Free Republic

The Alameda, Calif., public schools are adopting a curriculum that will require first graders to read literature that equates same-sex unions with a family made up of a mother, father and child. Parents will not be allowed to opt their first graders out of the curriculum. Members of the Alameda United School District (AUSD) school board voted 3 to 2 last week to implement the “Safe Schools” curriculum, which supporters say is aimed at stopping anti-homosexual bullying in schools. The program includes a between one and four lessons each year between grades 1 and 5 to introduce students to “LGBT”...

In the last eight months the Save Our Kids coalition and volunteers have made incredible headway in the campaign to protect our children. Without the tireless, dedicated efforts of our supporters, none of what we have accomplished would be possible. The generous support, prayers, and donations have humbled our staff and we will remain forever appreciative. Even with the setback last fall of coming just short of our referendum qualifying, Save Our Kids supporters have continually reinforced our resolve to overturn SB 777. This cause is bigger than one campaign-it is part of the overarching battle to defend our values...

LOS ANGELES - As one group attempts to use California public schools as laboratories to assist children in "coming out" with their nontraditional sexual orientation, another is urging parents to come out from these schools and educate their children with their values at home or in private schools. Last Sunday, a group called "Exodus Mandate" (www.exodusmandate.org) began placing literature in scores of Southern California church lobbies, urging parents to take charge of their children's education and oppose attempts by activists and politicians to shape the worldview of young people, a worldview that runs counter to what many taxpaying parents believe...

(CNSNews.com) - A 14-year-old California boy is charged with a hate crime as well as attempted murder for shooting a 15-year-old boy who "sometimes wore makeup, high heels and other feminine attire," as the Associated Press reported. The victim, Lawrence King, is brain dead, and prosecutors expect this to become a murder case very soon. They want to try the young suspect as an adult. King was shot in the head Tuesday morning while sitting in class at a junior high school in Oxnard, Calif. California has some of the nation's most liberal anti-discrimination, anti-bullying and "diversity" laws, including several...

California Here I Go by: Malcolm A. Kline, February 13, 2008 If you can’t beat ‘em, leave ‘em. Noted author, attorney and activist Phyllis Schlaffly has some characteristically sage advice for Golden State parents upset with the manner in which homosexuality will be handled in California public schools thanks to a law recently signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. “Many of us have worked to reform public schools,” the Christian Newswire reported the lady as saying. “Unfortunately, SB 777 and the related legislation represent a repudiation of 2,000 years of Christian moral teaching on human sexuality, marriage, and the family.” “The...

If you care about your children, then you should homeschool, find a Christian school, participate in a homeschool co-op, pay the tuition, drive an older car, or do whatever is necessary to keep them out of California's public school system. That's the message from a new campaign, assembled under the Rescue Your Child slogan. And it's all because the California Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger worked together to establish Senate Bill 777 and Assembly Bill 394 as law, plans that institutionalize the promotion of homosexuality, bisexuality, transgenderism and other alternative lifestyle choices. First, [California] law allowed public schools to voluntarily...

Only months after a new state law effectively banned "mom" and "dad" from California schools, a total of 600,000 students could follow because of what has been described as the "repudiation" of 2,000 years of Christian morality, according to leaders of a new campaign assembling education alternatives. The campaign is called California Exodus, and is being headed by Ron Gleason, pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church in Yorba Linda, who said while the country excels in social, economic, scientific and political accomplishments, it "gets low grades on the education of its children." The issue is the state legislature's adoption of Senate...

A new law requiring California public schools to, among other things, allow students to 'choose their own gender' when deciding whether to use the boys or girls restroom and locker room is a glaring example of the cultural assault taking place in America. At stake are the minds, values and ideals of the children who parents send off to school. The law went into effect Jan. 11. SB 777 claims to be about creating safe schools, and prohibiting discrimination based upon gender....The law alters the definition of the word "sex" as being biological...and defines "gender" as "sex" based upon a...

Last Oct. 12, California’s Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law a controversial Democratic-authored measure, SB 777, that subtly redefines how sexuality and gender may be taught and dealt with in public schools. This law had been held in abeyance until this month while conservatives were given 90 days to collect signatures to qualify a June ballot referendum that would let voters approve or overturn it. On Thursday, the referendum deadline, activists acknowledged that they had fallen short, gathering only 350,000 of the 433,971 signatures required. With the new law in effect, said referendum supporter Karen England, executive director of...

