New Law Would Require Schools Teach About Gays

Get ready for a noisy backlash. Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) has introduced legislation that would compel schools to teach students about LGBT people.

Known as the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act, the legislation would add LGBTs to the list of minorities already taught about in schools. The law already requires lessons about women, Mexicans, Asians and other groups that are typically under-represented.

It would also prohibit discriminatory curricula.

Studies have shown that learning about LGBTs reduces bullying. After a series of high-profile suicides this fall, legislators were galvanized to action to address anti-gay harassment in schools.

It's difficult to find any mention of LGBTs in history books. Their contributions have been erased, or they've been assumed straight. That includes such figures as Rufus Rainwright, the composer Tchaikovsky, author Maurice Sendak, and Eleanor Roosevelt.

Back in 2008, the Prop 8 campaign promised that we needed to ban gay marriage in order to prevent schools from teaching kids about gays. Well, we banned gay marriage, and what do you know -- all it accomplished was preventing people from visiting each other in the hospital.