Antigay Bullying Curriculum Dropped

The Alameda, Calif., board of education voted Tuesday night to abandon an elementary school curriculum it had previously adopted for the purpose of preventing antigay bullying.

Pressure of lawsuits and threats of recall prompted the Bay Area school district to reverse its decision from May, according to the Associated Press.

"The so-called Lesson 9, which had become an opposition centerpiece in a national anti-gay marriage campaign, will be replaced by a more generic anti-bullying message," the AP reported.

Parents opposed to their children learning about gay and lesbian issues in school reacted angrily to the prospect of Lesson 9, which was to be taught once a year in each grade beginning with kindergarten. Opponents raised arguments about religious liberty, prompting the school superintendent to offer a compromise.

"The new anti-bullying lessons approved by the board, at the recommendation of School Superintendent Kirsten Vital, will be supplemented by children's books that explicitly address six specific forms of bias, including against gays," reported the AP.