Pro-family groups seeking to overturn 'gay' mandates Posted: January 11, 2008 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2008 WorldNetDaily.com The battle in California over a new state law that would mandate a positive – and no other – portrayal of bisexuals, homosexuals, transgenders and others choosing alternative sexual lifestyles in public schools has moved into a campaign for an initiative. Officials with Save Our Kids made the announcement yesterday after confirming that their effort to obtain 434,000 signatures for a referendum fell short, coming up with 350,000 names. "For a completely volunteer-driven campaign to obtain this number of signatures is unheard of,"...

Save Our Kids Announces Signature Count SB 777 Referendum Gathers Incredible Number of Signatures; Announces New Phase of Campaign Save Our Kids is excited to announce that the campaign was able to obtain more than 350,000 signatures for the SB 777 referendum before today's constitutional deadline. "For a completely volunteer-driven campaign to obtain this number of signatures is unheard of," explained Karen England, director of the Save Our Kids campaign and executive director of Capitol Resource Family Impact. "We had to overcome incredible difficulties during our signature gathering, including the holidays, and the results are astonishing." In order to...

5) California bill introducing homosexuality to young children: Children as young as two years of age are in the bull's-eye of coming changes in California's school curriculum, which "gay rights" advocates now admit will alter the very foundation of information presented to public school classrooms. Opponents of a new state law that bars "discriminatory bias" in public schools because of a "characteristic," including "perceived gender," argued before its passage that it would foster a pro-homosexual bias that would eliminate references to "mom" and "dad" or "husband" and "wife." Supporters steadfastly maintained the bill only clarified anti-discrimination laws already on the...

When society tells a young person ---- in subtle or, often, not so subtle, ways ---- that they are less valuable, perhaps because of the color of their skin, their religious practices or the gender of the person they want to take to the prom, the whole society suffers. When we mandate that every young person must go to school, we must also provide the safety and dignity of an education free from harassment, discrimination and violence. That is why, over the last several years, I have authored several laws that strengthen civil rights protections for students and improve school...

Just the facts on SB 777 By: ROBERT TYLER Forget everything you learned in kindergarten about the difference between boys and girls. According to Gov. Schwarzenegger and the California Legislature, schoolchildren can now choose their own sex. I'm not talking about choosing "sexual behavior or sexual preferences." Kids are going to be taught that they have the right to completely ignore their physical anatomy and choose the status of being "male" or "female." Ignore your common sense, ignore your chromosomes and ignore your anatomy. This is what your politicians want to teach your kids in school. After all, California's kids...

Giving American home educators a taste of what's to come if the U.S. government continues down the path of European-style socialism, Utah Judge Scott Johansen recently ordered, per a bureaucratic paperwork glitch, the removal of a homeschool mother's children if she refused to enroll them in public school. As if that were not bizarre enough, the mother, Denise Mafi, was threatened with two years jail time if her children failed to show up for class without a physician's note excusing them.

They say that true character is seen under pressure. Perhaps the inverse is true for politicians. When it comes to the pressure of facing the electorate during voting season, some politicians will adopt the character or policies that will get them elected. But when the pressure of re-election is lifted, these officials’ true character is unmasked. Governor Schwarzenegger’s signing of SB 777 is the most glaring example of this sad truth. During last year’s legislative session the governor was wary of signing any legislation that would anger specific voting blocks that could help him win re-election. Such was the case...

Children as young as two years of age are in the bull's-eye of coming changes in California's school curriculum, which "gay rights" advocates now admit will alter the very foundation of information presented to public school classrooms. Gov. Schwarzenegger A list of school resources, sponsored by a homosexual-advocacy group called Safe Schools Coalition, suggests that for those who are only two years old, there's "Felicia's Favorite Story," which tells how she was "adopted by her two mothers." The list also promotes a book called "Are You a Girl or a Boy?" by Karleen Jiminez, a resource for children ages...

On the heels of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's signature on S.B. 777, which opponents describe as a homosexual indoctrination plan for education districts, a pro-homosexual lobbying organization in California has launched its campaign to infuse a "gay" influence into public school curricula. The Gay Straight Alliance recently forwarded an e-mail to its California chapters with information on how to make sure homosexuality is taught in the state's schools, and warned that having students and parents simply "tolerate" homosexuality simply is not enough. "In many schools, learning about LGBTQ issues takes the form of very necessary tolerance education where students are educated...

While the SB 777 referendum campaign continues to surge forward with increasing strength, the homosexual lobby is busy preparing schools for the new law's implementation. Last week the Gay Straight Alliance, a homosexual rights group that promotes their agenda in schools, sent out an e-mail instructing their California chapters on how to integrate homosexual history into curriculum. In October-the same month that SB 777 was signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger-each GSA school unit received a "campaign guide" entitled "Sharing Our Stories: The Fight for LGBTQ-Inclusive Curriculum". This guide was designed to assist students in lobbying their peers and school...

