California Mandates Adding Gays in School Textbooks

California okays lessons on gays in textbooks

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California's state Senate passed a bill on Thursday that would require textbooks in public schools to instruct students on contributions by gays and lesbians in the state's development.

The Democrat-led state Senate passed the bill on a 22-15 vote and forwarded it to the state Assembly.

The bill by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, the legislature's first openly gay member, would also mandate public school textbooks to include lessons on contributions by transgender people.

Kuehl told Reuters she believes her bill is the first of its kind at the state level and predicted it would win support in the Assembly, where Democrats also have a majority.

"I think it has a very good chance in the Assembly because its members voted for marriage equality," Kuehl said, referring to the chamber's endorsement of same-sex marriage. "I think this is a lot easier vote."

"It would help to shape attitudes of what gay people are really like," Kuehl said, noting their absence in state history textbooks.

Karen England of the conservative Capitol Resource Institute said in a statement the bill "seeks to indoctrinate innocent children caught in the tug-of-war between traditional families and the outrageous homosexual agenda."

A spokesman said Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not taken a position on Kuehl's bill.

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Ok, not sure what to make of this.

I am not homophobic by far, and have had some really wonderful friends who were gay, and some not so wonderful friends who were gay. Same as any friendship, so it should not matter what sexual orientation they are.

Now, I would have to see exactly what they are trying to add into the text books to make any definitive and concise remarks on this, but I really do not think sexual diversity needs to be put in high school textbooks.

If you wish to point out what a person has done to improve life or made a contribution to society, that is fine, and if you wish to give background when asked on it, if that is part of the story then that is fine also. But to mandate including specific incidences of one sexual orientated group contributions does not seem right.

This also opens up the door for other groups to try and get themselves manadated as part of the learning process of young minds through highschool textbooks. Where will it stop?

Perhaps we should be more concerned in the quality of the education that our children are getting taught when we have lawsuits to bypass mandated tests:

Mere weeks before high school graduations, Judge Robert Freedman of Alameda County Superior Court may stop before it starts the state’s essential mandate that high school graduates score at least 60 percent on a test of eighth-grade math and 10th-grade English.

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I always though passing was 70% or better.

Will it become common place if you cannot pass 8th grade math and 10th grade english that you must sue to graduate?

If you cannot pass simple math and english, should you be allowed to graduate? No you should not. If you cannot pass these basics, then the teachers are not doing their jobs by teaching you and you are not doing yours by learning from them.

Can we please stick to learning geography, what capitals are where, how to do math, and how to speak and write english properly?

Liliana Valenzuela, an 18-year-old senior from Richmond and the lead plaintiff in Valenzuela vs. California, was in an English class at Richmond High on Friday when she got a cell phone call informing her of the judge’s decision. Containing her excitement, she quietly told her teacher, then slipped from class to meet her lawyers.

“I feel very happy,” she said later in Spanish. “Now I’ll be able to have my diploma and fulfill my desire to become a nurse.”

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What is scary is if she cannot pass such a simple exam, she wants to become a nurse?!

How can you fulfill your desire to become a nurse if you cannot pass 8th grade math and 10th grade english?

Will you sue to get your diploma next?

Remind me not to get health care where she gets a job as a nurse!

So we have those suing to bypass an Exit exam to show you can pass 8th grade math and 10th grade english, but we have to mandate having a gay and lesbian agenda included in highschool textbooks?

Something is wrong with this picture.


Others blogging on this issue:
Sister Toldjah, The Unalienable Right, Zoli's Blog, Heartland Institution