A California ballot measure, Proposition 8, seeks to overturn same-sex marriage in the state, which has been legal since May 15 of this year. The California Teachers Association has donated $1 million to the No on Proposition 8 Campaign to help defeat the initiative, reports the Union Tribune.
In a statement on their Web site, the teachers’ union said, “California’s constitution should guarantee the same freedoms and rights to everyone – no one group should be singled out and have their rights taken away.”
Not all members of the union are happy with the $1 million donation. California teacher Randy Peart was quoted by ABC News10 saying, “It bothers me to spend my money on something I’m morally opposed to. Why not put that money into classrooms, into making a better place for these kids?”
Proposition 8 supporters claim that because schools are currently required to teach “respect” for marriage, they may be forced to teach respect for same-sex marriage.
Fourth-grade teacher Randy Schimpf said in the Union Tribune that if same-sex marriage continues in California, “there will be a time when we, as teachers, will be asked to teach that gay and lesbian marriages are normal.”
In a commercial opposing Proposition 8, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell refutes this claim.
“Proposition 8 has nothing to do with schools or kids,” O’Connell said. “Our schools aren’t required to teach anything about marriage, and using kids to lie about that is shameful.”
