In California, thanks to a pioneering bill introduced by state senator Mark Leno, students will now learn, in an age appropriate way, about the contributions of all kinds of minorities to society, including LGBT people. I cannot imagine how art was taught before without including the contributions of gay people, but I suppose the difference now is that it’s okay to point out obvious things like “such and such was a gay person.”
Anyway, the usual suspects are having a conniption. Randy Thomasson of the Religious Right group Annoy California [I think that’s what it’s called]:
“Social engineering of homosexual, bisexual and transsexual lifestyles is being done behind parents’ backs. Most parents say no to this,” he told ABC’s News 10. In April, Thomasson speculated to TPM that the law would result in textbooks that would teach about Elton John and his husband, or might ask: “Did you know President Abraham Lincoln was gay? How do we know that? He slept in a bed with a man when he was younger.” Thomasson said: “Abraham Lincoln was not homosexual. He was a Christian man who loved his family.”
Homosexual Lifestyle Engineering is big business, you see. Also, there definitely are scholars who believe that Lincoln slept with dudes. I don’t understand how Elton John factors into this discussion, as “Honky Cat” wasn’t part of any class I ever took.
Bryan Fischer, the anti-gay, anti-bear “Director Of Issues Analysis” for the American Family Association also thinks the law goes too far. “Ladies and gentleman, by definition, somebody who engages in sexually aberrant behavior is not and cannot be a role model, period, end of story,” he said on his radio show Monday.
That knocks out a lot of Republican Senators. Damn.
Also, there is some complain-y group called Stop SB 48 that is trying to collect enough signatures to put an initiative to repeal the law on the ballot. Same story, different day.
