Assembly OKs bill to add LGBT figures to textbooks

A controversial bill that would add the historical contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans to public school textbooks in California is headed to the desk of Gov. Jerry Brown after it was approved by the Assembly Tuesday.

Supporters say the bill would make California the only state in the nation to require inclusion of LGBT people in textbooks, though no state bans teaching on that topic.

After a long and intense debate, the bill, SB48, was approved on a nearly party-line vote by the Assembly with one Republican joining Democrats to vote in favor. The bill adds LGBT Americans, as well as people with disabilities, to an already existing list of groups that must be included in social science instruction.

Those include African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans and other minority groups. A spokesman for Brown said the governor had not yet received the bill and "we generally do not comment until the governor takes action."

Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, introduced the bill and after it passed the Assembly he said, "We are selectively censoring history when we exclude LGBT Americans, or any other group of people, from our textbooks and instructional materials."

Assembly Speaker John Pérez, D-Los Angeles, the first gay person to hold the top office, said that by including specific historical contributions of gay and lesbian people, "We gain a greater appreciation for what it means to be an American."

He and other Democrats also noted the recent suicides of several young gay people, saying that talking about contributions of gays and lesbians could help to combat bullying of LGBT students and provide them with examples of accomplished role models.

Republicans in the Assembly who voted against the measure cited religious objections to homosexuality along with questioning whether the bill was actually needed.

Assemblyman Chris Norby, R-Fullerton (Orange County), is a former high school history and government teacher and said that the Legislature should not "micromanage" school instruction. He also questioned how teachers could ascribe a sexual orientation to a historic figure when that person never identified as gay or lesbian - he cited several examples including President James Buchanan and the economist John Maynard Keynes - and when the terms didn't exist.

"I don't think this helps the teaching of history," Norby said. "I think it's a distraction."

Assemblywoman Linda Halderman, R-Fresno, said history should consider people's actions instead of their race or sexual orientation because such an approach, "says that you should not think first whether someone is honest, has integrity, does good work."

Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, R-San Diego, was the only Republican to vote in favor of the bill.

It is not yet clear exactly what would be included in textbooks and, if the governor signs the bill, it would be several years until that is known. The process for updating textbooks statewide has been put on hold until the 2015-16 school year because of the state's budget situation.

And while the textbooks will eventually include information about LGBT people, the bill does not proscribe how that information would be used in an actual classroom lesson.

Still, backers of the bill say they believe it will lead to a school atmosphere that is safer for gay and lesbian students.

Carolyn Laub, executive director of the Gay-Straight Alliance Network that works to establish gay-straight clubs in schools, said, "The Assembly has taken an unprecedented step to reduce bullying, increase safety for all students and teach students to respect each other's differences."

The bill will be sent to the governor in the next few days and once he receives it Brown will have 12 days to decide whether to sign or veto the measure. It is formally supported by the California Teachers Association, several school districts and a progressive religious organization and opposed by a host of churches and conservative organizations, among others.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg....DTL&tsp=1

Don't let my vote to you go to waste, Jerry Brown!

Then again, I'm pretty positive this'll pass seeing as he supports LGBT rights.

Southperry Derp'd >_>

This is nice.

I never knew that LGBT people affected history, but then again probably because I was never taught it!

This is nice.

I never knew that LGBT people affected history, but then again probably because I was never taught it!

Why should it matter if the person was LGBT? If they did something notable, then they should be remembered for that.

For example, say Jim was gay and he created the first chicken powered jet ski. How would textbooks incorporate his orientation into the text? "Jim created the first chicken powered jet ski. Oh and by the way, he was gay." Who the f'uck cares if he is gay? I sure wouldn't, I would only remember him for his invention. Telling students a person's orientation holds no value.

Well, I assume most LGBT history would revolve around LGBT's equality slowly picking up pace and how in other cultures it wasn't condemned and yea stuff like that.

DUNNO JUST MY THOUGHTS.

Sexual orientation will most likely only be included in history textbooks if it had relevance in the event. For example, with the situation described above by WingZero, yes, textbooks would probably not detour to tell of Jim's sexual orientation. It's not like they do currently for heterosexual persons. What this bill will REALLY do is add sections of LGBT history to various time periods, such as a lesson on the Stonewall riots in 1969 that ignited the contemporary LGBT-rights movement. Such inclusions should DEFINITELY be made.

HM I WONDER WHAT SPARKED THIS BILL

Even though hate crimes like that occur, I don't believe they're widespread.

I understand the reason for this bill is to raise awareness and reduce hate, but I think this is pretty pointless. I think history is pointless in general, because it's too broad and subject to bias. History, like art, should be a hobby for the interested.

Anyways, adding something as trivial as LGBT history just means that less time is spent on other, more important history. When I was a junior in high school, my history teacher showed the class the (state-mandated) curriculum. He told us how many days total we can spend on each chapter/section if we were to cover everything. Some of the requirements are shocking, to say the least. Many of the wars I learned about (and forgot) in American history had to be so reduced that sometimes, all I was doing was memorizing locations and names instead of learning the actual significance of events.

I personally don't think LGBT history should be taught in schools, at least not until the pride parades and gay-days stop and the whole subject reaches some kind of closure. According to the words of Morgan Freeman, the only way to get rid of [prejudice] is to stop talking about it. I think this applies here.

Hmm, the fight for rights of the LGBTs might not have been as impacting as the fights of Women and "Black" people, but I believe they do change the mentality of society little by little.

Imo, it should be mentioned as part of what might have changed the mentality of society in the last few decades. I think it's still too early to judge how big or small the impact of this has had on society though. Nothing big has really happened for this to get something other than a mention on the history books. Not yet at least.

This is nice.

I never knew that LGBT people affected history, but then again probably because I was never taught it!

You would be surprised how many LBGT people made the world a better place in history. Still it wasn't right for people in the first place to not add them into the history books. Just having them excluded is stupid and there should never have been a law for this. It's like womens' rights. It didn't have to be passed, it should have already been there.

California gay history bill SB48 passed through the state assembly, reports the Associated Press. The bi-partisan vote went 49-25 in favor of making California public schools the first in the nation to be forced to include a record of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender achievements. SB48 now goes in front of Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, who has not suggested whether he will sign the bill, or say no to it as previous GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger did to similar regulation in 2006. I found this here: California gay history bill passes state assembly

Only things I can see added are the Stonewall Riots and some Harvey Milk.

Reviving this thread by posting this:

http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/07/...her-queer/

Article a really good friend sent me that provides several examples of potential content that falls under this category.

Reviving this thread by posting this:

http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/07/...her-queer/

Article a really good friend sent me that provides several examples of potential content that falls under this category.

Sara Baker is the most obvious lesbian ever.