Gay Students Bill
* Re “Gay Student Rights Bill Generates Fervent Debate, but Fails by 1 Vote,” June 5: The failure of Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl’s AB 222, which would have banned discrimination against gay and lesbian students, is vivid proof that homophobia still exists even in liberal states like California.
When we read about tragic murders like Matthew Shepard’s in Wyoming or Billy Jack Gaither’s in Alabama, it’s easy to think that those things can’t happen here: That it’s only the South, or the Rockies, or rural areas or the “heartland” where anti-gay discrimination is a problem. But the ugly, misleading flyers mailed to state representatives prove that California is hardly a paradise of civil rights. Every citizen of this state should be appalled at the treatment Kuehl’s bill received.
ADAM A. SOFEN
Woodland Hills
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