Petitions Begin Circulating for New StopSB48 Initiative

Sacramento, CA – The pro-family StopSB48.com coalition has begun circulating official petitions to place an initiative on the statewide ballot to repeal SB 48. The controversial law mandates positive portrayals of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons in public school social studies and history classes. It has been widely criticized for shifting the focus from achievements and historical milestones to inpiduals’ sexuality.

The new measure is called the Children Learning Accurate Social Science (CLASS) Act. Long-form petitions are being shipped to distribution centers across California, and short-form petitions are now available for download at www.pji.org and www.StopSb48.com.

Last fall, a referendum drive to directly repeal SB 48 gathered approximately 500,000 signatures, about 2/3 of what was needed. As an initiative, the new effort will have significantly more time for signature gathering—between now and July 11—causing proponents to feel energized.

“Getting an early jump on our signature gathering is so important,” said Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute. “If we can match the enthusiasm we saw for this issue last fall, and carry that through the extra time that has been given to us for the initiative, we will get this on the ballot.”

Petitions and signatures from last year’s referendum drive are not valid for the CLASS initiative—all signatures must be re-submitted on the new forms.

PJI Chief Counsel Kevin Snider, the primary author of the initiative, commented, “Our greatest enemy in this battle is complacency. Thinking someone else will sign or distribute the CLASS petition will not produce the change we so desperately need in our public schools.”