The Truth About SB-777.
If you’re in California, and even if you’re not, it’s possible you’ve heard of SB-777. Chances are, however, that what you’ve heard is more propaganda and hysteria than reality. Some claim the bill promotes homsexuality, even “indoctrinates” children into homosexuality. Others claim that words like mom, dad, husband, wife, etc. would be banned from textbooks and that prom kings and queens would be prohibited. The most outrageous claims are that the bill requires bathrooms and locker rooms be unisex and that it encourages cross-dressing.
Well I’m going to tell you the unvarnished truth about SB-777. First I’ll present to you the actual text of the bill so you can read it yourself. I’ll leave out some of the most boring parts about teaching credentials, access to libraries and the like (the entire bill is quite mundane) but you’re welcome to read it in it’s entirety here. Now, on to SB-777.
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SB 777, Kuehl. Discrimination.
(1) Existing law states that it is the policy of the state to afford equal rights and opportunities to all persons in the public or private elementary and secondary schools and postsecondary educational institutions of the state regardless of their sex, ethnic group identification, race, national origin, religion, or mental or physical disability and prohibits a person from being subjected to discrimination on those bases and contains various provisions to implement that policy.
Existing law prohibits a teacher from giving instruction, and a school district from sponsoring any activity, that reflects adversely upon persons because of their race, sex, color, creed, handicap, national origin, or ancestry.
This bill would revise the list of prohibited bases of discrimination and the kinds of prohibited instruction and activities and, instead, would refer to disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic contained in the definition of hate crimes that is contained in the Penal Code. The bill would define disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation for this purpose.
(2) Existing laws relating to education refer to “handicapped pupils,” “handicapped adults,” “physically handicapped pupils,” “physically handicapped adults,” “the handicapped,” and “handicapped
persons.”
This bill would change these terms to “pupils with disabilities,” “adults with disabilities,” “pupils with physical disabilities,” “adults with physical disabilities,” and “persons with disabilities.”
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THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:SECTION 1. This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the California Student Civil Rights Act.
SEC. 1.5. Section 200 of the Education Code is amended to read:
200. It is the policy of the State of California to afford all persons in public schools, regardless of their disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic that is contained in the definition of hate crimes set forth in Section 422.55 of the Penal Code, equal rights and opportunities in the educational institutions of the state. The purpose of this chapter is to prohibit acts that are contrary to that policy and to provide remedies therefor.
SEC. 2. Section 210.1 of the Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
210.3. “Educational institution” means a public or private preschool, elementary, or secondary school or institution; the governing board of a school district; or any combination of school districts or counties recognized as the administrative agency for public elementary or secondary schools.
SEC. 3. Section 210.1 is added to the Education Code, to read:
210.1. “Disability” includes mental and physical disability as defined in Section 12926 of the Government Code.
SEC. 4. Section 210.7 is added to the Education Code, to read:
210.7. “Gender” means sex, and includes a person’s gender identity and gender related appearance and behavior whether or not stereotypically associated with the person’s assigned sex at birth.
SEC. 5. Section 212 of the Education Code is repealed.
SEC. 6. Section 212 is added to the Education Code, to read:
212. “Nationality” includes citizenship, country of origin, and national origin.
SEC. 7. Section 212.1 is added to the Education Code, to read:
212.1. “Race or ethnicity” includes ancestry, color, ethnic group identification, and ethnic background.
SEC. 8. Section 212.3 is added to the Education Code, to read:
212.3. “Religion” includes all aspects of religious belief, observance, and practice and includes agnosticism and atheism.
SEC. 9. Section 212.6 is added to the Education Code, to read:
212.6. “Sexual orientation” means heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality.
SEC. 10. Section 219 is added to the Education Code, to read:
219. Disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic contained in the definition of hate crimes set forth in Section 422.55 of the Penal Code includes a perception that the person has any of those characteristics or that the person is associated with a person who has, or is perceived to have, any of those characteristics.
SEC. 11. Section 220 of the Education Code is amended to read:
220. No person shall be subjected to discrimination on the basis of disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic that is contained in the definition of hate crimes set forth in Section 422.55 of the Penal Code in any program or activity conducted by an educational institution that receives, or benefits from, state financial assistance or enrolls pupils who receive state student financial aid.SEC. 12. Section 220.5 of the Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
221. This article shall not apply to an educational institution that is controlled by a religious organization if the application would not be consistent with the religious tenets of that organization.
SEC. 13. Section 235 of the Education Code is amended to read:
235. There shall be no discrimination on the basis of the characteristics listed in Section 220 in any aspect of the operation of alternative schools or charter schools.
SEC. 14. Section 260 of the Education Code is amended to read:
260. The governing board of a school district shall have the primary responsibility for ensuring that school district programs and activities are free from discrimination based on age and the characteristics listed in Section 220 and for monitoring compliance with any and all rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to Section 11138 of the Government Code.
SEC. 15. Section 14058 of the Education Code is amended to read:
14058. (a) For all adults with disabilities educated by the county superintendent of schools, for all secondary schools maintained in juvenile halls, juvenile homes, and juvenile camps by the county superintendent of schools, and for all pupils enrolled in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, in opportunity schools and classes and all continuation schools and classes maintained by the county superintendent of schools, the Superintendent shall allow the same amount as he or she would compute for the foundation program of a high school district under Section 41712.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the total of allowances for education of adults with disabilities in classes established by the county superintendent of schools pursuant to Section 52570 or 78440 shall not exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) in any one fiscal year. The Superintendent shall establish a system of priorities that he or she shall by rule or regulation adopt that shall give highest priority to those counties in which no program or an insufficient program for the education of adults with disabilities is provided by the school districts within the county, in order to comply with the
imitation prescribed by this section.
