May 05, 2006
George Washington (WASPM)
It has become very important in the eyes of many that everyone has a role model that reflects their personal race, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, religion, gender and various possible physical handicaps. So much so that now California wants to make sure textbooks reflect the sexual orientation of gays, lesbians, transgender and make sure their contributions are included.
After a sometimes emotional debate centering on discrimination and sexual orientation, a Senate committee approved a bill Wednesday that would require that the contributions of gays and lesbians be included in textbooks.Does this mean we now need footnotes denoting a person’s ethnic, sexual and religious statistics, Maybe an index with a listing of individuals and potential categories with checks and boxes to denote the classification? We could possibly create a key code to be shown prominently after persons name to insure the information was easy to find as I did in the title of this post. The code as shown decodes as White Anglo Straight Protestant Male. Granted this is a rudimentary code and would need much expansion to insure no one felt left out.Supporters argued that all students should be made aware of the role that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people have made, but state curriculum has no such requirement.
Opponents countered that discussion of sexual orientation should occur at home and not be mandated in schools.
Not requiring that gays be included in instructional materials creates the "enforced invisibility that so many minority groups have gone through in terms of their contributions to California history," Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, told the Senate Education Committee in support of her bill.
Just think how many suicides and deaths could be prevented by making this one change. It seems to be an accepted fact that pride in American achievements is not enough to keep people alive. It is vital to self esteem and mental health to know that someone just like you in the most unimportant of ways managed to be a productive member of society before life is worth living.
Posted by Sid at May 5, 2006 12:04 AM | Makes You Think Hmm..
Comments
I doubt this change will influence more than history books. Why not have a chapter on it in history books anyway? It's become an issue of important future historical significance in the United States.
Posted by: Sid A at May 5, 2006 03:08 PM
