Source: The Modesto Bee

http://www.modbee.com/local/story/5679825p-6653509c.html

On December 22, 2002 The Modesto Bee reported that "Modesto City Schools [district] is the only district in California, and perhaps the only one in the nation, to require the study of comparative religion, though some schools offer such classes as electives... Officials hope the class helps cut down on the fights and bullying that can happen when teen-agers are afraid of the differences among them. It all started when the district decided to rewrite its discrimination and harassment rules, to include gay and lesbian students as a protected class along with racial, ethnic and religious groups... That tolerance policy, which the Board of Education approved in March 1997, led to an outcry from the community... Some church groups said their religions do not condone homosexuality, so they should not have to tolerate it. Some minority groups said they would rather be respected than tolerated."