California

California public schools approved new standards to include prominent gay people and gay rights' milestones in the curriculum, adopting a set of classroom material guidelines that prohibit "pejorative descriptions" based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill banning therapy aimed at turning gay kids straight, saying such efforts "will now be relegated to the dustbin of quackery." The ban will begin on January 1.

A regular game of tag between best friends lead to an alleged sexual assault / sexual battery at a Hercules, CA elementary school. Experts said such incidents are not isolated, but rather part of an emerging national trend. A similar case caused a sensation in Boston last fall when a 7-year-old faced sexual harassment charges for kicking another boy his age in the groin during a fight.

Among new legislation taking effect in California is a requirement that public schools include positive history lessons on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Assemblywoman Norma Torres, D-Chino, said she voted in support of the legislation. "There should be awareness that there are other people that may be gay or lesbian so that we can stop some of the bullying that takes place," Torres said. "Let's look at the bigger picture. Kids are committing suicide because they don't feel accepted."

Let this story serve as a lesson that the surrogacy process is nothing to be taken with any amount of whimsy. On one side of a long parental court fight over 5-year-old twin girls were Donald and Sean - a gay couple who live in Jersey City. On the other was Angelia, Donald’s sister, who agreed to serve as a surrogate, eventually giving birth to the girls through a donor embryo fertilized by Sean (pic). The men took custody of the children after the birth.