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Effort to Undo California Gay History Law Fails

Associated Press
Tuesday Jul 17, 2012
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SACRAMENTO, Calif.-Opponents of a law that requires California public schools to cover the contributions of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people have again failed to qualify a ballot measure that would have overturned the requirement.

Pacific Justice Institute lawyer Kevin Snider said the Stop SB48 campaign did not gather enough signatures by Monday’s deadline to put an initiative on the 2014 ballot that would exclude sexual minorities from the list of groups whose roles in history and social science schools must teach.

Snider estimates that the all-volunteer petition circulating effort, which focused largely on churches, collected about 446,000 signatures out of the 504,760 required.

The group’s earlier attempt to put the gay history lesson law to a popular vote this year also did not qualify.

Senate Bill 48 took effect in January, but most school districts have not implemented it.

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Comments

  • Anonymous, 2012-07-17 14:14:25

    It is the opposition to knowledge that intentionally is strategized to keep people in ignorance and under the SPELL of the few to support their insatiable egos.


  • Anonymous, 2012-07-17 15:42:03

    I wish i could learn about the contributions to gay rights. I me be gay but i would still lile to learn about something new. All my school ever seems to focus on is the struggle for blacks in america or(to a lesser degree) the Holocaust. For such a diverse country we really don’t offer a lot of subjects.


  • Wayne M., 2012-07-18 21:31:22

    The latest defeat of effort by social and religious conservatives in California to stop the teaching of LGBT contributions to American and world history as well as the history of the LGBT equality movement is good news. Suppressing efforts to educate young people on others who are different and their contributions to political and social history is a key to maintaining walls of fear, anger, distrust and hate and the religious right knows this. Fortunately, they do not speak for all Christians and people of faith in spite of pretending otherwise. Our society has become a kinder and gentler society when we have made efforts to learn and teach about the wide diversity of people in our midst. For example, as children and youth have learned about African American history, they also learn we are better off because of the contributions of African Americans and other racial minority groups. We all have learned to understand that just demands by racial minorities for equality and civil rights is not a radical and dangerous act by those who "don’t stay in their place". America and the world is also a better place because of contributions by our LGBT community. It is time for schools everywhere, and not only in California, to tell that truth. As children learn that truth, those who seek to deny further gains in equality rights and take back what we have already gained cannot and will not win.


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