On December 13, 2010, State Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) introduced California Senate Bill 48, also known as the FAIR Education act. Equality California is a co-sponsor of the bill. SB 48 is currently in the Senate Judiciary and Senate Education Committees. The text reads, in part:
“Instruction in social sciences shall include the early history of California and a study of the role and contributions of … lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans, and members of other ethnic and cultural groups, to the economic, political, and social development of California and the United States of America, with particular emphasis on portraying the role of these groups in contemporary society.”
Similar legislation has been introduced in the past, but was vetoed by then-Governor Arnold Schwarzeneggar.
"Most textbooks don't include any historical information about the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) movement, which has great significance to both California and U.S. history," Leno said in a press release. He added: "Our collective silence on this issue perpetuates negative stereotypes of LGBT people and leads to increased bullying of young people."
While individual same-sex attracted individuals have certainly contributed to the good of society, it is undeniable that the “great significance to both California and U.S. history” of the LGBT movement in “contemporary society” has been the ongoing attempt at the destruction of marriage and the near self-extermination of male homosexuals through the AIDS epidemic.
Last week the homosexualist publication the Bay Area Reporter reported on the creation of the “Rainbow Honor Walk” in San Francisco:
“Fourteen men and six women have been chosen to be the first group of 20 LGBT luminaries to be honored with plaques along the sidewalks of the Castro, San Francisco's gay neighborhood.”
Presumably these are the kind of persons whose contributions SB 48 thinks should be recognized. But, as the BAR article mentions, of the 14 men so honored seven either committed suicide or died from AIDS.
Leno’s legislation also coincides with the release of the latest statistics on sexually transmitted diseases from the San Francisco Department of Public Health. These show an across-the board increase in the incidence of syphilis, rectal gonorrhea, and chlamydia. In San Francisco all STD trends are driven by men having “sex” with men. The report states:
“Overall reported chlamydia in-creased from 4,171 to 4,591 cases (10.1%) while male rectal chlamydia increased in 2010 from 740 to 913 cases for a 23.4% annual increase. Reported gonorrhea cases increased 9.8% from 1,787 in 2009 to 1,963 in 2010. Additionally, rectal gonorrhea among men also increased from 448 cases to 476 cases—a 6.3% increase. After recent declines in early syphilis seen in 2008, early syphilis sharply increased by 27.4% in 2010 from 519 cases to 661. The STD Prevention and Control Section of the San Francisco Department of Public Health recommends that all sexually active men who have sex with men be screened every 3 to 6 months for syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea.”
The ostensible rationale behind “anti-bullying” measures is the health and safety of same-sex attracted youngsters. But if that is in fact the rationale, shouldn’t legislation be introduced discouraging, or at least making clear the all too frequent consequences of homosexual behavior?
Pipeline News has more on SB 48, and recommendations on how Californians can make their concerns known.
Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney
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3 comments:
Gibbons, you wrote "as the BAR article mentions, of the 14 men so honored eight either committed suicide or died from AIDS". Actually, it's seven of the 14 men, as one of the eight -- famous author Virginia Woolf -- was a woman, not a man, and she was married, writing to her husband in her suicide note as she grappled with mental illness: "I can't go on spoiling your life any longer. I don't think two people could have been happier than we have been."
Of the seven who died from AIDS or suicide, Randy Shilts was called "a traitor to his own kind" for calling for the closure of San Francisco gay bathhouses to slow the spread of HIV/AIDS. He said, "I can only answer that I tried to tell the truth and, if not be objective, at least be fair; history is not served when reporters prize trepidation and propriety over the robust journalistic duty to tell the whole story." Also, that you are even able to cite SF Department of Health statistics is due in part to the efforts of people like physician Tom Waddell, one of those who died from AIDS, for whom the health center in the Civic Center area is named and where he had worked. Similarly, artist Keith Haring started a foundation which funds AIDS-related and children's charities. His last work was a mural on the south wall of the Sant'Antonio convent in Pisa, with themes of peace and harmony, maternity and defeat of the serpent. For all we know and pray, all these people and others are in heaven. If so, we hope you may join them.
Thanks, Anonymous #1. Corrected.
Thanks for your prayers, Anonymous #2. I'll pray for you, too.
Gibbons
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