orientation, religion, or religion, as those
terms are defined in Section 422.56 of the Penal Code or
occupation.
(b) Any sectarian or denominational doctrine or propaganda
contrary to law.

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Inqvisitor said:

They have contributed nothing but filth and degeneracy in their unmatched arrogance.

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Alexander the Great
*Macedonian Ruler, 300 B.C.
Socrates
*Greek Philosopher, 400 B.C.
Sappho
*Greek Woman Poet, 600 B.C.
Hadrian
*Roman Emperor, 1st-2nd c.
Richard the Lionhearted
*English King, 12th c.
Saladin
*Sultan of Egypt and Syria
Desiderius Erasmus
*Dutch Monk, Philosopher
Francis Bacon
*English statesman, author
Frederick the Great
*King of Prussia
Lord Byron
*English poet, 18th c.
Walt Whitman
*U.S. poet, author, 19th c.
Oscar Wilde
*Irish author, 19th c.
Marcel Proust
*French author, 20th c.
Colette
*French author, 20th c.
Gertrude Stein
*U.S. poet, author, 20th c.
Alice B. Toklas
*U.S. author, 20th c.
Federico Garcia Lorca
*Spanish author, 20th c.
Cole Porter
*U.S. composer, 20th c.
Virginia Woolf
*English author, 20th c.
Leonard Bernstein
*U.S. composer, 20th c.
Pope Julius III
*1550-1555
T.E. Lawrence
*English soldier, author, 20th c.
Jean Cocteau
*French writer, director, 20th c.
Charles Laughton
*English actor, 20th c.
Marguerite Yourcenar
*Belgian author, 20th c.
Tennessee Williams
*U.S. Playwright, 20th c.
James Baldwin
*U.S. author, 20th c.
Andy Warhol
*U.S. artist, 20th c.
Michelangelo
*Italian artist, 15th c.
Leonardo Da Vinci
*Ital. Artist, scientist, 15th c.
Christopher Marlowe
*Eng. Playwright, 16th c.
Herman Melville
*U.S. author, 19th c.
Horatio Alger, Jr.
*U.S. author, 19th c.
Tchaikovsky
*Russian composer, 19th c.
Willa Cather
*U.S. author, 19th c.
Amy Lowell
*U.S. author, 19th & 20th c.
E.M. Forster
*English author, 20th c.
John M. Keynes
*English economist, 20th c.
Ludwig Wittgenstein
*Australian mathematician, 20th c.
Bessie Smith
*U.S. singer, 20th c.
Noel Coward
*English playwright, 20th c.
Christopher Isherwood
*English author, 20th c.
Pier Paolo Pasolini
*Italian film director, 20th c.
Yukio Mishima
*Japanese author, 20th c.
Eleanor Roosevelt
*U.S. stateswoman, 20th c.
Julius Caesar
*Roman Emperor, 100-44 B.C.
Augustus Caesar
*Roman Emperor
Harvey Milk
*U.S. politician, 20th c.
Bayard Rustin
*U.S. Civil Rights activist, 20th c.
James I
*English King, 16th-17th c.
Queen Anne
*English Queen, 18th c.
Marie Antoinette
*French Empress, 18th c.
Melissa Etheridge
*U.S. Rock Star, 20th c.
Pope Benedict IX
*1032-1044
May Sarton
*U.S. author, (1912 - 1995)
Edna Ferber
*U.S. author, 20th c.
Elton John
*English Rock Star, 20th c.
Margaret Fuller
*U.S. writer, educator, 20th c.
Montezuma II
*Aztec ruler, 16th c.
Peter the Great
*Russian Czar, 17th-18th c.
Langston Hughes
*U.S. author, 20th c.
Pope John XII
*955-964
Madame de Stael
*French writer, 17th-18th c.
Martina Navratilova
*U.S. tennis star, 20th c.
Greg Louganis
*U.S. Olympic swimmer, 20th c.
Billie Jean King
*U.S. tennis star, 20th c.
Roberta Achtenburg
*U.S. politician, 20th c.
Barney Frank
*U.S. Congressman, 20th c.
Gerry Studds
*U.S. Congressman, 20th c.
Hans Christian Andersen
*Danish author, 19th c.
Tom Dooley
*U.S. M.D. missionary, 20th c.
J. Edgar Hoover
*U.S. director of the FBI., 20th c.
Frida Kahlo
*Mexican artist, 20th c.
Suleiman the Magnificent
*Ottoman ruler, 15th c.
Rock Hudson
*U.S. actor, 20th c.
Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz
*Mexican author, 16th c.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
*U.S. author, 19th c.
Candace Gingrich
*Gay Rights activist, 20th c.
Margarethe Cammermeyer
*U.S. Army Colonel, 20th c.
Zoe Dunning
*U.S. Military Reservist, 20th c.
Tom Waddel
*U.S. M.D., Olympic star, 20th c.
Kate Millet
*U.S. author, 20th c.
Janis Joplin
*U.S. singer, 20th c.
Rudolf Nuryev
*Russian dancer, 20th c.
Waslaw Nijinsky
*Russian dancer, 20th c.
Ernst Röhm
*German Nazi leader, 20th c.
Dag Hammerskjold
*Swedish UN Secretary, 209th c.
Aristotle
*Greek philosopher, 384-322 B.C.
Paula Gunn Allen
*Native American author, 20th c.
Angela Davis
*U.S. political activist, 20th c.
June Jordan
*U.S. author, activist, 20th c.
Rainer Maria Rilke
*German poet, 20th c.
James Dean
*U.S. actor, 20th c.
Montgomery Clift
*U.S. actor, 20th c.
Baron VonSteuben
*German General, Valley Forge
Edward II
*English King, 14th c.

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Tenochtitlan said:

From source. Just to name a few.

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Dreadnought said:

Why does this have to be taught - the thought of being gay sickens me

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Xanikk999 said:

Are you homophobic? Gay people can be good nice people just like anyone else.

If i told you i had a disgusting habbit would that make me any less of a person?

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Inqvisitor said:

Gets kids out of those marxist State propaganda mills now and never look back. The only solution...

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Dreadnought said:

Its the actual....part of it that grosses me out...

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Dreadnought said:

Why does this have to be taught - the thought of being gay sickens me

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Dreadnought said:

Its the actual....part of it that grosses me out...

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Xanikk999 said:

Good list. But i still think its silly to teach about gay people who had contributions RATHER then just teaching about the people who had contributions in general.

It doesnt matter if the persons gay or not but to have a whole class time devoted to teaching about gay people who made major contributions seems to be pointless. There does not need to be catagorizations on these bases for whom we teach about in history.

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