And we must not fear conservative curriculum courses like world religion, ethics, Intelligent Design, and the most overlooked yet embedded text in Western culture and civilization – the Bible – which even our Founders expected us to teach. Provide Further Support For Educational Options If states continue to oppose conservative curricula and impose overarching liberal educational revisions and law like California recently enacted in SB777, which will in the end reverse discrimination against religious students and students with traditional family values, public schools should continue to expect an increased exodus. (A petition drive has until Dec. 20 to repeal SB777.)...

New law tests the limits of tolerance By: SUNANA BATRA - Commentary: I can't help but shake my head at the misguided parents who have once again drunk the California Teachers Association's Kool-Aid and see a new law meant to protect homosexual and transgender students (Senate Bill 777 ) as just another nice attempt to make sure no student is ever made to feel uncomfortable. They are the clueless frogs just getting comfortable in the warmth of a cozy bath that makes them feel oh so good and tolerant. And, as in the parable, it won't be long before that...

Parents in California have started reacting to the state's newly mandated homosexual indoctrination program by pulling their children out of classes, and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell is warning districts they'll lose money if that happens. A spokeswoman for a ministry called Considering Homeschooling said she already has seen an overwhelming increase in requests for information about homeschooling. As a result, spokeswoman Denise Kanter told WND that her group is sending out 5,000 DVD packages to churches around the state that include basic "how-to" information to provide parents a direction to turn when they choose to protect their...

Current California law makes it illegal for schools to offer instruction or an activity that "reflects adversely upon persons" because of their race, sex, color, creed, handicap, national origin or ancestry. A new law scheduled to take effect in January would revise the protected list to disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation. It would also change the words "reflects adversely" to "promotes a discriminatory bias." (snip) A fundamental philosophical, or even moral, conflict lies at the heart of the political clash – the same conflict that fuels the perennial battle over same-sex marriage. One side believes that...

Despite all his tough talk about securing borders and immigration reform, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last month signed AB 976, making California the first state in the union to prohibit landlords from asking tenants about their immigration status. Talk about your dubious distinctions. Not a single Senate or Assembly Republican voted in support of the bill, but the governor -- never one to fret over party loyalties -- signed anyway. The governor's approval of the bill made Bakersfield Assemblywoman Jean Fuller so mad, she fired off a letter to The Californian's editorial page, blasting the bill for "making it easier for...

Giving us a foretaste of what's to come if the Democrats capture the White House and maintain control of Congress in 2008, the liberal-led U.S. House approved a bill on Wednesday that would put deviant sexual behavior on par with race, gender and age in federal employment non-discrimination law. Liberal congressional lawmakers rammed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA, through the chamber by a 235 to 184 vote following a contentious debate on the House floor. The measure is expected to meet stiff opposition in the Senate, and President Bush has pledged a veto if the legislation makes it to...

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the royalty of Davis Senior High School's junior class: Brandon Raphael and his prince, Kiernan Gatewood. For what appears to be the first time in school history, the Davis Senior High student body has elected a gay couple into homecoming royalty. With each boasting a white sash declaring his title as "Prince," the two 16-year-olds rode through the city of Davis on a recent Friday afternoon in the school's annual homecoming parade. They stood in the back of a pickup truck, arm-in-arm, smiling warmly despite the rain. "People were so excited for us," Gatewood said of...

The Terminator is at it again. Only this time he seems bent on terminating what's left of childhood innocence in California public schools. In a bold and terribly misguided power play, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week signed into law a measure, SB 777, dictating that public school children be taught bizarre perversions such as cross-dressing and transsexualism. What's more, the bill muzzles teachers from using such three-letter words as "mom" and "dad" in the classroom and turns children into the guinea pigs of the radical homosexual agenda. Still, millions of public school parents across our nation will continue insisting...

I, a conservative Christian, am partly responsible for passing one of the most pro-gay agendas in American history. Starting January 1, 2008, California will implement SB-777, a bill that goes far beyond the old standard of public schools not being able to do anything that would “reflect adversely” on homosexuality. Now, the new standard is you can’t do anything that would show either a “discriminatory bias” against homosexuality or anything that would favor heterosexuality. Let me put this in simple terms. Textbooks that now refer to “mother and father” or “mom and dad” or “King and Queen” will soon have...

