As California mandate looms, some LGBT curriculum already in place

[William769]

(CNN) - In 10th grade English at Los Angeles’ Grover Cleveland High School, Danielle Taklender's students read the book "Luna" by Julie Anne Peters. It's a story about a transgender teen.

Taklender has been teaching the book for seven years without any fanfare or push back. It’s getting noticed now as her school district takes the lead in developing a plan to comply with the first state law mandating lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender history and social science curricula. The California law, which takes effect in January, stops short of dictating how schools are to comply and leaves that up to the districts and schools themselves to figure out.

Taklender uses "Luna" to expose students to new vocabulary and different ways of thinking about pronouns. The students discuss gender identity versus sexual orientation, as well as gender roles in literature. Taklender said she teaches this book the same way she teaches every other book.

She says the only negative feedback she has run into was a parent who once requested an alternate assignment after the class finished reading the book.

http://inamerica.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/10/lgbt-curriculum-already-in-place-in-some-california-classrooms-as-state-mandate-looms/?hpt=hp_c1

[Smarmie Doofus]

1. Pinch me. And let's hope it lasts:

>>So far, opposition efforts to repeal the law, which passed last summer, have failed. There are currently at least five initiative measures awaiting review by the attorney general that could make their way on the ballot for next year's election, but it’s too late to stop the law that takes effect next month. If any of the ballot measures pass, they will undo the curriculum that is already in place.>>>

[William769]

2. Hopefully Californians learned their lesson with prop 8.