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OPINION
As legislature pushes LGBT rights, Christians need to give truth a voice
by Rebecca Burgoyne
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The events surrounding Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem have spoken volumes to Christians across the centuries. As Jesus neared the holy city, jubilant crowds joyfully praised God for all they had seen. Rebuked by Pharisees, Jesus explained, “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” The truth must be given a voice.
Christ’s words embody truth, calling to mind the cosmic battle between truth and falsehood, good and evil, a battle by which our culture is being torn to shreds. Tattered, we limp into the battle or choose to stay out of the conflict around us, while the sanctity of life, the purity of marriage between a man and a woman, and our religious liberties are frayed by the voices of choice and humanism. Our children are often the real victims—and the prize on which the enemy longingly casts its gaze.
During April and May, our public schools enter a period of undisguised activism by the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. April holds the Day of Silence, a day during which students take vows of silence—even during classes—to draw attention to the perceived inequalities and treatment received by LGBT students and citizens. May brings the birthday remembrance of deceased homosexual icon Harvey Milk. Senate Bill 572, passed by the California Legislature in 2009, celebrates Milk’s May 22 birthday as a “day of special significance” in the public schools. On Harvey Milk Day, schools are encouraged to hold “exercises remembering the life of Harvey Milk, recognizing his accomplishments, and familiarizing pupils with the contributions he made to this state.”
Last year’s SB 48 brought even more LGBT focus to the public schools. Several legislative and initiative campaigns have attempted to overturn this legislation that requires California public-school children to study the roles and contributions of LGBT figures in their social-studies classes. Assembly Bill 1756, Knight, R-Palmdale, which attempted to temper the effects of SB 48 by giving local school districts more discretion, was heard in the Assembly Education Committee on April 11. Unfortunately, with the strong pro-homosexual contingent in the California Legislature, the bill had little hope of surviving its initial committee votes.
Expanding the focus
The 2009-2010 session saw an unprecedented push to enact pro-homosexual legislation in the California Legislature. Nearly a dozen bills promoting the LGBT lifestyle—especially in the schools—were enacted into law. This year the push has centered more on culture and remaking society.
AB 1856, Ammiano, D-San Francisco, would require that licensed foster parents and group-home administrators receive LGBT sensitivity training and that foster children have the right to foster parents who have received the training.
AB 1505, Pan, D-Sacramento, would make California veterans, who were dishonorably discharged under the Pentagon’s recently repealed “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, eligible for any state veteran benefits, including tuition fee waivers, home-loan eligibility, property tax exemptions, burial in a veterans cemetery and free or reduced fees for license plates, recreational passes and licenses.
AB 1539, Hayashi, D-Hayward, would require the Department of Motor Vehicles, in consultation with the California Department of Education, to design and make available license plates that promote the state’s sexual orientation non-discrimination policy. Proceeds would fund state or local anti-bullying programs.
AB 1960, Dickinson, D-Sacramento, would require the Department of General Services to include the level of participation in certain contracts by LGBT-owned businesses in a current report on minority-owned businesses. One purpose of such a bill is to reinforce in law LGBT persons as official “minorities,” advancing a “protected class” status.
AB 2642, Furitani, D-Long Beach, would require that law-enforcement training include “adequate consideration of cultural competency in regard to race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation.”
SB 1476, Leno, D-San Francisco, would provide that a child may have more than two parent-child relationships and would allow a court to find that a child may have two parental relationships outside the biological father—based on the best interests of the child.
Students for truth
Even as the legislature marches toward expanded school rights for the gay community, many students are taking their own stand for truth. Each year, teens who disagree with the pro-homosexual bent of April’s Day of Silence take part in an alternative event sponsored by Focus on the Family. Giving truth a voice, the Day of Dialogue equips students to engage in open dialogue and respectfully speak the truth tempered by God’s compassionate love for all people.
As many of these bills—and more—face hearings and votes this spring and summer, what will you do? Will you stand by quietly, refusing to engage in the legislative process, or will you stand up, refuse to be silent, and speak the truth in love? Truth must be given a voice. Will it be yours?
Burgoyne is a research analyst with the California Family Council.
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