A California pro-family organization has concluded the only way to overturn the radical pro-homosexual indoctrination agenda imposed on public schools when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed SB 777 – which could end up banning "Mom and Dad" references in schools – is through a state constitutional amendment. "A detailed, well-crafted constitutional amendment would wipe out SB 777 and prevent it from ever coming back again, no matter what the politicians or judges desired," said an analysis by Randy Thomasson, president of Campaign for Children and Families. He also warned it would be best if parents would simply withdraw their children from...

This is the first time I've posted anything, so forgive me for whatever mistakes I make. Yesterday on FR, several articles appeared about the passage of SB 777 in California. See Tom McClintock: The Perils of Perfection... (SB 777 - Fight back!) Governor Signs SB 777 New law will open female locker rooms to transgender men CA: Governor Signs SB 777 (New law will open female locker rooms to transgender men) One article mentioned the Capitol Resource Institute in California, a traditional family organization. I joined the organization, and received the following e-mail from them. "Last fall California families were...

An international organization promoting families says California families have no choice but to abandon the public school system after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a new "anti-discrimination" bill into law, effectively making terms like "mom" and dad" obsolete. As WND has reported, some family advocates in California already had come to the same conclusion as that reached now by the World Congress of Families. World Congress of Families Global Coordinator Allan Carlson said the measure, SB 777, is "a blatant attack on the natural family orchestrated by the alternative-lifestyles lobby." The exodus call had been issued just one day earlier by...

Thornhill's View

There’s a great commotion among family and religious groups over the governor’s signing of SB 777 by Senator Sheila Kuehl. It is titled the “California Student Civil Rights Act” and purports to guard children from instruction or activities that “promote a discriminatory bias” on the basis of a long list of criteria including religion, gender, sexual orientation, nationality or ethnicity. The left is praising it as a major breakthrough for civil rights and the right is condemning it as actively promoting homosexuality. But putting aside arguments over “gay rights” or “the gay agenda,” the law itself introduces a problematic doctrine...

A call is being issued to Christians who have been engaged in the culture wars in California's schools to abandon the system, after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law a ban on "discriminatory bias" against homosexuals and others with alternative sexual lifestyles. "We're calling upon every California parent to pull their child out of California's public school system," Randy Thomasson, president of Campaign for Children and Families, told WND. "The so-called 'public schools' are no longer a safe emotional environment for children. Under the new law, schoolchildren as young as kindergarten will be sexually indoctrinated and introduced to homosexuality, bisexuality,...

Californians waiting to see if Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger would sign six bills pro-family groups called "bad and harmful" now have their answer: four of them are now law. One family activist thinks many of those who are disappointed and shocked by the governor's approval didn't really believe the measures would pass. Schwarzenegger vetoed bills for same-sex "marriage" licenses and additional millions for abortions and birth control, but approved two bills -- SB 777 and AB 394. One mandates positive portrayal about homosexual and alternative sexual lifestyles in instruction and activities in public schools, and the other orders "anti-harassment" training for...

Governor Blasted for Signing 'Sexual Indoctrination' Bills By Susan Jones CNSNews.com Senior Editor October 15, 2007 (CNSNews.com) - A conservative group says private schools and home schooling will be the only sanctuary for California parents when two "school sexual indoctrination" laws take effect on Jan. 1. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger -- without comment -- signed four bills backed by the homosexual community over the weekend, two of them dealing with public schools. (Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoed similar bills last year when he was running for re-election, conservative groups noted.) "Arnold Schwarzenegger has delivered young children into the hands of those who...

Governor Schwarzenegger has signed into the law the highly controversial SB 777 (Kuehl) that will permit transgender students to enter the locker rooms and restrooms of the gender with which they identify. Under the guise of preventing discrimination and bias against homosexuals, transgenders and other sexual variants, SB 777 will force innocent school children to accept alternative lifestyles.

"Mom and Dad" as well as "husband and wife" have been banned from California schools under a bill signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who with his signature also ordered public schools to allow boys to use girls restrooms and locker rooms, and vice versa, if they choose. "We are shocked and appalled that the governor has blatantly attacked traditional family values in California," said Karen England, executive director of Capitol Resource Institute. "With this decision, Gov. Schwarzenegger has told parents that their values are irrelevant. Many parents will have no choice but to pull their children out of the public...

