A landmark bill passed Thursday by the California Senate requires gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people to be added to the list of social and ethnic groups that public schools must include in social-studies lessons. (California law already requires schools to cover the history of African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, European Americans, and American Indians.) If the bill is adopted by the State Assembly and signed by Governor Jerry Brown, California would become the first state to require the teaching of gay history. The bill’s proponents say the history lessons would counter antigay stereotypes and curb gay bullying — which some schools have already found to be true. The bill’s opponents counter that “such instruction would expose students to a subject that some parents find objectionable,” which sounds like precisely why the bill should be signed into law: so we don’t raise a generation of ignorant jerks.
CA Senate Bill Mandates Gay History in Schools [AP via NYT]
