The California legislature recently approved a measure that would make it illegal for school districts to ban books due to their portrayal of gender or ethnic minorities. Now, it is anticipated to be signed into law by the governor.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a press conference on February 01, 2023 in Sacramento, California.
Sign of Approval
Last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom gave a positive sign of support for the measure, indicating his intention to sign it into law.
He proclaimed California to be "the true freedom state," explaining that it is a place where families, and not political extremists, are free to make their own choices.
"With the passage of this legislation that bans book bans and ensures all students have textbooks, our state's Family Agenda is now even stronger. All students deserve the freedom to read and learn about the truth, the world, and themselves," he said last week.
The law easily cleared the Assembly in May and was approved by the state Senate last week, primarily along party lines.
Districts would be penalized money if they banned books under the new law.
According to the New York Post, the measure—initiated and written by Riverside Assembly member Corey Jackson—would levy a fine if books were prohibited for containing "inclusive and diverse perspectives."
The law also takes aim at the power that school boards have to decide on matters such as textbook selection.
Previous Book Censorship
In May, after the law was approved by the Assembly, the Temecula Valley Unified School District (TVUSD) opted to scrap a lesson plan because it included Harvey Milk, California's first openly homosexual political official. In July, Newsom produced a video in which he criticized the school system for censoring history studies materials only because they included Milk.
"We're going to purchase the book for these students - the same one that hundreds of thousands of kids are already using. If these extremist school board members won't do their job, we will - and fine them for their incompetence," Newsom stated.
Newsom said the book was censored by the school board, prompting him and others to be concerned about students' right to know.
While the TVUSD Board of Education did not ban the textbook per se, its president, Dr. Joseph Komrosky, told Fox News that the board had decided against adopting a new curriculum and the supplementary textbook content that would have featured Milk.
Newsom threatened TVSD with a $1.5 million penalty, and the board decided to accept the curriculum nevertheless.
In the bill, Jackson proposes monetary penalties for school districts that discriminate against LGBTQ people and engage in censorship by removing books and other materials from classrooms and libraries because they feature LGBTQ people or were written by LGBTQ authors.
"Efforts to categorically exclude topics related to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or other protected characteristics, or of present or historical discrimination based on protected characteristics, from school library collections, curricula, or classroom discussions constitute censorship that violates California law and policy," it reads.
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