'Sexual indoctrination' bill vetoed

Former Assemblyman Larry Bowler

One of three "sexual indoctrination" bills pending in California has been vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and family interest groups are ecstatic – so far.

"California families recognize this bill was an attack on religious freedoms in school," said Karen England, executive director of the Capitol Resource Institute, after the announcement today. "There are still several other bills on the governor's desk that also deserve his veto."

The bill vetoed today was SB 1437, which had been approved by the Legislature. It would have prevented any school teaching materials or activities from "reflecting adversely" upon homosexuals, bisexuals or transgenders.

Former Assemblyman Larry Bowler, R-Elk Grove, had told a rally just a day earlier that in his six years as a member of the Assembly Education Committee, "Never, never, in all the thousands of bills that I voted on in that committee, did I ever see anything even close to the destructive decadence of these three bills.

"The bills are not education, they are indoctrination, designed to inculcate our children and our grandchildren," he said.

"Thousands of Californians called, e-mailed and wrote letters to the governor urging him to veto this bill," said Meredith Turney, CRI's legislative liaison. "The governor heard their protests and vetoed a bill that would have seriously infringed upon students' religious freedoms."

Turney said the bill shows the legislature's priorities are out of synch.

"At a time when many California students struggle to pass the Exit Exam, the legislature is more concerned with advancing a radical political agenda than focusing on the basics: reading, writing, and arithmetic."

England said the bill was just "another attempt by radical homosexual activists to confuse children on matters relating to sexuality."

"The government has no business undermining the moral upbringing of children. Classrooms, where children are supposed to gain the fundamental tools of learning, should never be used to indoctrinate children for political purposes," she said.

There had been a rally in front of the California statehouse just a day earlier, sponsored by Campaign for Children and Families.

The crowd chanted, "veto, veto, veto," and called the governor's office on their cell phones to demand the vetoes. Officials later said the governor's office was adding more telephone lines because of the number of calls that flooded in.

Protesters also expressed their frustration with Schwarzenegger for his Aug. 28 signing of SB 1441, which will force religious colleges – if a single student is attending on a state grant – to promote transexuality, bisexuality and homosexuality.

CCF President Randy Thomasson said that "tramples the religious values of faith-based institutions."

"The Christian colleges are very afraid," Thomasson said. "They are huddling together talking about a plan of action."

Craig DeLuz, president of the Robla School Board, said SB 1437 would have allowed only "positive images of homosexuals in any context of education."

"Meaning that if you wanted to talk about the spread of AIDS, if you wanted to talk about high-risk sexual activities, male-to-male sexual contact could not be mentioned because you'll have violated SB 1437," he said. "But that's the truth! What kind of law hides the truth?"

CCF Latino spokesman Luis Goldamez was even more blunt.

"We can no longer allow girlie-men in this state or any state to dictate to our children what they're going to teach them. We need to see them face-to-face and tell them, we have our pants on the right way, we are men and women, we are not confused. And if anyone needs to teach our children, it needs to be us parents, not girlie-men from this building or any other building," he told the rally.

Thomasson had told WorldNetDaily at stake are the "hearts and minds" of 6.5 million schoolchildren in the state.

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