California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), long used to attacking conservative states over their exclusion of LGBTQ curricula, is targeting local school districts in his own state by backing a draconian bill to force compliance.
The bill, AB 1078, introduced by Assemblymember Corey Jackson (D-Perris), would allow the state to intervene in local districts and fine them if their curricula lacked materials on ethnic groups and “LGBTQ+ Americans.”
The bill was considered too extreme even for the state’s left-wing legislature, in which both houses are ruled by Democratic Party supermajorities. But Newsom jumped in to create a tool to use against conservative districts.
The Los Angeles Times notes that Newsom is targeting the public school district in Temecula, in Southern California, where conservatives won seats on the school board and are opposing the use of LGBTQ+ materials.
The Times reports:
The debate arose after the board rejected proposed instructional material that mentioned Harvey Milk, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and the first out gay man elected to public office in California, who was assassinated in 1978. Earlier this year, Newsom proclaimed May 22 to be Harvey Milk Day, to honor his activism done “at great personal risk.”
Conservative school board President Joseph Komrosky, who called Milk a “pedophile” and has been publicly feuding with Newsom over the issue, asked sheriff deputies on Tuesday to remove a teacher from the meeting after she called conservative board member Danny Gonzalez a “homophobe.”
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On Wednesday, Newsom announced that the state is entering into a contract to secure textbooks for the district in time for the first day of school next month.
Newsom also said that he is committed to fining the Temecula district for non-compliance, despite the fact that he does not yet have the power to do so, and that doing so would hurt the students of the district directly.
Last month, Newsom attacked Komrosky for calling Milk a “pedophile,” slamming “an offensive statement from an ignorant person.” As Breitbart News noted: “Daniel Greenfield of Frontpage Mag addressed the claims of Harvey Milk being a pedophile, citing a book claiming the icon had relationships with two teenagers, who were allegedly 16 and 17 years old, respectively, at the time. The legal age of consent in California is 18 years old.”
The inclusion of LGBTQ materials, especially those involving discussions of sexuality, has prompted strong opposition in some local districts, even leading to fights at school board meetings near Los Angeles in June.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
