By Gudrun Schultz
SACRAMENTO, CA, May 26, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has said he will veto a bill to include mandatory instruction on achievements of homosexual persons in school curriculums throughout the state.
“The governor believes that school curriculum should include all important historical figures, regardless of orientation,” governor spokesman Adam Mendelsohn said Wednesday. “However, he does not support the Legislature micromanaging curriculum.”
The bill passed the Senate vote 22-15 on May 11. Opponents of the bill said it would introduce irrelevant material into textbooks and overstep the rights of parents who do not want their children exposed to homosexual material.
Gov. Schwarzenegger’s statement came as a surprise to both sides, given his record of supporting homosexual activism as governor.
Sheila Kuehl, the openly lesbian Senator who backed the curriculum bill, told the Sacramento Bee she did not believe the governor intended to veto the bill.
“He hasn’t made up his mind, I don’t care what some underling might have said,” Kuehl said.
Randy Thomasson, president of the Campaign for Children and Families, told the Bee he welcomed Gov. Schwarzenegger’s decision, but he said he wants the governor to go a step farther.
“We’re very pleased that Schwarzenegger is listening to the concerns of parents,” Thomasson said. “Now the governor needs to pledge to veto the two remaining transsexual, bisexual homosexual bills, AB 606 and AB 1056. Parents and grandparents are demanding it.”
The bills in question call for increased school efforts to address sexual orientation harassment and would offer $25,000 grants to schools to “promote tolerance and intergroup relations.”
California Senate Passes Law Forcing Schools to Celebrate Gay History https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/may/06051506.html