California Gay Textbooks: Proposal Would Require LGBT Lessons In Schools

California lawmakers passed a bill Tuesday that would make the state the first to require public schools to teach lessons on historical and current contributions of gays and lesbians.

The bill now goes to Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, who has not indicated whether he will sign the document, the Associated Press Reports. The regulation would also prohibit the use of any materials that reflects negatively on gays.

From the AP:

"This bill will require California schools to present a more accurate and nuanced view of American history in our social science curriculum by recognizing the accomplishments of groups that are not often recognized," said Assembly Speaker John Perez, the first openly gay speaker of the California Assembly.

But several Republicans openly rejected the measure, arguing that such a regulation would promote a homosexual agenda. The Los Angeles Times reports:

"As a Christian, I am deeply offended," [Assemblyman Tim] Donnelly said.

Perez and other Democratic supporters also noting the recent unnatural deaths of several students, which they said could have been prevented or fought by openly and objectively addressing examples of and issues surrounding the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community in school curriculum.

Even if Brown signs the bill, it will take several years to determine what the context of LGBT education will be in lesson plans, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Additionally, California has suspended textbook updates until the 2015-16 academic year due to budget constraints.

Comments

[saortolani]

04:01 PM on 07/22/2011

Will we also indicate if an historical figure was heterosexual?

Unless their sexual proclivities were germane to their achievement or accomplishment why mention it at all?

"George Washington, American Commander and Heterosexual, today led his men across the Delaware River".

[goofy2]

02:27 PM on 07/10/2011

I support improving rights for gay people, but this action is dumb as a brick.

[bessielil]

05:22 PM on 07/09/2011

Sexual orientation should be part of any reasonable sex ed curriculum, and since so many of our great writers and artists were gay, it bears mentioning if people use biography in their curriculum. Schools should also offer support groups and gay/straight alliance groups.

I don't quite know what is meant by a 'gay agenda' other than they exist and contribute. I learned nothing about Native Americans when I was in school, other than a couple of sanitized passages. I learned nothing about Jim Crow laws. Are opponents assuming that curriculum will be field trips to gay bars?

More importantly, teachers should learn how to field sensitive questions about anything. I fear they are not and that's where inclusive attitudes truly matter.

[boscobear]

10:08 AM on 07/09/2011

Contributions for all peple shoukd be taught with no particular emphasis placed on their lifestyle.

[Teacheronthemic]

04:31 AM on 07/09/2011

There is no education without inclusion. Lives are at stake. But let's not allow the textbook companies take advantage of this... We are the change makers in our crazy world. Don't h8. Educ8,

[Atwill]

07:22 AM on 07/08/2011

Home schooling your children because you do not like this is stupid. You are depriving your children of a normal up bringing. Of normal interactions with other kids. Bible thumpers who home school their children in my view are really commiting child abuse. They are not preparing their children for the real world. Watch the film "Jesus camp" and you'll see the sick things Bible thumpers teach thier children when they home school.

[snack cakes]

09:34 PM on 07/08/2011

I distrust your definition of "normal" considering education and crime statistics over the last several decades. The "old" values produced the greatest nation the world has ever known. The "new" values brought us to edge of the abyss; a nation full of self serving psychopaths that behave like the animals they were told they evolved from.

[john1513]

12:48 AM on 07/08/2011

Will there also be lessons on contributions from straights? Or will all historical figures be defined as either straight or LGBT? We're running out of months for specified history/heritage/awareness.

[AmigaMan]

06:04 AM on 07/08/2011

Is there a month for disabled white males?

[bessielil]

05:09 PM on 07/09/2011

Everything has its day/week/month. If we only knew.

International Bacon Day is September 5th.
National Eczema Week 11-18 September 2011
Domestic Violence Awareness Month is October along with Anti-Bullying during the same month
Back to California...California Dried Plum Digestive Health Month is in January

[john1513]

12:34 AM on 07/08/2011

Thanks for trying (and failing) to show both sides HuffPo.

[methodman]

08:56 PM on 07/07/2011

I am liberal having said that other than acceptance I think it is a personal matter. School is about formalizing my language to extend and objectify things. The social things should be covered by that teacher but as a whole. Singling out being gay as the only cause for Bullying is too much.

