California lawmakers have passed a bill that would require public schools to include lessons about the historical contributions of gays and lesbians in their curriculum.The passage of laws of this nature makes me ill. It certainly is NOT because I don't think it is needed -- It's because it IS needed and that doesn't reflect well on our society.
SB48 would broadly require schools to provide general instruction and textbooks that include information on the contributions of "Native Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, European Americans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans, persons with disabilities, and other ethnic and cultural groups." It would also prohibit lessons from containing any material that "reflects adversely upon persons because of their race, sex, color, creed, handicap, national origin, or ancestry."
The Assembly passed the bill Tuesday on a 49-25 party line vote, after it had passed the state Senate a few weeks earlier. The bill will now go to Gov. Jerry Brown (D) for signing.
~ from CA Lawmakers Pass Bill To Teach History Of Gays And Lesbians In Schools by Jillian Rayfield ~
The field of history is supposed to be about the events and people who came before us. By looking back, we can learn from their successes and failures. There certainly are people and actions we may not approve of, but they happened nonetheless and analyzing them helps us to understand our current place in history better.
What if a group of folks got together and decided we should no longer study the historical exploits of despots, men with beards or women who dyed their hair? Would we be better off today? Of course NOT! To suggest such a thing would be ludicrous.
I know there are a lot of people in this country who dislike/disapprove of homosexuality. Fine. Dislike or disapprove of it all you want. But your personal opinions shouldn't hold any water when it comes to the study of history.
You know, I greatly dislike capitalism, slavery, the holocaust, genocide and religion, but I wouldn't want ANY of these things scrubbed from history books. To learn history without any or all of them would strip out the history of history.
It would be like reading a novel with several of the main and supporting characters removed.
It would be like Rhett Butler saying to no one in particular, "Frankly, I don't give a damn."
I think one of the key points of this bill and debate is that schools MUST teach about this group, to make a special effort to include them. Frankly I think sexuality,except for health issues, is something that should be taught by the parents of teenagers and younger, not the schools.
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