The California Senate on Thursday approved a bill that seeks to include the historical contributions of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans in the state's textbooks, the AP reported.

Voting along party lines, the Democrat-controlled Senate voted 23 to 14 in favor of Senator Mark Leno's FAIR Education Act.

Leno, an openly gay Democrat from San Francisco, told lawmakers that the legislation would help curb the bullying of gay children.

“We are second-class citizens and children are listening,” he said. “When they see their teachers don't step up to the plate when their classmate is being harassed literally to death, they are listening and they get the message that there is something wrong with those people.”

Opponents of the legislation include SaveCalifornia.com, the socially conservative group headed by Randy Thomasson.

“If the Democrats pass this perverse bill into law with [Governor] Jerry Brown's signature, it will be California's 7th statewide sexual indoctrination law indoctrinating impressionable children,” Thomasson said in an email to supporters. “There is no biological basis for homosexuality, and the overwhelming majority of HIV transmissions are the result of homosexual and bisexual behavior. To protect their kids from a raft of lies, parents have more reason than ever to leave behind government schools for the safe havens of homeschooling and church schools.”

The measure is expected to be approved by the Assembly and signed into law by Democratic Governor Jerry Brown, an ally on gay rights.