Children in California are a step away from having homosexual history forced on them in state schools after politicians voted in favour of a controversial bill.
The bill says it will prohibit the use of any textbooks that “reflect adversely” on the homosexual agenda.
In the UK, ‘LGBT history month’ is pushed in schools every February, with the backing of 10 Downing Street during the Gordon Brown years.
Veto
On Tuesday California’s Assembly approved the bill. In April the state’s Senate passed it and now all eyes will be on the Governor to see if he signs the legislation into law or not.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, when he was Californian Governor, vetoed a similar measure but the current incumbent has not made his position clear on the issue.
If signed, the bill could take effect as early as the 2013-2014 academic year.
It will be up to local school governing bodies as to how they implement the policy, but the bill does force textbooks and other materials onto school regions.
Good
Tim Donnelly, a member of the California Assembly, is against the bill.
He told a New York newspaper: “I think it’s one thing to say that we should be tolerant,” but commented: “It is something else altogether to say that my children are going to be taught that this lifestyle is good.”
In the past, LGBT history month in the UK has tried to teach children that Florence Nightingale was a lesbian and that Isaac Newton was gay.
Bisexual
Suggested lesson plans have included discussing genes, gender and the concept of ‘intersex’ in science, producing images of LGBT people in art, and exposing Leonardo Da Vinci’s bisexuality in Design and Technology classes.
And in February 2009, Kent police invited schoolchildren aged 13 and 14 to write an essay on their feelings about homosexuality, with a £25 book token for the best essay.