We are extremely disappointed by state Senator Sheila Kuehl's (D-Santa Monica) decision to water down SB1437, her Bias-Free Curriculum Act. The original bill would have required California public schools to teach students about the historical contributions LGBT people have made to society. It passed the state Senate earlier this year.
But on Monday, the first day back for legislators following a summer recess, Kuehl stripped the bill of its most important provisions, leaving only a shell of legislation that merely adds sexual orientation to a law that prohibits the adoption of official teaching materials ... that reflect adversely on people on the basis of race, religion, gender, etc.
The revised bill – minus 90 percent of its original content – passed the state Assembly on Monday. Kuehl said she removed the key portion of the bill because she "would like to get" the governor's signature on a bill.
In May, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had vowed to veto the bill, even though it had not yet completed the legislative process. He charged the bill's supporters with wanting to "micromanage" curriculum.
Even more disappointing, however, is the fact that Equality California, the statewide group that is supposed to be there fighting for us, has stood behind Kuehl with its "this is the best we can get now" refrain.
What a waste – and what a wasted opportunity.
The original Kuehl bill would have been a major step forward in expanding students' knowledge of LGBT people and their contributions. And the end result, ideally, would be an increased understanding of LGBT people and perhaps less bullying and fewer cries of "That's so gay," so often heard in schools. The bill could have forged change in other states because California and Texas, by virtue of the vast number of textbooks they purchase, often drive the content of textbooks used in classrooms across the country.
Schwarzenegger was wrong in May to declare prematurely he would veto the bill, when it was months away from reaching his desk.
But Kuehl and EQCA were wrong to cave in to the governor's stated veto announcement and now we're left with a gutted bill.
When we editorialized in support of this bill in April, it was because this was groundbreaking legislation that would alter curriculum in public schools fundamentally. Finally, students – LGBT and straight alike – would learn about the achievements of well-known LGBT folks. And we're not talking about outing anyone – that argument was always a red herring drummed up by social conservatives.
Kuehl, one of the more principled members of the legislature, should have gone ahead with her original bill. Schwarzenegger's promised veto would have given LGBT people one more reason not to support his re-election in November, and put him on the spot as he continues to move to the center on a number of other issues in a bid for moderate and independent voters. For the LGBT community at least, his veto of the original bill could have been a rallying cry, in the way that the community roundly condemned him when he vetoed the gender-neutral marriage bill last year.
The way it stands now, if the governor vetoes or signs the watered down version, it will result in a collective, "So what?"
Talk about cut and run.