Gays and Lesbians in Textbooks

Children in California are going to study the merits of what gays and lesbians have done for the development of America and the whole world. This is the first U.S. state to introduce such a requirement into their curriculum. The children are going to start studying the merits of sexual minorities in kindergarten — “History should be honest,” said California Governor Jerry Brown in a statement. On Thursday, he signed a bill which was pushed through in the state legislature by Democrats; textbooks will not exclude the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans. Brown added, “This bill revises existing laws that prohibit discrimination in education and ensures that the important contributions of Americans from all backgrounds and walks of life are included in our history books.”

California law already requires schools to teach about the accomplishments of African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Mexican-Americans and Native Americans. Senate Bill 48 does not exclude the contribution of gay, bisexual and transgender people (i.e. those who feel that they belong to the other sex), the disabled or Native Americans in the Pacific Islands.

Conservatives, who are now in the minority in California, immediately called the new curriculum “homosexual indoctrination.” California State Senator, Sharon Runner, asked fiercely: “If children in other countries are learning math and science, and American children are learning about the private lives of historical figures, how will our students compete for jobs in the global economy?”

There have been many homosexual writers in America such as Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams, but none of the 44 U.S. presidents have belonged to sexual minorities (or at least none has admitted it).

State Senator Mark Leno, who penned the bill, hopes that it will prevent discrimination and school tragedies which have recently been very rampant across America. As an example, several young gays who had been bullied by their peers committed suicide last fall. A 13-year-old boy from Tehachapi (a town located over 100 km north of Los Angeles) hung himself from a tree after being bullied by his peers. In New York, an 18-year-old violinist jumped off a bridge after his schoolmates videotaped him having sex with another male and streamed it live on the Internet.

In 2009, 84 percent of American teenagers belonging to sexual minorities (gay, lesbian and transgender) claimed that they had been attacked verbally while 40 percent of them claimed physical attacks.

The new legislation which is to eradicate this phenomenon in California shall enter into force on the Jan. 1, 2012, but new books are not going to be printed sooner than three years from now due to the crisis and huge debt which the richest and most populous U.S. state has to face.

Financial problems and liberal initiatives, such as the new bill, make conservatives feel worse in California. That’s why they have been thinking over methods to rescue themselves. 12 of Southern California’s conservative counties decided this week that they will consider forming a separate state to isolate themselves from the corrupt Los Angeles and liberal San Francisco. They have proposed to create a 51st U.S. State named South California. However, there is a long way to go in achieving these aims