The Capitol Resource Institute (CRI) has been given the okay from the state of California to start a petition drive for a ballot measure that will seek to repeal a state law that ensures the contributions of gays and lesbians are mentioned in school textbooks, reports Frontiers news editor Karen Ocamb.

The unofficial name of the ballot measure campaign is called “Stop SB 48,” and it has until October to come up with a little more than 504,000 signatures of registered voters to place the anti-gay history initiative on the the June, 2012, ballot.

CRI appears to be a lobbying group based in Sacramento, which claims on its website to “educate, advocate, protect, and defend family-friendly policies in the California state legislature and at local government levels.”

L.A. Weekly wrote about the “Stop SB 48” campaign yesterday, mentioning how the gay history issue may become a hot button topic during the 2012 presidential campaign.

In her post at LGBTPOV.com, Ocamb makes the point that the gay community needs to make wide coalitions — something the “No on 8” campaign, which unsuccessfully battled the anti-gay marriage Proposition 8, did not execute well in 2008, especially in communities of color, according to many critics.

Contact Patrick Range McDonald at pmcdonald@laweekly.com.

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