California Assembly passes bill requiring more mentions of LGBT contributions in history books

Assemblyman Tim Donnelly (R-CA)

An interesting pro-LGBT move in California:

Textbooks and history classes in California schools would be required to include the contributions of gays, lesbians and transgender Americans under a proposal given final legislative approval in the Assembly on Tuesday and sent to Gov. Jerry Brown.

The measure sparked a spirited debate, including personal pleas from two openly gay lawmakers — Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles) and Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco). They said the bill would reduce the bullying of gay students and correct an oversight by history books.

This is quite an intriguing move, though I’d like to know a bit more about it. Does this legislation mean to merely remove anti-gay stigma from historical textbooks and include contributions that are not currently present and should be, or is it actually worded in a way that would require there to be more LGBT contributions than there should be by comparison? Sounds like a bit of a petty question, I know, but I’m not sure what the situation is regarding LGBT mentions in current textbooks. Are they truly so skewed as to require new legislation to balance things out, or is this merely a political game? Enquiring minds and all that.

For closure, the article apparently had to squeeze in a couple of quotes from an obligatory Offended Good Christian^TM:

Assemblyman Tim Donnelly of San Bernardino was one of several Republicans who spoke against the measure, which he argued was promoting a "homosexual agenda" that many of his constituents do not support.

"As a Christian, I am deeply offended," Donnelly said.

Seriously, do these goobers just have some sort of Guide for Pearl-Clutching Bigoted God-Botherers circulating around or something? Or is a crippling lack in imagination some sort of criterion for being an overtly Christian politician these days?

(via @BreakingNews)

Tags: California • Jerry Brown • John Pérez • Tom Ammiano • Tim Donnelly