Overturn California Gay History Law? Conservatives Move To Repeal SB 48

Paulo Sibaja of the conservative “family” organization, Capitol Resource Institute, has begun a push to overturn the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act, aka SB 48, the law signed by California Governor Jerry Brown this week, that will ensure the contributions of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and disabled Americans are properly taught in California schools.

The FAIR Act “[a]dds lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Americans, persons with disabilities and others to the list of groups of people whose role and contributions shall be accurately portrayed in instructional materials and included in social science instruction, and adds sexual orientation and religion to the list of characteristics that shall not be reflected adversely in adopted instructional materials.”

Right wing extremist Randy Thomasson, who in May started, “Protect Your Children From Harvey Milk Gay Day In Schools,” calls the FAIR Act “the most in-your-face sexual brainwashing yet.”

Senator Mark Leno, the bill’s sponsor, said, “We should not be afraid to teach our children of the broad diversity of human experience. It’s not going away, it’s always been with us. We have different kinds of people, who are, under law, to be treated equally. Why would we not want to teach our children this?”

In response to news the law will be challenged, Leno said, “I think it will be a challenge for them to get the signatures,” adding, “If they succeed in that, I bet Californians” reject it, he added, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, which also reported today,

“The Capitol Resource Institute is a hard-line, socially conservative organization that has long opposed efforts in California to expand rights for the LGBT population. Backers eventually would have to collect 433,971 signatures to allow voters to decide whether to keep the law in place or reject it.

“Sibaja said that a coalition has formed behind the proposed measure, though he would not name the other members. He said a news conference Wednesday would give more details.”