Okay, now this is very interesting – was this in California?
And, from what you say, it sounds like the only gay-related education for the young kids is that you shouldn’t make fun of somebody if they have gay parents. Is that accurate?
I can’t understand why anybody would have a problem with something like that.
Well, this is really quite a hijack, but I think psychology/psychiatry is still in its very early stages. We’re basically just using chemicals and other therapies to do our best to treat various problems, and we often know the basics of what certain treatments do (i.e., we know that adjusting serotonin levels can alter mood, or that activating opioid receptors can relieve pain and cause euphoria), but we have no real understanding of how it affects our consciousness, since we don’t really know what consciousness is. Once we gain a decent understanding of how the brain works and how consciousness comes about and all that good stuff, psychology should move from our current clumsy efforts into the realm of hard science. I just hope it happens sooner rather than later.
I found this page, from the “Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry” which obviously is quite biased, which specifies what my in-laws were talking about: Assembly Bill 222 and Senate Bill 1260. This is what the page says about them:
So does anybody have the real story on what these two bills are about? I haven’t been able to find the text of the bills themselves, or at least an objective summary, so far.
Here’s a couple of other views of them, from quite different organizations:
From California Attorney General’s Office of Civil Rights (link here)
“AB 222 (Kuehl) This bill would prohibit discrimination and harassment against gay and lesbian students and those students perceived to be gay or lesbian. The measure also would add sexual orientation to the basis on which discrimination is prohibited relating to employment and advancement of teachers and classified school employees, school district residency requirements, specified postsecondary financial aid programs, employers in work-study programs and the operation of alternative schools, charter schools or interscholastic athletics.”
From the ACLU, (link here)
“The Dignity for All Students Act, AB 222 (Kuehl, D-Los Angeles) extends the protections against discrimination to sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation in the Education Code. These changes would protect students and employees from discrimination based upon their real or perceived sexual orientation -— though religious schools are exempt. During the campaign Governor Gray Davis indicated he would sign the legislation protecting students from discrimination.”
The offical Legislature site on the bill is here – that site includes the full text of the bill.
So does this mean that if Student A refuses to attend the sex-ed seminar on homosexuality,this could be classed as ‘resisting’ the school homosexuality code and punishment following or even as ‘a hate crime’ with criminal proceedings.