Posted on 07/14/2006 10:18:10 AM PDT by SmithL
While one skirmish in the battle over gay rights plays itself out in the courts -- lawsuits testing the validity of a voter-passed initiative that denies official recognition of same-sex marriages -- another over classroom instruction is heating up in the Capitol.
When the Legislature returns to Sacramento in August for the final four weeks of its 2006 session, a couple of highly controversial measures await final disposition, with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger likely to have the final say just weeks before the election where he's seeking another term.
The centerpiece issue is legislation that already has cleared the Senate, mandating that schoolchildren be given "age-appropriate" and positive instruction about the contributions of "people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, to the economic, political, and social development of California." Senate Bill 1437, by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, moved through the Senate and the Assembly Education Committee on narrow party-line votes, but then an odd thing happened. The bill was to face another hearing in the Assembly Judiciary Committee, but on June 26, the Assembly's majority Democrats waived its rules to send the measure directly to the floor without the second committee hearing.
The motives for the very unusual procedure are unclear, but it means that the full Assembly will vote in August on something that should trouble even those who support full equality for gays, including marriage rights. California law already mandates such see-no-evil history instruction for a wide array of ethnic groups, substituting feel-good propaganda for what should be scholarly study. Adding more groups to this exercise in academic affirmative action just makes it that much worse and sends an absolutely wrong message to young minds about the truthfulness of their textbooks. Kids should be getting their history straight -- warts and all -- not sanitized by politicians...
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
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