Yesterday, California’s Governor Jerry Brown (left) signed the controversial bill requiring all public schools in the state to include a social studies curriculum on the contributions of gays and lesbians. The bill has unsurprisingly drawn criticism from a number of groups, including SaveCalifornia.com.
Senate Bill 48, proposed by Democrat Senator Mark Leno, passed the California Senate by a vote of 23-14, then moved on to the Assembly, where it passed on a 49 to 25 vote.
According to The Blaze,:
Supporters say the [addition to the social studies curriculum] is needed to counter anti-gay stereotypes and beliefs that make gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender children vulnerable to bullying and suicide. It leaves it up to local school districts to decide what to include in the lessons and at what grade students would receive them.
Current California law already mandates that schools teach about Mexican Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, American Indians, entrepreneurs, labor, and women. This bill now adds gays, lesbians, bisexual, and transgender people, as well as those with disabilities, to the list of groups that must be included in history lessons.
Many oppose the bill, saying it promotes a sexual agenda. Randy Thomasson, president of SaveCalifornia.com, helped lead the opposition to the legislation. When the measure was signed by Governor Brown, Thomasson declared,
Jerry Brown has trampled the parental rights of the broad majority of California mothers and fathers who don’t want their children to be sexually brainwashed. SB 48 has no parental opt-out. The only way parents can opt-out their kids from this immoral indoctrination is to opt them out of the entire public school system, which is no longer for morally sensitive parents and their children.
Thomasson contends that the following will take place once the new law is implemented:
1. Textbooks and instructional materials must positively promote “lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans” as “role” models.
2. Children as young as 6 years old will be taught to admire homosexuality, same-sex “marriages,” bisexuality, and transsexuality (cross-dressing and “sex change” operations).
3. Children will be taught to support the political activism of “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Questioning” (LGBTIQ) political groups, as the bill requires “particular emphasis on portraying the role of these groups in contemporary society.”
4. Teachers will be made to positively portray homosexuality, same-sex “marriages,” bisexuality, and transsexuality, because to be silent can bring the charge of “reflecting adversely” or “promoting a discriminatory bias.”
5. School boards will be required to select textbooks and other instructional materials which positively portray “LGBT” lifestyles, because to be silent on these subjects opens them up to charges of “reflecting adversely” or “promoting a discriminatory bias.”
6. Parents will not be notified, nor will they be able to exempt their children, from this new core curriculum.
According to Thomasson, the measure is in direct opposition to what the people of Calfornia want. Thomasson cites a 2009 KPIX/SurveyUSA poll which found that four out of five Californians did not support giving homosexual activist Harvey Milk a statewide day of significance. He added,
With the signing of SB 48, even more California parents will be shocked to see the glorification of Harvey Milk and other homosexual-bisexual-transsexual role models in school textbooks. SB 48 is the eighth school sexual indoctrination law forcing immorality on kids in California K-12 schools.
Likewise, a WND/Wenzel Strategies poll shows that a large majority of Americans, including liberals, believe that elementary school is not the proper platform on which to promote the homosexual lifestyle.
Wenzel Strategies chief Fritz Wenzel explains of the poll respondents:
Whether they object on moral grounds or simply out of concern that many U.S. schools are failing in their core missions of teaching basics doesn’t really matter — the vast majority of American adults want this type of curriculum kept out of the classroom.
Also noted by SaveCalifornia.com is the lack of funding to implement any new programs:
Brown signed this reimbursable mandate for additional instruction despite the State’s ongoing fiscal crisis which has depleted funds for any new programs. When school districts file reimbursable claims with the Commission on State Mandates, the State will have to pay for these new education mandates that have expanded the minimum scope of study.
Thomasson explains, “Jerry Brown is not telling the truth when he says this is doing something new for ‘Pacific Islanders,’ since schools must already teach about the roles and contributions of ‘Pacific Island people.’ Governor Brown is playing semantics and it’s deceptive and insulting to the voters.”
Furthermore, opponents to the bill contend that it was not a necessary element in combating bullying, because California currently has anti-bullying laws in place, including AB 394, which requires K-12 schools to “post antidiscrimination and antiharassment policies in all schools and offices, including staff lounges and pupil government offices.”
Brown claims that the bill is intended to keep history honest:
This bill revises existing laws that prohibit discrimination in education and ensures that the important contributions of Americans from all backgrounds and walks of life are included in our history books. It represents an important step forward for our state, and I thank Senator Leno for his hard work on this historic legislation.
SaveCalifornia.com’s Randy Thomasson declared,
It’s time for parents who love their children to match their words with deeds and do what’s necessary to get them out of the immoral government schools and into the safe havens of homeschooling and church schools.
