Thursday, October 13, 2011

It's Official - StopSB48 Effort Fails in Repeal Petition

I noted earlier in the week that the anti-gay Christianist effort in California to place a referendum on the 2012 ballot to repeal the FAIR Education Act appeared to be failing in obtaining the the required number of signatures. It's official now, and the hate merchants have admitted defeat - at least this year - notwithstanding all of the lies and deceptions that were being used to dupe individuals into signing their petition. Via Joe By God, this statement went out from StopSB48:

We Fought the Law and the Law Won

Unfortunately we did not collect enough signatures to qualify the referendum to overturn SB48. That law will be in place in our schools at the first of next year. We thank all of you that worked so hard to provide the hundreds of thousands of signatures received. In the end, 90 days was too short a time to accomplish such a large task. In the coming days you will see the celebration of our opponents. We know this because it has already started in social media and other places. And some of the rhetoric will be harsh. Remember, despite what they say about us, we opposed SB 48 simply because we do not believe that children should be exposed to an intentionally one-sided argument about lifestyles and values we do not hold.


If there has been a "one-sided argument" over the last centuries and decades concerning the contributions of LGBT individuals and other minorities to history and society it has been the one put out by the "godly Christian" crowd who have hidden from view the real truth. With this defeat of hate, starting next year, California public schools will be require to teach historical contributions made by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered individuals and people with disabilities. Given the size of the California textbook market, even vociferous anti-gay states like Virginia will likely find themselves using textbooks that meet the California requirements. Nothing undermines the Christianist message than true facts and accurate history.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! You expect OUR STATE to adopt textbooks that show us in our true light?

Quite frankly, this issue is what is driving textbook production to online versions. I expect to see a surge in conservative states over the next few years in one-to-one computer initiatives (think Henrico County Public Schools), and other ways to put enough computers in students' hands to eliminate paper-based textbooks. Why? Then a publisher can give Texas textbooks with creationism taught alongside evolution...or Virginia textbooks without any mention of GLBT contributions...it's too easy to tailor the books electronically for each purchaser. What California and Texas do in their own states won't matter a bit. Every state will get exactly what they want, all online. Think of the health benefits! No more heavy backpacks of books. Think of the poor who have no or limited bandwidth Internet access. So a whole new host of issues! What a mess education is in the US today.

Peace <3
Jay