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SEC. 35. Section 66251 of the Education Code is amended to read:
66251. It is the policy of the State of California to afford all persons, regardless of disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other basis that is contained in the prohibition of hate crimes set forth in subdivision (a) of Section 422.6 of the Penal Code, equal rights and opportunities in the postsecondary institutions of the state. The purpose of this chapter is to prohibit acts that are contrary to that policy and to provide remedies therefor.
SEC. 36. Section 66260.5 is added to the Education Code, to read:
66260.5. “Disability” includes mental and physical disability as defined in Section 12926 of the Government Code.
SEC. 37. Section 66260.7 is added to the Education Code, to read:
66260.7. “Gender” means sex, and includes a person’s gender identity and gender related appearance and behavior whether or not stereotypically associated with the person’s assigned sex at birth.
SEC. 38. Section 66261.5 is added to the Education Code, to read:
66261.5. “Nationality” includes citizenship, country of origin, and national origin.
SEC. 39. Section 66261.7 is added to the Education Code, to read:
66261.7. “Race or ethnicity” includes ancestry, color, ethnic group identification, and ethnic background.
SEC. 40. Section 66262 of the Education Code is repealed.
SEC. 41. Section 66262 is added to the Education Code, to read:
66262. “Religion” includes all aspects of religious belief, observance, and practice and includes agnosticism and atheism.
SEC. 42. Section 66262.7 is added to the Education Code, to read:
66262.7. “Sexual orientation” means heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality.
SEC. 43. Section 66269 is added to the Education Code, to read:
66269. Disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic contained in the definition of hate crimes set forth in Section 422.55 of the Penal Code includes a perception that the person has any of those characteristics or that the person is associated with a person who has, or is perceived to have, any of those characteristics.
SEC. 44. Section 66270 of the Education Code is amended to read:
66270. No person shall be subjected to discrimination on the basis of disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic that is contained in the prohibition of hate crimes set forth in subdivision (a) of Section 422.6 of the Penal Code in any program or activity conducted by any postsecondary educational institution that receives, or benefits from, state financial assistance or enrolls students who receive state student financial aid.
SEC. 44.5. Section 66270 of the Education Code is amended to read:66270. No person shall be subjected to discrimination on the basis of disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any characteristic listed or defined in Section 11135 of the Government Code or any other characteristic that is contained in the prohibition of hate crimes set forth in subdivision (a) of Section 422.6 of the Penal Code in any program or activity conducted by any postsecondary educational institution that receives, or benefits from, state financial assistance or enrolls students who receive state student financial aid.
SEC. 45. Section 66270.5 of the Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
66271. This chapter shall not apply to an educational institution that is controlled by a religious organization if the application would not be consistent with the religious tenets of that organization.
SEC. 46. Section 66292 of the Education Code is amended to read:
66292. (a) The governing board of a community college district shall have the primary responsibility for ensuring that community college district programs and activities are free from discrimination based on age and the characteristics listed in Section 66270.
(b) The Chancellor’s office of the California Community Colleges shall have responsibility for monitoring the compliance of each district with any and all regulations adopted pursuant to Section 11138 of the Government Code.
SEC. 47. Section 66292.1 of the Education Code is amended to read:66292.1. The Chancellor of the California State University and the president of each California State University campus shall have the primary responsibility for ensuring that campus programs and activities are free from discrimination based on age and the characteristics listed in Section 66270.
SEC. 48. Section 66292.2 of the Education Code is amended to read:
66292.2. The President of the University of California and the chancellor of each University of California campus shall have primary responsibility for ensuring that campus programs and activities are free from discrimination based on age and the characteristics listed in Section 66270.
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There it is. Not a word about indoctrinating children into homosexuality, teaching them to cross dress or allowing them to share bathrooms. There’s also nothing about outlawing terms like mother, father, husband and wife in textbooks. All it says is that discrimination against students based on disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation, is prohibited. Now why is it that the bill prohibits discrimination based on so many factors, yet the RRRW is only launching a crusade against two, those being the protections for sexual orientation and gender identity? In all of the articles about SB-777 we’ve seen no concerns raised over the fact that it protects students based on race, ethnicity, nationality, or disability. Why is that?
Notice in particular that the bill prohibits discrimination against people based on their religion, yet nobody is raising concerns that children will be “indoctrinated” into religion while in school. (Mind you the RRRW would like it very much if children were indoctrinated into religion–their religion–in schools.) I’ve also not seen any articles claiming children will be harmed because their schools cannot discriminate based on any other factors. No, the only concerns anybody has is that students might have protections based on their gender identity and sexual orientation.
So in reality it has nothing at all to do with protecting the children, for they don’t care one whit about the children who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. Children like Lawrence King aren’t worthy of having equal rights and protections under the law. Pushing their anti-gay agenda and keeping LGBT people permanent second-class citizens is far more important, apparently, than the lives and safety of the children they claim to care about.
Now you know the truth about SB-777. It prohibits discrimination in California schools based on disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation. Nothing more, nothing less. If anybody tries to say otherwise, they’re simply not giving you the facts.
