Since California passed its controversial law requiring public schools to include a social studies curriculum that included the contributions of gays and lesbians, opponents have organized in an attempt to overturn the law. On Tuesday, those opponents moved one step closer to their goal when California’s Secretary of State cleared them to begin collecting signatures for a ballot referendum.

The law adds gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, as well as those with disabilities, to a list of groups that schools must include in the lessons, and prohibits the inclusion of any material which may present homosexuality negatively. It leaves up to local school districts to decide what to include in the lessons and in what grade students would receive them.

The controversial law was proposed by Democratic Senator Mark Leno, who dismissed critics’ claims that the bill pushed a sexual agenda, asserting that it was “beneficial to share with students the broad diversity of the human experience.”

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Photo: Willow Elementary School in Glendora, California