Right Wing Activists Attempt to Repeal LGBT Youth Protections

Posted on October 19, 2007
Filed Under News, lgbT |

SACRAMENTO - Conservative, anti-LGBT activists have taken the first step to ask California voters to repeal youth protections recently signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. On Monday, the Capitol Resource Institute in Sacramento started the voter referendum process in an attempt to undo student safeguards the governor recently approved in SB 777, authored by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, and sponsored by Equality California.

The Student Civil Rights Act, which becomes law on January 1 of next year, protects students from harassment and bullying in public schools by making sure teachers and school administrators understand their responsibilities to protect youth. Students are protected based on gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation.

The referendum petition is awaiting a title and summary from the attorney general. Once it is given a title, the petitioners will have 150 days to circulate petitions and collect 433,971 valid voter signatures in order to qualify the referendum for the ballot.

Statement by EQCA Executive Director Geoff Kors:

“It is ironic that an organization that alleges to promote ‘family values’ has chosen to fight a law that will protect all California youth based on religion, race, nationality and gender, not just sexual orientation,” said EQCA Executive Director Geoff Kors. “In a desperate attempt to deny full equality to people - and in this case, youth - who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, right wing extremists continue to wage a misguided attack on the Student Civil Rights Act. They are using fear-based tactics and deceptive propaganda to repeal legislation that has already received the approval of the Legislature and Gov. Schwarzenegger.”

Read more about SB 777.

Equality California is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots-based, statewide advocacy organization whose mission is to achieve equality and civil rights of all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Californians. Please visit our website at http://www.eqca.org.

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