AB537, the California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act of 2000, changed California's Education Code by adding actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity to the existing nondiscrimination policy. State law says that “‘gender’ means sex, and includes a person's gender identity and gender related appearance and behavior whether or not stereotypically associated with the person's assigned sex at birth.” The nondiscrimination policy also prohibits harassment and discrimination on the basis of sex, ethnic group identification, race, ancestry, national origin, religion, color, or mental or physical disability.

SB 71, the California Comprehensive Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS Prevention Act of 2004, replaced a patchwork of confusing and often contradictory statutes on sex education with one clear and comprehensive new law. The law was authored by Senator Sheila Kuehl and sponsored by the California affiliates of the ACLU and Planned Parenthood. It went into effect on January 1, 2004. The new law has two purposes: “1) To provide a pupil with the knowledge and skills necessary to protect his or her sex­ual and reproductive health from unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases; 2) To encourage a pupil to develop healthy attitudes concerning adolescent growth and development, body image, gender roles, sexual orientation, dating, marriage, and family.”

SB71 removes all reference to “abstinence until marriage.” Sex education instruction and materials may not teach or promote religious doctrine. It also requires that all instruction and material be appropriate for use with students of all races, genders, sexual orientations, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and students with disabilities. Anti-bias trainings covering gender, sexual orientation or family life are not sexual health education. SB71 clearly defines that there is difference between sex education and anti-harassment or anti-bias trainings that include education on safety for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities.

AB394: Safe Place to Learn Act:

 

The Safe Place to Learn Act requires the California Department of Education to regularly monitor school districts regarding what steps have been taken to ensure compliance with the California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act of 2000, AB 537. This legislation will help to ensure that current school safety standards regarding harassment and discrimination are fully and properly implemented.

 

AB394, if passed, would make available information on trainings, curricula, and other resources that specifically and effectively address bias-motivated discrimination and harassment in schools. The law is necessary because unlawful bias-motivated discrimination and harassment continue to be pervasive in California schools and many schools’ districts are not in compliance with the law. 14% of all students report harassment because of their race or ethnicity. 9.1% of all students report harassment because of their religion. 7.5% of all students report being harassed on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation. This means that over 200,000 students are harassed because they are gay or lesbian or someone though they were, and nearly 400,000 students are harassed because of their race.

 

I hope that reading all of this information helped you learn about some of the laws that are in place and that need to be enforced in order to ensure better schools across the state. I hope that someday similar laws will be passed across the nation and that maybe someday the federal government will recognize laws similar to California’s.

 

Have a great weekend everyone!

(I'm the one with the fro and green shirt. We were working on our "Queer People of Color History" project.)

For More Info Check Out The Following Links:
AB537
AB394
SB71
SB777