米カリフォルニア州「LGBTの貢献を歴史教科書へ記載を義務づける法案」議会上院で可決、下院へ 1

米州上院、同性愛者の貢献について教科書記載を義務付ける法案可決
2006年 5月12日 (金) 13:16

　［サンフランシスコ　１１日　ロイター］　米カリフォルニア州上院は１１日、ゲイやレズビアンの人々がいかに州の発展に貢献しているかについて公立学校の教科書に記載することを義務付ける法案を可決した。

　法案は同性愛者であることを公表している議員が提出、トランスジェンダーの貢献についても教科書で触れることを義務付けた。

　同議員は、ロイターに対して、この種の法案は州レベルでは初、と述べたうえで「同性愛者の姿を知ってもらうのに役立つ」と話した。


California okays lessons on gays in textbooks
Thu May 11, 2006 7:32pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California's state Senate passed a bill on Thursday that would require textbooks in public schools to instruct students on contributions by gays and lesbians in the state's development.

The Democrat-led state Senate passed the bill on a 22-15 vote and forwarded it to the state Assembly.

The bill by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, the legislature's first openly gay member, would also mandate public school textbooks to include lessons on contributions by transgender people.

Kuehl told Reuters she believes her bill is the first of its kind at the state level and predicted it would win support in the Assembly, where Democrats also have a majority.

"I think it has a very good chance in the Assembly because its members voted for marriage equality," Kuehl said, referring to the chamber's endorsement of same-sex marriage. "I think this is a lot easier vote."

"It would help to shape attitudes of what gay people are really like," Kuehl said, noting their absence in state history textbooks.

Karen England of the conservative Capitol Resource Institute said in a statement the bill "seeks to indoctrinate innocent children caught in the tug-of-war between traditional families and the outrageous homosexual agenda."

A spokesman said Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not taken a position on Kuehl's bill.

California | Local News
State Senate Endorses Teaching of Gays' Historical Achievements
By Jordan Rau, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 12, 2006

SACRAMENTO — Saying more role models could help reduce the social estrangement and high suicide rates of gay and lesbian students, the state Senate voted Thursday to require that the historical contributions of homosexuals in the United States be taught in California schools.

Apparently the first of its kind nationwide, the measure passed with no Republican support. It must also be approved by the Assembly and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has taken no position on it. California's Legislature last year became the first to authorize gay marriage, but Schwarzenegger vetoed the measure.

If passed, the textbook bill could have national implications. California is a huge portion of the textbook market, where it often sets trends, and many publishers put out a specific edition for the state that others can also use.

Textbooks meeting the bill's requirements would not be incorporated into California classrooms until 2012. Social science courses would then include "an age-appropriate study" of the "role and contributions" that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people have made to the "economic political and social development" of California and the United States.

Schools are already required to teach the historical and social roles of blacks, women, Native Americans, Latinos, Asians and other ethnic groups.

"Even though we passed an anti-harassment bill seven years ago, it's still pretty obvious that there's a hostile environment for kids who are gay or lesbian — or even thought to be gay or lesbian," said Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), the bill's author and one of six openly gay legislators. "Part of that stems from the fact that nobody reads about any positive examples."

Social conservatives responded harshly to the Senate's action.

"Happy Mothers Day, California," said a statement issued by Randy Thomasson, president of Campaign for Children and Families, a Sacramento group. "By passing SB 1437, Democrat politicians have declared war on mothers and fathers and their children."

The bill passed the Senate 22 to 15, with all 14 Republicans opposed. Democrat Dean Florez of Shafter voted against the bill, and two of his colleagues, Michael Machado of Linden and Denise Ducheny of San Diego, abstained, which effectively count as "no" votes.

Sen. Bill Morrow (R-Oceanside) called the bill "dangerous" and "insidious" because it lumps sexual orientation — something he said was a "cultural or behavioral lifestyle" — together with race and sex, which are biological. He also said there was no reason for a textbook to point out historical figures' sexual orientation when "their contribution to history has nothing to do with their sexual proclivities."

Kuehl's bill would make the state Board of Education responsible for integrating the subject into curricula. The legislation does not specify what should be included or at what grade level the new material should be taught.

Advocates said subjects might include the 1978 assassination of San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk. Geoffrey Kors, executive director of the gay-rights group Equality California, said textbooks might also specify the sexual orientation of well-known Americans such as writer Langston Hughes.

Kors said that when the state Board of Education approved the latest social science curriculum in 2003, his group asked unsuccessfully for gay issues to be included.

"If you're teaching social movements in schools, and you talk about the United Farm Workers and Cesar Chavez, and you talk about the civil rights movement and Martin Luther King, and you talk about the women's suffrage movement, to leave out the gay rights movement seems glaring," Kors said.

The state Board of Education reevaluates the social studies curriculum every six years. The next review is in 2009, and it takes three years for new books to reach classrooms.

The state board has no position on the Kuehl bill, said Roger Magyar, the board's executive director.

"Until it actually is signed by the governor, from our standpoint it's not law," he said. "We find ourselves invested in enough controversy that we don't have to go out and find more."

