04/17/2006

California Legislators Mull Bills to Force Gay Agenda on Public School Students

NEWS ADVISORY, April 17 -- “Two bills currently in the California Legislature, Assembly Bill 606 and Senate Bill 1437, will require public schools in California to promote the homosexual lifestyle,” warns Finn Laursen, Executive Director of Christian Educators Association International (CEAI).

AB 606 threatens school districts with loss of state funding unless schools adopt gay-friendly policies, update their publications to reflect the same, and provide information on training, curricula and other resources specific to sexual orientation and gender identity. Another bill, SB 1437, requires schools to teach about the historical contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons, and the bill prohibits any textbook or instruction which reflects unfavorably on LGBT persons.

Laursen says, “We agree that districts should do all they can do to stop harassment of students based on sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation, but forcing the promotion of homosexuality is not the way. Schools need to enforce anti-harassment policies already in place.”

“If passed, these bills will, in effect, impose from the state level pervasive indoctrination of children. They will require educators to proclaim a favorable view of sexual behavior that violates the religious and moral standards of many families and promotes high risk sexual behavior that has been reported to shorten the life span of its participants by as much as 20 years,” says Laursen.

“This state mandated gay agenda is outrageous. It is just the type of legislated morality that has already driven thousands of Christian families out of our public schools. Many parents send their children to Christian schools or have turned to home schooling precisely because of this kind of thing. Although those are viable options, most Christian families have kept their children in public schools. These parents have a right to expect their traditional religious family values to be honored and respected,” says Laursen.

Because the Christian worldview of sexual orientation is usually ignored and the agenda of a small minority is often forced on the schooling community, CEAI recently endorsed a document called Public Schools and Sexual Orientation, published by the First Amendment Center. CEAI endorsed this document because it encourages school districts not to merely endorse any one group’s agenda, but to listen to all viewpoints in the community before implementing any programming on this controversial topic. This framework returns our schools to local control, allowing a community to have input on how to deal with this issue rather than having the state government force something on their children that they do not want.

“Since our endorsement of this document, we at CEAI have received the support of many ministries and our members and have been contacted by groups and individuals grateful for finally being called to the table for input as viable members of their local communities. California citizens should insist the state allow local control on this issue and instead use the framework of this document endorsed by professional educators across the nation,” says Laursen.

Public Schools and Sexual Orientation can be viewed at www.ceai.org .