SAN FRANCISCO -- A broad coalition of advocates for equality have launched a coordinated effort to protect the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act and to educate the public about its impact.

The coalition includes people of faith; labor organizations; LGBT rights groups; disability rights advocates; racial justice organizations and many other groups who care about equality.

ACLU San Diego, Equality California, Gay-Straight Alliance Network and the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers are among the leaders of the coalition.

"The movement for LGBT rights is among the most diverse social justice movements in the nation and we are proud to have that diversity represented in our coalition," said Roland Palencia, executive director of Equality California. "Working together to Protect the FAIR Education Act will ensure that students not only learn accurate information about our equality movement, but also about the roles LGBT people have played in movements and historic moments that have fundamentally shaped our nation."

"The FAIR Education Act enables all California students to learn an honest account of history, which includes the contributions of women, people of color, LGBT people, people with disabilities, and other historically underrepresented groups," said Carolyn Laub, Gay-Straight Alliance Network executive director. "This coalition is determined to protect the FAIR Education Act and stop the extremist effort to censor LGBT people and people with disabilities from history."

"Learning the contributions made by activists of the disability rights movement is essential to a full understanding of our history, just as an understanding of the civil rights movement and the pioneers of women's suffrage and the LGBT rights movement are an essential part of our history lessons," said Teresa Favuzzi, executive director of the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers. "The FAIR Education Act truly is a step in the right direction and it's important for us to make sure that this landmark victory that promotes understanding in our schools is upheld because it's time for our history classes and textbooks to accurately reflect the rich and diverse history of California."

The diverse coalition to protect the FAIR Education Act includes (partial list): ACLU Southern California, Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club, Asian Pacific Islander Equality, API Equality LA, Bayard Rustin LGBT Coalition, California Council of Churches, California Faith for Equality, California Foundation for Independent Living Centers, California Teachers Association, Courage Campaign, COLAGE, Equal Roots, Freedom to Marry, GAPSN, Get Equal, GLSEN, GSA Network, Honor PAC, Honor Fund, Jordan Rustin Coalition, LA Gay and Lesbian Center, Latino Equality Alliance, Love Cherish Honor, Marriage Equality Los Angeles, Marriage Equality Silicon Valley, National Center for Lesbian Rights, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Orange County Equality Coalition, Orange County Fairview Church, Our Family Coalition, PFLAG-San Francisco, Progressive Interfaith Alliance of Orange County, Sacramento Area Teachers, San Francisco Pride SEIU, Transgender Law Center, Vote For Equality and Unitarian Universalists Legislative Ministry

Authored by state Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown, the FAIR Education Act ensures the fair and accurate portrayal of the LGBT civil rights movement and people with disabilities in social science instruction.

Anti-equality advocates, including the anti-gay Capitol Resource Institute, are circulating petitions for a referendum that asks voters to overturn the FAIR Education Act. They will need to collect over a half million signatures in order to qualify for a referendum on the June 2012 ballot.