[Zork4]

12:57 AM on 07/17/2011

The bill adds LGBT Americans, as well as people with disabilities, to an already existing list of groups that must be included in social science instruction Those include African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans and other minority groups.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/07/05/BA5L1K6NPU.DTL#ixzz1SKqtZhBy

It does not single out being gay as the only cause for bullying.

Can't have your own facts, sorry.

[Adrienne Lopez]

08:36 AM on 08/12/2011

I read your "facts" that came out of a newspaper and missed where it mentioned anything about anyone with disabilities. All that was listed was the LGBT. And not for bullying.
Assembly Speaker John Pérez, D-Los Angeles, the first gay person to hold the top office, said that by including specific historical contributions of gay and lesbian people, "We gain a greater appreciation for what it means to be an American."

[David Hagwood]

02:53 PM on 07/07/2011

Geez, my wife and I don't have kids yet. I'm afraid by the time we do, we'll either have to do home school or Christian school. It's one thing to teach about people of different nationalities; but when you get in to teaching about certain lifestyles, that's too much. If they want to make it an elective in college or something then whatever...when it comes to making it a mandatory addition to the K-12 curriculum, that's seriously messed up. When it comes to Christians, we're going to teach our children and bring our children up according to The Bible, not send them to school where they go against what we're trying to teach them at home and confusing them when we view it as unacceptable and they go and make it out to be a great, good, and acceptable thing. All I know is when I raise my chile, I tried to teach properly and tried to expose my child to good environments; and if my child should grow up and live differently, I would know that it wasn't me and I didn't allow the school to corrupt my child.

It's not really mine or anyone esle's business what kind of lifestyle anyone else wants to live; but people need to keep it to theirself and their friends. Call me what you want; but I will never accept this lifestyle as good or acceptable as God doesn't and never will. God loves everyone but he hates this lifestyle.

[RedDogBear]

03:58 PM on 07/07/2011

"call me what you want"

There's already a word for it: homophobe.

[David Hagwood]

10:24 PM on 07/07/2011

The problem with that is I'm not afraid of homosexuals or the lifestyle, and I don't discriminate against the people, just the lifestyle. I don't hate anyone. It's like someone saying that they hate someone because they smoke except smoking is a nasty and bad habit and it's not right to hate the person because of it. It's only the practice, or sin that's hated. No, homophobe doesn't fit my description.

People can't expect people who are dedicated to their spiritual beliefs to change how they feel based on what other people feel about it. It just doesn't work that way. Just as easy as God created everything, he could end it all in a blink of an eye. With that said, I'll follow His rules over the influence of any person; and for everyone else who doesn't, they better hope they're right.

[john1513]

12:35 AM on 07/08/2011

Homophobe card doesn't work in intelligent discussion.

[StThomas]

06:45 PM on 07/07/2011

May I point out that Jesus, a 33 year old unmarried man, spent most of his time with his male friends, including "the disciple that Jesus loved". And he is documented as having spent a night in a public park where at least one scantily clad young man was running around the bushes.

Maybe Jesus's tolerance to certain things would have surprised you!

[David Hagwood]

10:05 PM on 07/07/2011

Actually, I know he had been around many sinners. It had nothing to do with him tolerating their sin or lifestyle, it was about bringing them to the truth and to help save them from their sinful life. He showed his love to even the ones who have killed.

[john1513]

12:36 AM on 07/08/2011

And yet "blessed are the tolerant" never made it into the Gospel. There's a difference between tolerance and forced promotion.

[kbc94]

02:00 PM on 07/07/2011

Home schooling will be the way for many parents once that bill is signed. No one likes to be told how to live their lives and conscientious parents definitely don't like being told they're not doing their job as parents, so let the government dictate the social and moral curriculum.

[Eaglepreacher7]

01:54 PM on 07/07/2011

There is nothing biologically normal about homosexuality that would warrant it being taught in school. If there is a line drawn about religion in school, then we should make sure that nothing is taught that doesn't earn the right. Homosexuality teaching nothing but self gratification. It has no lessons on reproduction or in my opinion history. Keep it out of the schools. You want to be homosexual, who am I to stop you? But keep it away from my kids. Now if you want to mention that Alexander the Great liked little boys...well, historically, I guess you can cover that...but if you want to tell what he did with those little boys...frankly keep that garbage away from my kids.

