Fight Over Textbooks -- Gotta Denounce Gays

Here we go -- when you pass anti-gay laws, it fires up anti-gay violence and provides lots of ammo in the culture wars. In Texas, they're fighting over the wording of a middle school textbook on health. (As you know, Texas and California are such big markets, they basically determine the types of textbooks sold all over the country.)

What are they fighting about? The definition of marriage and references to gays. Since it's in the Austin-Statesman newspaper, I'll quote a lot for those who don't want to register online.


"A State Board of Education member stalled a vote to approve middle school health textbooks Thursday by saying the books should condemn homosexuality and make clear that marriage exists only between men and women," reports the Austin-Statesman.

"Board member Terri Leo, R-Spring, called for about 30 changes to teachers' and students' editions of proposed health books in grades six through eight.

"The board skipped a preliminary vote on the books after a representative for the books' publisher, Holt Rinehart and Winston, said the company would consider Leo's changes and report back before today's final vote....

"Leo said that three of the 10 middle school books up for approval would not conform to a state law banning the recognition of same-sex unions as marriages. She said they endorse same-sex marriage by referring to the heads of families as couples or adults instead of husbands and wives or fathers and mothers.

"One passage in a teachers' edition says that "surveys indicate that 3 to 10 percent of the population is gay. No one knows for sure why some people are straight, some are bisexual and others are gay."

"Leo wanted to replace those sentences with: "Opinions vary on why homosexuals, lesbians and bisexuals as a group are more prone to self-destructive behaviors like depression, illegal drug use and suicide."

"Gail Lowe, R-Lampasas, asked that the books not stress the effectiveness of condoms in fighting sexually transmitted diseases."

Wow. Talk about fighting for every inch of ground. They don't want even the teacher's edition -- a book STUDENTS NEVER SEE -- to mention gays exist without condemning them. They don't want a health textbook to reflect the scientific facts about condoms. Yep, it's house-to-house fighting if the rebels (apparently us) want to survive.