Christian groups and pastors say new California LGBT hate speech law is disguised as indoctrination

A new California law requiring employers to integrate "anti- hate speech " instruction into workplace harassment training is drawing criticism from conservative Christians, who say it forces employers to promote a government-approved viewpoint.

Assembly Bill 1803 was signed by California Gov.

Gavin Newsom last month and will take effect Jan.

1, 2028.

It stipulates that employers with five or more employees who are covered by the state’s existing harassment-training requirements must include additional instruction on recognizing, reporting and addressing workplace speech that "vilifies, humiliates, or incites hatred" based on protected characteristics, including sexual orientation and gender identity.

But Christian churches that base their teachings on biblical passages stating that homosexual acts or same-sex relationships are contrary to biblical teaching, are not explicitly exempt from the new training requirements.

LOS ANGELES SCHOOLS QUIETLY REMOVE COMPULSORY 'AFFIRM AND RESPECT' GENDER IDENTITY PLEDGE FROM LGBTQ TRAINING The California Family Council and pastors from several traditional churches across the state say the law poses a significant problem.

They warn that traditional Christian teachings on sexuality, marriage and gender could become entangled in workplace disputes over what constitutes hateful speech.

"California has gotten excited about their ability to retrain the entire population regarding what they believe about gender and sexual orientation," Greg Burt, vice president of the California Family Council (CFC), told Fox News Digital regarding the legislation.

"...

But California’s Civil Rights Department put together some curriculum that is explicitly condemning anyone who has a conservative view." JONATHAN TURLEY: FRANCE'S FREE SPEECH CRACKDOWN SHOWS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN POLITICIANS DEFINE TRUTH Burt agrees with Dr.

Paul Chappell, pastor of Lancaster Baptist Church in Lancaster, California, who recently said on the Todd Starnes podcast that "AB 1803 is poorly written and a stretch by another liberal California legislator attempting to create bias against conservatives." "You cannot regulate what you cannot define," Burt told the California Assembly Labor and Employment Committee last March during a hearing on the bill.

SOCIAL WORKER SUES AFTER SHE SAYS SHE REFUSED TO CONCEAL STUDENTS’ GENDER TRANSITIONS FROM PARENTS Burt said that an addition made several years ago to sexual harassment training, which included harassment based on gender identity and sexual orientation, left people wondering what it means to discriminate against or harass someone on those grounds.

That uncertainty, he said, led California’s Civil Rights Department to develop its latest training curriculum.