Parents in a Sacramento, California suburban school district were shocked this week to discover that Lt. Gov Gavin Newsom, the Democratic Party candidate for governor in November, is portrayed in a first-grade textbook as a “champion for people’s rights.”

The textbook celebrates Newsom alongside such icons as President Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — apparently for his decision, as mayor of San Francisco, to recognize gay marriages in 2004.

Local Fox affiliate FOX40 reported Thursday:

“There was different various heroes we’d typically see in a first-grade class, like Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King. And then there was Gavin Newsom, and I go, ‘Well that’s interesting,'” Burt said. The book explains how as Mayor of San Francisco, Newsom said people could marry who they choose, saying, “Sometimes, Gavin helped marry people. Some marriages were not between a man and a woman. He made sure that people’s rights were respected.”

Some Elk Grove Parents Outraged by Textbook’s Portrayal of Gavin Newsom https://t.co/B1YYdUnu9F — FOX40 News (@FOX40) September 26, 2018

Critics likened Newsom’s portrayal to communist propaganda for sentences such as: ” “Gavin said that people could marry who they choose. Sometimes, Gavin helped marry people. Some marriages were not between a man and a woman. He made sure that people’s rights were respected.”

A district official told FOX40 that “this book helps the district stay in compliance with the FAIR Education Act, a state law that requires history and social science books include heroes to minority groups.” One local news source suggested that the book was a preview of the final version.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.