Updated

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender literature are included in the California Department of Education's newest reading list for students K-12 that includes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender literature, prompting complaints from critics who say a leftist agenda is being pushed on kids, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

Controversial topics have been introduced to California students in the past, but this is the first time the state has put forth works celebrated by the Stonewall Book Awards, which since 1971 has recognized LGBT literature, according to the newspaper.

"We have titles in the list for the LGBT community for multiple recommended grade levels," Roxane Fidler, the CDE's education programs consultant, told the newspaper. "There are books from the Stonewall Book Awards, which has not previously been on the list," Fidler said.

The reading list has been met with controversy by those who say it promotes an alternative lifestyle to children at such a young age.

"It's a frightening trend," Sandy Rios, host of a morning radio show on American Family Radio or AFR Talk told the newspaper. "The reading lists are very overtly propagating a point of view that is at odds with most American parents. Leftist educators are advocates of everything from socialism to sexual anarchy. It's very base; it's raping the innocence of our children. "

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