California Governor Jerry Brown has
signed a controversial gay history bill into law.
Senator Mark Leno's FAIR Education
Act mandates the inclusion of the historical contributions of
gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans in the state's
textbooks. As the country's most populous state, California's move
could set the tone for textbooks throughout the nation.
Starting as early as the 2013-2014
school year, the California Board of Education and local school
districts will be required to include the curriculum in their lesson
plans.
Brown, a gay rights ally, signed the
bill on Thursday.
While the Democrat had kept mum on the
legislation, it was widely believed that he backed the measure.
Supporters said the bill would help ease the bullying gay teens face
in the classroom.
Opponents of the bill had
labeled it an attack on the family. Randy Thomasson, the head of
the Christian conservative group Save California, called the bill
“sexual indoctrination.”
“Why do we say that? Because it
would take a lie and turn it into the truth,” Thomasson explained
during a recent appearance on The Christian Broadcasting Network
(CBN).
“Children should not be told to
admire quote lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender Americans as role
models, because this would result in children as young as
kindergarten being told that homosexuality, bisexuality is good and
natural when there is no gay gene, and healthy when it is unhealthy
behavior. And it would be something that they would be told to
support and perhaps even think about for themselves.” (The video
is embedded in the right panel of this page.)