California lawmakers not proposing to ban Bible, despite claims

CLAIM: California lawmakers are weighing a bill that would ban the Bible.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. A yearsold video being shared on social media discusses a 2018 bill proposed in the California State Assembly that has long been withdrawn and didn’t call for banning the Bible. It would have prohibited the discredited practice known as conversion therapy in the state. Leaders of the Democratic-controlled legislature also confirm there’s no bill currently before state lawmakers proposing to ban the Bible.

THE FACTS: Social media users are sharing a five-year-old video that claims California lawmakers have proposed legislation to ban the Bible in the nation’s most populous state.

The video features commentary from anti-LGBTQ activist Randy Thomasson,, founder of a Sacramento-based group called the Campaign for Children and Families. In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, he argued that the bill, AB-2943, would effectively outlaw books opposed to homosexuality.

“It’s very broad, very vague,” he says in the brief clip.

“THEY WANT TO BAN THE BIBLE????” an Instagram user who shared the video wrote in a post this week, along with dozens of hashtags including #bible #christianity #jesus #love #God.

But the bill in question isn’t currently pending in the California state legislature, as it was withdrawn during a legislative session nearly five years ago and never re-introduced, representatives for state lawmakers and a gay rights advocacy group confirmed.

Thomasson didn’t respond to a request for comment, but it’s clear his interview happened while the bill was being fiercely debated in 2018. A full version of it is posted on CBN’s YouTube page dated April 19, 2018.

Jorge Reyes Salinas, a spokesperson for Equality California, the state’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group, confirmed the interview was in response to the 2018 bill and not any proposal currently before state lawmakers.

Salinas also stressed the proposal didn’t ban the Bible, as Thomasson and other opponents falsely claimed at the time. Instead, it aimed to make advertising or selling conversion therapy, which is billed as a way to change a person’s sexual orientation, an unlawful and fraudulent business practice.

“It is unfortunate that false, dangerous claims like this one are resurfacing and fuel the current hate against the LGBTQ+ community,” Salinas wrote in an email.

In either case, the bill isn’t poised to become law anytime soon.

Assemblymember Evan Low withdrew the bill in September 2018 amid vocal opposition from religious groups. The following year, the legislature passed his non-binding resolution calling on faith leaders to embrace LGBTQ+ individuals and acknowledge the “psychological and other harms” of conversion therapy.

Low’s spokesperson Jiovanni Lieggi said Thursday that the Silicon Valley Democrat has no plans to reintroduce the proposal to outright ban the practice in California.

John Casey, a spokesperson for Democratic House Speaker Anthony Rendon, also confirmed there are no bills addressing conversion therapy — let alone seeking to ban the Bible — in the current legislative cycle.

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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.