A new chapter in the life of academics here in California will be ushered in during 2013 with Senate Bill (SB) 48.
SB 48 insists all California public schools incorporate the sexual orientation of historical figures in social studies as well as prohibiting any discriminatory material according to members of Equal California.
History is an important and crucial subject in education. From kindergarten to college, students are taught to not make the mistakes of the past by learning from those who came before us.
From Christopher Columbus to President Barack Obama, history is always relevant.         With that being said, it is important to not only know the facts but know the person who impacted America’s history in such a profound way.
“History should be honest,” stated Governor Jerry Brown when he addressed the bill in July. Honesty is a quality to be valued and engraving this policy in education is a must.
Gay rights have been a controversial issue from the beginning of time. Whether the issue steered its ugly head throughout schools where students have been bullied so strenuously that they take their own lives, to celebrities ridiculed by co-workers on the sets of television shows, gay rights is a topic that needs to be addressed in an educational manner.
Having such topics introduced at a young age and reiterated throughout each level of schooling will help our nation understand one another and open eyes and hearts to acceptance, acceptance that not everyone lives by the same standards and that everyone is equal, regardless of sexual orientation.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” Thomas Jefferson so boldly stated in the Declaration of Independence.
Having Senate Bill 48 in effect will bring America back to its roots.