Measure banning gay emphasis in schools denied

By CHRIS RIZO, CORRESPONDENT csrizo@pol.net

SACRAMENTO -- Legislation that would have banned public school teachers from ''promoting homosexuality'' was killed Wednesday by the Assembly Education Committee.

Assembly Bill 1326, authored by Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy, R-Arcadia, came under intense fire from civil rights organizations who vilified the proposal.

The California Alliance for Pride and Equality, a statewide gay rights lobby, called the bill ''cruel and unnecessary.''

The group's lobbyist, Eric Astacaan, said he anticipated the Democrat-led committee would reject Mountjoy's bid to ''fan the flames of hatred against gay and lesbian people.''

Among the bill's other opponents were the American Civil Liberties Union, California Teachers Association and the Pasadena Chapter of Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.

Mountjoy told lawmakers that he was not trying to alienate gay students, just restore academic primacy.

AB 1326 would have added one sentence to the state Education Code: ''The promotion of homosexuality in public education is prohibited.''

Assemblywoman Carol Liu, D-La Canada Flintridge, voted against the bill.

''The bill tries to solve a problem that doesn't even exist,'' she said.

Supporters say without the law, schools will continue to use the guise of diversity education as a means to promote a ''dangerous lifestyle.''

Andrea Franklin, spokeswoman for Campaign for California Families, said classrooms are no place for discussions about sexual orientation.

''We oppose discrimination against any person,'' she said. ''But, teachers don't need to promote homosexuality in order to protect gay students.''

Van-Martin Rowe, 53, of Pasadena said teachers have a duty to educate students about gays and lesbians.

''Gay and lesbians are seen as this monster in the closet,'' he said. ''Teachers can take that shame away.''

From:"Eric Astacaan \(W\)" astacaan@tomatoweb.com
Subject:CAPE - ANTI-GAY LEGISLATION DEFEATED IN CALIFORNIA
Date:Thu, 17 Jan 2002 01:33:56 -0800
Organization:CAPE

CALIFORNIA ALLIANCE FOR PRIDE & EQUALITY (CAPE)
Promoting Basic Rights for the LGBT Community & All Californians
http://www.calcape.org or http://www.raiseamillionvoices.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (January 16, 2002)

Contact:
Jean Harris, 562-439- 7304 or Cell:323-697-5764, KJHarris@aol.com
Eric Astacaan, 916-929-6331, astacaan@tomatoweb.com

ANTI-GAY LEGISLATION DEFEATED IN CALIFORNIA

Sacramento (January 16, 2002) - Today, the California Assembly Education Committee soundly rejected AB 1326, by Assemblymember Dennis Mountjoy (R - Arcadia), an anti-gay bill that would prohibit the "promotion of homosexuality in public education."

Jean Harris, CAPE Executive Director, said "We commend the committee members who voted to reject a bill that is completely devoid of any merit. At its core, AB 1326 is another cruel attempt to fan the flames of fear and hatred toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. We also thank the numerous groups and organizations that oppose this bill."

The bill's author and supporters attempted to portray the bill as an effort to bring back the basics into the classroom, expressing their frustration with the proliferation of "diversity" curriculum, and implying its connection to the low test scores of California students. CAPE and other opponents of the bill pointed out the absurdity of the supporters' arguments in trying to correlate promoting diversity and low test scores. The opponents also expressed how the bill, though only in one short sentence, is so vague that it could lead to censorship of library books and materials, ban on gay/straight student alliances, vital counseling services for students that help prevent gay teen suicide being taken away, school counselors and teachers, often the only adults to whom students may turn, prohibited from discussing questions about sexuality or even anti-gay harassment, and health education programs, including HIV/AIDS, severely limited or eliminated.

The committee, chaired by Democratic Assemblymember Virginia Strom-Martin, has 17 members with one vacancy. Of the 16 committee members, 11 are Democrats and 5 are Republicans. The bill received three votes in support and eight votes against during the initial roll call. The votes are:

AYES - 3: All Republicans - Assemblymembers Lynn Leach, Ken Maddox, Rod Pacheco

NAYS - 8:All Democrats - Assemblymembers Elaine Alquist, Tom Calderon, Jackie Goldberg, Carol Liu, Fran Pavley, Sarah Reyes, Virginia Strom-Martin, Juan Vargas

Democratic Assemblymembers Lou Correa and Carl Washington did not vote. Republican Assemblymembers Mark Wyland and Charlene Zettel, as well as Democratic Assemblymember Simon Salinas, were not in the committee room when the initial vote was taken. The committee will release the official final vote tomorrow. (See website link below).

A complete list of the bill's opposition can be found in the committee analysis (http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html). The opposition includes over three dozen organizations representing the civil rights community, educators and students, health professionals, school districts, local governments, social workers, the faith community, youth and families.

The California Alliance for Pride & Equality (CAPE) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots-based, statewide advocacy organization whose mission is to ensure the dignity, safety, equality and civil rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and all Californians. CAPE has over 200,000 donors, volunteers and supporters in California and is the largest and fastest growing statewide LGBT organization in the country.

- END -

=========================================
Eric-Joseph C. Astacaan
Legislative Advocate
California Alliance for Pride & Equality (CAPE)
Promoting Basic for the LGBT Community & All Californians
PO Box 1172, Sacramento, CA 95812-1172
Phone:916-929-6331, Fax:916-646-1569
astacaan@tomatoweb.com or astacaan@attbi.com
http://www.calcape.org or http://www.raiseamillionvoices.org
=========================================

Return to P.E.R.S.O.N. Project Home Page