Sunday, April 29, 2007

California Bill Would Mandate Gender-Neutral Schools

From "California Bill Would Mandate Gender-Neutral Schools" by Wendy Cloyd, posted 4/27/07 at Citizenlink.org

California state Sen. Sheila Kuehl is again pushing for legislation that would require schools to teach about homosexuality in a positive light.

UPDATE 3/15/12: Same-sex marriage laws eliminate terms "husband" and "wife" etc.

SB 777 is an expansion of a similar bill – SB 1437 – that Kuehl drove through the Legislature last year. That bill was vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

If Kuehl is successful this year, all teaching material would have to amend the definition of “sex” and references to “male or female.” Instead, students would be taught about “gender defined as either real or imagined, and not limited to a person’s assigned sex at birth.”

Some experts say that means “mom" and "dad," as well as "husband" and "wife," would be edited out of textbooks. And traditional, school-sponsored social activities, such as homecoming and the kings and queens elected by the student body, would be forced to become gender-neutral.

Ron Prentice, executive director of the California Family Council, said Kuehl’s intention is to promote pro-homosexual content in public school curriculum and disallow any instruction or school events that would support a traditional perspective of biologically based gender identity.

“This bill would re-engineer the curricula and culture of publicly funded schools,” he said.

While Kuehl calls it “bias-free education,” Prentice said SB 777 would silence students and teachers who hold a biblical view.