[RedDogBear]

04:00 PM on 07/07/2011

You should study some biology. Homosexuality is very common in the animal kingdom. Although at first it seems that it makes no sense from a darwinian perspective the same could be said, and has been said about altruism. When you do analyses of populations and their interactions it turns out that both altruism and homosexuality do make sense.

[Eaglepreacher7]

10:46 PM on 07/07/2011

Fortunately I'm not an animal...I'm a human. We don't operate the same. Now I know some people are content knowing they came from apes or monkeys...but I'm pleased to say, my family tree goes back to human kind. So I guess if they want to do a class for people that originated from apes in one room and one for people that came from humans in another...well, then we could have homosexuality taught in the ape room and christianity taught in the human room.

[broui]

08:51 AM on 07/09/2011

The Human Genome Project has disproven your thinking. Homosexuality IS biologically normal. It is not about "want". It is in the genes.

[CRedfield]

11:43 AM on 07/07/2011

I appreciate that California is going to add curricula on gay and lesbian individuals, but I hope they do it in a thoughtful way. I have never been a fan of Black History Month because it has this connotation of "Well, we have to talk about them this month". I prefer to incorporate the stories of folks into the general history. "While we're talking about WWII, I want to mention a group of young black airmen who saved countless bombers" That way it flows naturally.

[Scott Zwartz]

12:31 PM on 07/07/2011

I agree with you 100%. People should not be excluded from history and not group should have special rights that their Group be given special positive treatment.

I am Gay and I completely oppose the idea that Gays merit anything special as a group. I take the same position for Jews and I am Jewish. In America our individual rights are based upon each person's individual inalienable and individual constitutional rights. No person should be singled out for special discrimination or special favoritism based upon his/her membership in some Group.

I worked in and about Affirmative Action in the late 1960's and Group Rights were a terrible idea then and they are a terrible idea now.

[john1513]

12:39 AM on 07/08/2011

Interesting point.

[RedDogBear]

04:04 PM on 07/07/2011

I'm all for gay rights but I think this is a bad idea. I agree with your analogy about black history. I don't like that either although I'm all for civil rights. What we need is simply honest history. Honest history would acknowledge that blacks were treat abysmally and in spite of that made incredible contributions to US culture. And the same for gays, in spite of homophobia many, many great artists, scientists, writers, etc. have been gay. What we should do IMO is just teach honest history, acknowledge that people like Socrates, Michelangelo, Davinci, Tchaikovsky, Oscar Wilde, Alan Turning were gay -- and also acknowledge the hardships they had to face, including in many cases early deaths as a result of persecution.

[ByThePowerOfGrayskull]

11:34 AM on 07/07/2011

Was Watson and Crick's discovery of the double helix any more or less significant because they were both straight?

[Scott Zwartz]

12:34 PM on 07/07/2011

Group Rights are completely contrary to the basic American value of individual liberty and individual merit. Being Gay did not make Roy Cohen a good person and being Straight did not make Tricky Dicky Nixon a good person.

I am GAY, Jewish and a Democrat (for now) and I totally oppose any Group Rights or Group Liabilities.

[josh2082]

10:51 AM on 07/07/2011

I think this is a state's issue. When I was in Hawaii for elementary school (my father was stationed there) I was taught Hawaiian history at school on base. Would I recommend Hawaiian history being taught in MS? No. In CA, gay history makes sense in a way. I think as long as it doesn't impact core areas (maybe a Social Studies elective?) it would be useful.

[Scott Zwartz]

12:40 PM on 07/07/2011

Hawaiian history does not involve Group Rights. Every state teaches its own history.

Gays, Jews, Armenian, women, Blacks, French, etc. have no Group Right to claim special treatment in history, nor may bigots alter history to omit mention of certain groups. History should show that Alexander the Great was Gay and so too was Julius Caesar, but public schools in general education should not be mandated to teach a special course, Gays in Greek and Roman History. So too as a gay person I oppose the un-American idea that schools should be forced to have special instruction on the role of Gays in America. Nor should we suffer discrimination in history class.

Group Rights are un-American and Gays do not need any special rights.