A state bill designed to halt bias against gay students in public schools is raising hackles among conservative trustees in Ventura County who fear it will bring gay clubs to local high schools, lessons on homosexuality to classrooms and "Heather Has Two Mommies" to the library shelves.
The so-called Dignity for All Students Bill written by Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Sheila Kuehl would amend the state Education Code to bar discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in public education.
But some conservative education activists in the county think it does more than ban bias. They fear that passage of Assembly Bill 101 would mean sliding toward "lifestyle education."
So strong is the resistance to Kuehl's bill that two Conejo Valley trustees have asked for a resolution opposing it to be placed on an upcoming agenda. The bill also worries trustees in Simi Valley and on the Ventura County Board of Education.
The bill is "kind of like a first step" toward lifestyle education, said Conejo Valley Unified School District Trustee Elaine McKearn. Homosexual issues "will be in your reading and language arts curriculum, you can be sure of it.
"I don't think any of this stuff has any place in our schools, having heterosexual clubs or homosexual clubs," she added. "The kids are in school for an education--reading, writing, math and science."
But Kuehl, a Santa Monica Democrat who also represents Westlake Village, said naysayers are misinterpreting the bill, which enjoys wide support among PTAs, teacher unions and student groups.
"These accusations are just red herrings because [critics] don't have any logical or legitimate criticisms of the bill," Kuehl said Friday. "They raise these straw men so they can knock them down, which shows the poverty of their arguments."
Instead, she said, AB 101 would prohibit bias based on sexual orientation in public education, including employment, athletics, financial aid, courses of study and student activities. Those same protections are already afforded based on race, creed, color, national origin, sex and economic status.
If a school district were to disobey the bill, the punishment would be mandated compliance rather than a fine.
"The basis of this bill is equality and human dignity," Kuehl said. "We should never stand for our public school systems discriminating against their students on any non-merit-based basis."
