Opponents of SB 48 collect signatures to help repeal the bill. (KTLA-TV) |
LOS ANGELES (KTLA) -- Emotions ran high Wednesday night as gay and lesbian supporters were told to leave a meeting of clergy and church members.
The meeting took place at the Southern Missionary Baptist Church on W. Adams Boulevard in Los Angeles.
The congregation gathered to pray for the repeal of a The Fair Education Act, also known as SB 48.
It requires that public schools in California add lessons about gay history to social studies classes.
"This is not about us hating anyone or being homophobic or guilty of bigotry," pastor Xavier Thompson told KTLA.
"The fact of the matter is that we believe that we cannot sexualize history."
Groups who support the new law showed up the meeting to voice their perspective.
"We talk about Cesar Chavez or Martin Luther King... We don't talk about their intimate lives," Roland Palencia, of Equality California said.
"We talk about their contributions, and that is exactly what this is about."
Anti-SB 48 forces say the bill hijacks education to promote a homosexual agenda.
"It's indoctrination," Pastor Jim Domen, of the California Family Council, told KTLA.
"They're in their formative years and you start introducing sexuality into their young, impressionable minds... You start changing a culture is what you do."
Outside the gathering, opponents of the bill organized a petition drive. They say it is the beginning of a movement to collect more than half-a-million signatures to overturn SB 48.
"We will have sufficient signatures to take this to the ballot, whereby the people can have a voice," Thompson said.
Just prior to the start of the meeting, a trio of SB 48 supporters, including a local rabbi, were asked to leave.
"We just wanted to know if we could come, listen, observe and hear their side, because we want to come to the table on some common ground, said Milton Davis, of the Jordan/Rustin Coalition.
"They said that they did not want us on the property at all, period. They told us they were asking us to leave, but they told us they would be willing to remove us if they needed physically," Davis told KTLA.
Church leaders countered that the night was meant to be about prayer and petition, not debate.
The meeting took place at the Southern Missionary Baptist Church on W. Adams Boulevard in Los Angeles.
The congregation gathered to pray for the repeal of a The Fair Education Act, also known as SB 48.
It requires that public schools in California add lessons about gay history to social studies classes.
"This is not about us hating anyone or being homophobic or guilty of bigotry," pastor Xavier Thompson told KTLA.
"The fact of the matter is that we believe that we cannot sexualize history."
Groups who support the new law showed up the meeting to voice their perspective.
"We talk about Cesar Chavez or Martin Luther King... We don't talk about their intimate lives," Roland Palencia, of Equality California said.
"We talk about their contributions, and that is exactly what this is about."
Anti-SB 48 forces say the bill hijacks education to promote a homosexual agenda.
"It's indoctrination," Pastor Jim Domen, of the California Family Council, told KTLA.
"They're in their formative years and you start introducing sexuality into their young, impressionable minds... You start changing a culture is what you do."
Outside the gathering, opponents of the bill organized a petition drive. They say it is the beginning of a movement to collect more than half-a-million signatures to overturn SB 48.
"We will have sufficient signatures to take this to the ballot, whereby the people can have a voice," Thompson said.
Just prior to the start of the meeting, a trio of SB 48 supporters, including a local rabbi, were asked to leave.
"We just wanted to know if we could come, listen, observe and hear their side, because we want to come to the table on some common ground, said Milton Davis, of the Jordan/Rustin Coalition.
"They said that they did not want us on the property at all, period. They told us they were asking us to leave, but they told us they would be willing to remove us if they needed physically," Davis told KTLA.
Church leaders countered that the night was meant to be about prayer and petition, not debate.
