NEWSBYANDREW BELONSKY

California would not be the great state it is today if it weren't for a few key historic events.

The settling by indigenous tribes, of course, got the region off the ground, while the establishment of Mexican provincial governments and subsequent battles with the nascent United States altered its course.

And the Gold Rush uncovered vast amounts of wealth, which helped give the state its nickname, the Golden State, and the rise of Hollywood too proved essential to California's development.

And then there was the LGBT rights movement, which helped establish California as a beacon for people of all colors and creeds. Unfortunately, for too long that historical period has gone ignored by official history lessons.

That may soon change, though, for the state Senate this week passed the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act, legislation that would include LGBT contributions in the state's history curriculum.

Target again finds itself the star of bad press, thanks to the mega store's lawsuit to ban San Diego-based marriage equality group Canvass for a Cause from their parking lots.

While this legal battle appears to be about LGBT equality, it's actually about something more fundamental: the bill of rights, and how that set of guaranteed freedoms must be protected at all costs.

In Target's view, it has every right to bar Canvass for a Cause, because it owns the area around its stores and can therefore restrict access as they deem fit.

"The question is Target's property right and its right to exclude," Target attorney David McDowell said during Friday's hearing on the matter.

The Boy Scouts of America yesterday celebrated their 101st birthday, a huge milestone for an influential organization with old roots. Emphasis on old, because, despite great social change, the Scouts continue to discriminate against gay people. It's about time they give themselves a political face lift.

Since its founding in 1910, the Scouts have instructed millions of boys and men on a variety of skills, like low-impact camping and community service. They have also made it their mission to instill their members with archaic, anti-American homophobia. The most famous instance of which came in a Supreme Court battle sparked by the expulsion of Scoutmaster James Dale for being gay.

According to the Scouts' leadership, Dale's sexuality contradicted a variety of their bylaws, particularly those that addressed a "duty to God" and to remain "morally straight," as well an obligation to remain "clean."

Boycotts are an effective tool of mass resistance, one LGBT communities recently harnessed with great effect to counter Target's homophobic political donations.

The non-violent tactic, however, is not always so straight-forward, a fact made clear by news that France-based Hachette Book Group just resigned homophobic Pastor Joel Osteen to their FaithWords imprint.

Osteen, you may recall, has a history of patently anti-gay statements, and this evening's Piers Morgan Tonight program on CNN will air some more of Osteen's dubious comments, including the Biblical justification for discrimination: "The scriptures shows that it's a sin."

The interview will also feature this gem: "'I don't believe homosexuality is God's best for a person's life. I mean, sin means 'to miss the mark,'" and a bit of self-defense: "I think [civil partnerships] is wrong, but I'm not going to bash those people. I'm not going to be against those people. They're good people. I say it's wrong because that's what the scripture says." Osteen also compares homosexuality to "an addiction."

The Human Rights Campaign has already condemned Osteen's statements. Said the group's president, Joe Solmonese, "It’s a real shame that someone of Joel Osteen’s prominence and life experiences would repeat this tired and dangerous statement. It furthers ignorance and discrimination by some Americans and adds a burden to those already struggling to accept their sexual orientation or gender identity."

"Civility" has become a bipartisan buzz word in the wake of the Tucson shootings, with diametrically opposed political leaders making symbolic gestures in the name of national propriety.

Republicans and Democrats, for example, will sit together during President Obama's State of the Union, where the commander-in-chief will reportedly tell that nation that we can overcome collective challenges "as long as we focus on what binds us together as a people, [and] as long as we’re willing to find common ground even as we’re having some very vigorous debates." And House Republicans kept last week's vote to repeal health care reform relatively cool and collected.

Yet for all this talk about legislative decorum and working together, the United States clearly still has some trouble with the concept of civility: both liberals and conservatives continue to point fingers for "fault" over accused gunman Jared Loughner's rampage.

Perhaps the key to political congeniality isn't playing what some are wryly describing as State of the Union "musical chairs," even restricting bombastic rhetoric, although those certainly help. Maybe the actual catalyst for lasting civility lies in supporting LGBT equality.

Most people remember iconic actor Gregory Peck as the progressive lawyer Atticus Finch in the 1962 big screen adaptation of To Kill a Mocking Bird.

Fifteen years prior, however, Peck starred in a different book-to-movie production, Gentleman's Agreement, in which he plays another idealistic hero, reporter Philip Schuyler Green, who pretends he's Jewish to write an article about anti-Semitism.

