Posted on 10/13/2011 11:27:30 AM PDT by NYer
Opponents of a California law requiring that the contributions of gays and lesbians be taught in public schools failed Wednesday in their attempt to qualify a ballot referendum to repeal the law.
The groups wanted to force a vote on Senate Bill 48, the nation's first law requiring that public schools include gay rights milestones and gay and lesbian contributions in social studies lessons. It takes effect in January.
Groups that had been circulating signature petitions said they would not meet Wednesday's deadline.
Brad Dacus, a spokesman for the Pacific Justice Institute, said his organization and other opponents collected about two-thirds of the 505,000 petition signatures they needed.
Traditional Values Coalition spokesman Benjamin Lopez earlier said the groups had decided not to file regardless of whether they reached the threshold.
Equality California spokeswoman Rebekah Orr, who represents California's largest gay rights group, said supporters are relieved but expect a continued fight in the courts, Legislature, at the ballot box or in local school districts that must implement the law.
Dacus said opponents will now try to make the law an issue in next year's re-election campaigns by Democrats who supported the measure.
He said opponents also are considering seeking enough signatures for a broader ballot proposition that would target laws they feel infringe on parental rights to govern what their children learn in school. However, opponents would have to work around California's single-subject rule, meaning initiatives can address only one issue at a time.
He would not say which other laws might be included.
"Legislators in Sacramento have been put on notice if they pass something that is disrespectful to parents and the way parents want their children to be raised, they can and will, in one way or another, be held accountable," Dacus said in a telephone interview.
He said the groundswell of dissatisfaction was evident because his organization and the Capitol Resource Institute were able to gather thousands of signatures in just 90 days without time to raise the money needed to hire professional signature-gatherers.
Orr, of Equality California, predicted opponents' fight will become more difficult once the law takes effect.
"They've used a lot of scare tactics and made a lot of statements that aren't true," she said. "All of these sorts of wild claims will not materialize in the classroom and California voters will realize this is really much ado about nothing." (reuters)
Ping!
Kalipornia is living up to its name. The State that Illegal Immigration produced.
Freepmail wagglebee to subscribe or unsubscribe from the homosexual agenda ping list.
Be sure to click the FreeRepublic homosexual agenda keyword search link for a list of all related articles. We don't ping you to all related articles so be sure to click the previous link to see the latest articles.
Add keywords homosexual agenda to flag FR articles to this ping list.
Any conservative who sends their kids to public school in CA is committing child abuse. Of course, all children in CA public schools are abused but conservatives know better. Kids can always learn to read, do math, learn history and so on very easily at home or getting library books out, but to UN-learn the foulest of propaganda is very difficult. Children are very easily influenced for ill, and that is why they need protection for the moral toxic stew of public schools.
Homeschooling will soar, IMO.
CA people have spoken, and they can’t wait to fall into the abyss.
I read on Freerepublic of something called the “Gay Manifesto”. I looked it up an this is what I found. My question is, do you think that the gay movement has achieved many of the goals listed in the Gay Manifesto?
http://www.scribd.com/doc/4841424/Gay-Manifesto
There was an article about this in my local newspaper a few weeks ago. It stated that the petition drive wasn’t going well, but that parents who are truly upset have already removed their children from CA public schools.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.