Coming to a School Locker Room Near You: Governor Signs SB 777 New law will open female locker rooms to transgender men Governor Schwarzenegger has signed into the law the highly controversial SB 777 (Kuehl) that will permit transgender students to enter the locker rooms and restrooms of the gender with which they identify. Under the guise of preventing discrimination and bias against homosexuals, transgenders and other sexual variants, SB 777 will force innocent school children to accept alternative lifestyles. "We are shocked and appalled that the governor has blatantly attacked traditional family values in California," stated Karen England, Executive...

As the 2007 legislative session begins its final throes, the annual duel between homosexual rights groups and their conservative foes is being rejoined. The former have already scored one victory in the much-delayed budget that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed last month, a first-ever appropriation for aid to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) victims of domestic violence. "These types of government and nonprofit partnerships have for many years kept many Californians healthy, safe and self-sufficient, and for the first time the California budget includes such funds for LGBT- specific services," Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, declared after the...

The California legislature is expected to approve this month a bill redefining “gender and “discrimination” in a way that poses a moral threat to California’s schoolchildren. According to Catholics for the Common Good (ccgaction.org), the bill, SB 777, would “promote discrimination against the Judeo-Christian understanding of human sexuality.” Termed the "Student Civil Rights Act," the bill’s intent, says the its author, Sheila Kuehl, is to protect California students from "bullying and harassment" and to "ensure a safe learning environment." The legislation’s main impact, however, would be to prohibit any "instruction, school activities, or instructional material" that "reflects or promotes a...

The California State Senate on Thursday passed legislation mandating that schoolchildren as young as kindergarten learn about and support transsexuality, bisexuality and homosexuality. SB 777 requires textbooks, instructional materials, and school-sponsored activities to positively portray cross-dressing, sex-change operations, homosexual "marriages," and all aspects of homosexuality and bisexuality, including so-called "gay history." Thursday's vote split on party lines, Democrats for, Republicans against. No Republican senator rose to speak against SB 777. After this non-debate, the school sexual indoctrination bill passed the Democrat-controlled Senate by three votes, 23 to 13. Republican Tom Harman abstained and Republican Jim Battin was absent; Democrat Dean...

A controversial bill that bans bias against homosexuals, transgenders, and bisexuals in public schools was passed on Thursday by the California Senate, unleashing a wave of concern through those opposed to normalizing homosexuality. SB 777 went through by a 23-13 vote, and would prohibit all classes, textbooks, and teachers from any instruction that "reflects or promotes bias against" those perceived with gender issues. All instructional materials and school activities would then have to positively portray all of these sexually alternative lifestyles, something many refuse to support. Children starting from kindergarten would learn about the practices, as a result, and would...

One budget watchdog says business groups and their legislative allies are hoping to exploit the favorable revenue climate to seek tax credits that could amount to hundreds of millions of dollars, forcing even bigger budget cuts next year. Legislative leaders signed a letter last month agreeing to discuss the tax credit in August, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has stated his support for it. Nunez, D-Los Angeles, said he will work hard to get the film-credit bill passed this summer. ``If we don't provide tax relief, Hollywood production companies will leave California and we'll be without huge resources for our coffers,''...

Trying to fend off increasingly tough competition from other states and foreign countries, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to announce a plan soon to grant tax breaks for film companies to help them meet production expenses and stay in California. J. Scott Davis

Runaway Film Bill Hits Snag - State lawmakers balk at the cost of proposal to keep production from fleeing California by giving financial incentives to Hollywood. SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's script to stem runaway film production in California with as much as $100 million in annual tax breaks is getting panned at the Capitol. The bill by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles), which the governor made a top priority, was on the legislative fast track until Schwarzenegger's fellow Republicans balked, arguing that it amounted to a giveaway for Hollywood. Now, the bill can't even get a hearing. With...

LOS ANGELES - California receives millions of dollars in tax revenue when movies are filmed in the state, but about 60 percent of all productions last year were shot elsewhere, according to a study to be released Monday. The state, for example, loses more than $10 million when a $70 million movie is made outside the state, and $3 million for a 12-episode drama, the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. said. Sponsored by labor and industry groups, the 20-page showed that 236 features, or about 40 percent of all productions, were shot partially or exclusively in the state last...

California's Democratic politicians often decry special tax loopholes and other corporate subsidies, but when it comes to one business sector - the movie industry - they make a huge exception. Not only is the Southern California-based movie industry heavily unionized, but its executives are almost all political liberals who donate lavishly to Democratic campaigns. That, in a nutshell, explains why the Democratic speaker of the Assembly, Fabian Núñez, quietly amended a bill this week to grant movie producers tens of millions of dollars in subsidies from a state treasury that already is drowning in red ink, with multibillion-dollar annual deficits....