The governor’s veto of a bill to prohibit anti-gay bias in the curriculum was hardly unexpected given the upcoming election and conservatives begging for a piece of red meat. But far more critical now is the governor signing the Safe Place to Learn Act, a bill I suggested here two years ago.

The reality is that schools must remove negative and anti-gay bias in texts and in the curriculum. Every school lawyer is advising that in California. It’s because the courts find that schools that fester old stereotypes of gay people perpetuate hostility and prejudice against those who are openly GLBT and those perceived to be.

So the anti-gay bias bill basically is becoming law. The real need now is that we have GLBT students suffering abuse from students and school staff. A local jury found that Poway High School officials showed deliberate indifference to the complaints of two gay students last year. And Poway is a progressive school. The case, won by attorneys Paula Rosenstein and Bridget Wilson, shocked schools.

That’s why I suggested the Legislative LGBT Caucus make the governor play “Kindergarten Cop” and support the Safe Place to Learn bill. This bill would require the state superintendent of public instruction to investigate complaints of harassment and, if necessary, cut off state funds to schools failing to act to prevent anti-gay abuse. And how will the schools prevent anti-gay abuse? Gee, maybe by showing some positive portrayals of gay people, like mentioning that certain authors, leaders and judges are gay or lesbian.

Conservatives say it’s not relevant. They used the same arguments against including positive depictions of blacks and Jews in the curriculum.

The reality is that racial prejudice, while still present, isn’t anything like it was decades ago. It’s because of candid accounts of slavery, teaching about the triumphs of men like Booker T. Washington and Martin Luther King.

And bigotry against Jews has also declined since American students began to learn that Albert Einstein saved the free world from fascism and Jonas Salk spared millions of future generations the deadly and crippling effects of polio.

Each year, UCLA releases the views of entering freshmen nationwide, and negativity toward others based on race, religion and sexual orientation has been steadily declining. Conservatives mock it as political correctness gone amok in education. They would prefer schools to teach American history from the founders’ point of view. Oh, yes, a time when our Constitution permitted white folks to own black folks, prohibited women from voting or owning property, and prohibited all from engaging in any sexual act outside of procreational sex in a marriage.

If the governor does sign this bill, and sources close to the governor’s staff indicate that he will, the Legislative LGBT Caucus needs to require the Department of Education to create a hotline and Web site devoted to the Safe Place to Learn Act. Students of all ages need to know there is a neutral party ready to help them.

Locally, The Center has been functioning as a hotline in this capacity. But Center staff is hardly able to investigate complaints and require compliance. The State Department of Education has subpoena power, and it can also cut off funds. Now The Center will have a place to turn to.

It’s a start. I’ve asked state Senator Christine Kehoe to sponsor another bill I proposed here. This is one that would require school officials to report anti-gay physical acts (against persons or property) as child abuse and hate crimes to law enforcement and child protective agencies. Failure to do so would result in criminal punishment, as it does now when school officials see obvious signs of child abuse and fail to report it to law enforcement.

Ironically, the media made a big deal last week when a video camera caught a school coach hitting an opposing football player for a late hit in a football game. That’s child abuse, and the D.A. so charged. But it’s exactly the same when a high school football player goes up to a boy who is openly gay, spits on him and calls him a “fucking faggot.”

That’s a hate crime. That’s child abuse. And that’s pretty much what happened at Poway High School. But school officials don’t report that because it’s child’s play – just like in the cases of the shootings at Columbine High and Santana High.