His trials and tribulations speak to any number of the nation's ongoing social ills, like homophobia, and this 64-year-old movie's something more than just entertainment: it's a road map on fighting bigotry in its many forms.

Europe and Africa have a tumultuous relationship, to say the least. Now, with colonialism in the past, the European Union appears to be making amends, and their efforts include a grant to an LGBT group in Cameroon.

While the move's certainly a step in the right direction -- and something of a redemption for Europe -- it should also provide the impetus for the Union to start a collective process of self-reflection

Cameroonian citizens are currently railing against the European Union, which this week finalized a 300,000 Euro grant to Association for the Defense of Homosexuals in an effort to fight discrimination and homophobia in the African nation.

Though Cameroon's LGBT population certainly welcomes the news, government officials aren't so gay about the lavender largesse. Cameroon's external affairs minister, Henri Eyebe Ayissi, blasted the Union's efforts, "The people of Cameroon are neither ready nor willing to go towards the development of these (sexual) practices on their territory."

It's a happy day for same-sex equality in New Hampshire, where newly emboldened Republican leaders say they will not try to repeal the state's gay marriage law, as many feared.

"The social issues must take a back seat," said New Hampshire's Republican House leader D.J. Bettencourt, after meeting with his GOP colleagues who see cultural wars as a distraction. "Everyone was in agreement."

Rather than focusing their energies on reopening the gay marriage case, Bettencourt and his House Republican peers, who have a 3-1 lead over Democrats, say they would be better served combating grave economic problems, such as the state's 5.4% unemployment rate and estimated $600-800 million budget deficit.

"Our focus will be on fixing the budget, reforming the pension system and getting to work on reforming the education system," insisted Bettencourt. "We cannot allow ourselves ... where we campaigned on one set of issues and governed on another set of issues."

The news deserves some celebration, especially since Republican leaders from coast-to-coast, including Minnesota and North Carolina, have hinted they would use their new power and influence to put the kibosh on equality. But equality supporters shouldn't get too boisterous, because Bettencourt and company aren't saying they'll ignore social issues entirely, just for the time being. A new debate on the state's two-year-old marriage law could arise down the road.

University of Minnesota has quite a problem on its hands: an associate women's golf coach named Kathryn Brenny has filed a lawsuit that alleges her superior, golf director John Harris, discriminated against her and fired her for being a lesbian.

Though Brenny signed a $44,000 contract just last August, director Harris soon demanded she stay on campus, focusing on "humiliating" clerical duties, rather than on tour with the team. According to Brenny's lawsuit, officially filed today, Harris told her that if she didn't cooperate, she would be out of a job.

It wasn't until later, Brenny says, that she heard Harris and other officials were uncomfortable having a lesbian travel with the all women's team, allegedly concerned about LGBT people's mythical predatory habits.

Brenny soon resigned, citing a "hostile work environment, discrimination, retaliation and harassment, and discrimination concerning sexual preference" in her suit, filed under Minnesota's Human Rights Act.

"Almost as soon as I arrived in Minnesota, I was not permitted to carry out the duties of the position, and I was denied the opportunity to coach the team,” Brenny said in a statement. “This included my not being permitted to travel with the team to the four tournaments scheduled for the fall. The atmosphere that was created became more and more hostile, to the point where it made it intolerable for me to even perform the limited administrative duties that had been reassigned to me.”

The University's legal team insists nothing improper went down, yes, but if Brenny was indeed discriminated against, the school and Harris have a responsibility to come clean; not just for justice, but for the good of their entire state.

New Mexico attorney general Gary King this week offered his office's opinion on out-of-state same-sex marriages: they should be considered valid. Unfortunately for those who agree, newly inaugurated Gov. Susana Martinez insists she'll fight any attempts at marriage equality, a proclamation that directly contradicts her past promises.

Yes, the culture war's going to heat up in New Mexico, and equality activists should pipe up to steer the debate in a progressive direction. Or, at the very least, to counter the state's increasingly powerful conservative movement.

"After review of the law in this area, it is our opinion that a same-sex marriage that is valid under the laws of the country or state where it was consummated would likewise be found valid in New Mexico," read the non-binding opinion from King's office.

And King himself insisted, "A comprehensive legal analysis by my office concludes that valid same-sex marriages in other states would likely be valid in New Mexico." Be that as it may, the report will surely inflame those who want to see marriage equality campaign defeated once and for all.