California Governor signs LGBT History Bill

In a move sure to piss off homophobes everywhere, California Governor Jerry Brown today signed into law an LGBT education bill requiring the state to include the contributions of gay, lesbian and transgender people in school history lessons and textbooks. Republicans had argued, predictably, that the bill would force a "gay agenda" on students.

The bill's sponsor, openly gay state Senator Mark Leno, said

"Today we are making history in California by ensuring that our textbooks and instructional materials no longer exclude the contributions of LGBT Americans . . . Denying LGBT people their rightful place in history gives our young people an inaccurate and incomplete view of the world around them."

Meanwhile, Benjamin Lopez of the Anaheim-based hate group Traditional Values Coalition, said "It’s a sad day for the state of California . . . we are now going to inject gay studies into the classrooms. Its absurd and offensive."

California public schools are already required to teach about a wide range of groups including women; African, Asian, European, and Mexican Americans; and Native Americans. The new law could have wide-reaching consequences because California is one of the nation’s largest buyers of textbooks.