Schwarzenegger aides had no comment.

Gay rights groups say homosexual students are two to three times as likely to attempt suicide as their peers, based on studies conducted by academics and state governments. However, most of those studies are at least a decade old.

A national survey conducted last year by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network in New York reported that 75% of homosexual students overheard derogatory remarks often at school, and 38% said they were physically harassed because of their sexual orientation.

The bill's fate in the California Assembly is not clear. Because of its strong contingent of moderate Democrats, it traditionally has been more reluctant than the Legislature's upper house to pass very liberal legislation.

But Kuehl noted: "If gay marriage could pass in the Assembly, this is nothing."

Posted on Thu, May. 11,
Senate proposes adding sexual orientation to textbooks
DON THOMPSON
Associated Press

SACRAMENTO - California children would read about homosexuals' contributions to history under a bill approved Thursday by state senators who often drew on their own childhood experiences in supporting the measure.

The bill would require California's social science textbooks to include the contributions of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people to the state and nation's history. California is the nation's largest buyer of textbooks, with annual spending topping $400 million.

The measure passed 22-15, with no Republican votes. It heads to the Assembly, where opponents vowed another fight.

The bill, introduced by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, the state's first openly gay legislator, also would bar textbooks and other instructional material that portrayed gays in a negative light.

Growing up, "there was nobody in the history books except white men" and Betsy Ross, Betty Crocker and Betty Boop, said Kuehl. "All we're saying is, let us also be reflected in history."

Two of three gay students are verbally harassed and one of six is physically harassed, said Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, which sponsored the legislation. "The invisibility that currently exists (in textbooks) contributes to that," he added.

Other women senators drew parallels to the lack of female or minority role models they saw in history books as children.

Sen. Bill Morrow, R-Oceanside, disputed the comparison.

"If you are a black American, you can't help it, you were born that way," he said. "There is not one scintilla of credible scientific evidence that suggests that homosexuality is biological in origin..... It is behavioral; it is not racial."

Sen. Richard Alarcon, D-Van Nuys, disagreed.

"This is the way ... God made people," said Alarcon. "Let's stop trying to hide this reality."

Republicans oppose diverting money from basic education or singling out any minority unless a historical figure's race or ethnicity is clearly relevant, said Senate GOP Leader Dick Ackerman of Fullerton.

Republicans, like many newspaper editorial boards, "don't think this is an appropriate role for the Legislature to determine how the history books should be written," he said.

Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not taken a position on the bill.

Karen England, executive director of the Sacramento-based Capitol Resource Institute, called the measure "the most outrageous bill in the California Legislature this year," suggesting it could force schools to end dress codes and gender-specific sports teams as well.

The bill requires that social science textbooks be updated with "age appropriate" language outlining the contributions of gays when schools replace current texts. Social science texts will next be revised in 2012.

State law already bars textbooks portraying people negatively because of their race, sex, color, creed, handicap, national origin, or ancestry. It also requires that the books include the contributions from racial, ethnic and cultural minorities.

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On the Net:

Read SB1437 at http://www.sen.ca.gov



Calif. Senate Passes Gay Textbook Bill
by Mark Worrall, 365Gay.com San Francisco Bureau
May 11, 2006 - 5:00 pm ET

(Sacramento, California) The California Senate passed legislation Thursday requiring schools to teach LGBT history.
California already requires that African Americans, native peoples, Mexicans, Asians and Pacific Islanders be included in textbook descriptions of "the economic, political and social development of California and the United States of America, with particular emphasis on portraying the role of these groups in contemporary society."

The bill, by Sen. Sheila Kuehl ( D-Los Angeles) adds gays, lesbians and the transgendered to that list.

The Senate voted 22 - 15 to pass the measure.

“The invisibility of LGBT people in history materials in schools exacerbates already hostile school climates in which homophobic bullying, harassment and violence are rampant," said Kuehl following the vote.

"Studies show that a bias-free and LGBT-inclusive curriculum fosters tolerance, resulting in greater feelings of student safety and less bullying of students who are perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender."

The legislation was supported by Equality California, the state's largest LGBT civil rights group.

"All students deserve to learn history from a fair and balanced perspective,” said Equality California executive director Geoffrey Kors.

“SB 1437 also permits teachers to use their discretion and develop age appropriate materials within the social science curriculum.”

The legislation still needs approval by the Assembly.

But, even if it passes there is no indication Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would sign it. He has been supportive of some LGBT rights measures but vetoed a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage.

Both gay and conservative groups across the country are watching the progress of the bill.

If the measure becomes law similar legislation could be pursued in other states.

Conservative groups pushing for an amendment to the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage were outraged by the Senate vote.

“This is just another example of how radical the State Senate has become,” said Karen England, Executive Director of Capitol Resource Institute.

“SB 1437 seeks to indoctrinate innocent children caught in the tug-of-war between traditional families and the outrageous homosexual agenda.”

The California Legislative
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender (LGBT) Caucus

米カリフォルニア州「歴史教科書にLGBTの貢献を取り上げることを義務づける法案」州議会上院委員会で可決