What does it matter?
Ignoring moral implications, social controversies, and Biblical restrictions on homosexuality, what does it matter if a role model is gay or not? Apparently someone thinks that it is important.
Does it mean that Alexander the Great wouldn't have conquered half the known world if he hadn't been gay? Would Ellen DeGeneres be any less funny if she preferred men instead of women? If Plato was straight we all would be thinking differently, right? Honestly, what does it matter?Future generations of California children would read about homosexuals' contributions to history, under a bill approved by state senators.
The bill would require California's textbooks to include the contributions of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people to the state and nation's history when schools replace current texts. Social science texts will next be revised in 2012.
California is the nation's largest buyer of textbooks, with annual spending topping $400 million.
The measure passed with no Republican votes. It heads to the Assembly, where opponents vowed another fight.
The bill by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, the state's first openly gay legislator, also would bar textbooks and other instructional material that portrayed gays in a negative light.
State law already bars textbooks portraying people negatively because of their race, sex, color, creed, handicap, national origin, or ancestry. It also requires that the books include the contributions from racial, ethnic and cultural minorities (WGAL.com "Bill Would Require Gay Role Models In Textbooks").
Important events happen because of actions, not sexual preference. This is the same argument I have with race. I'm sure the nuclear weapon that was lost in 1966 would still have been found if Navy hero Carl Brashear had been white. In the research that I've done for this post I don't see the importance behind the issue as long as all children are raised to be the best people they can be without factors such as this pending legislation recognizes. As long as differences are emphasized factions and clashes will continue to grow.
