California Assembly Bill 2943, which was introduced in February and is the subject of a critical forthcoming vote, is chock-full of feckless scientific assertions on human sexuality. More importantly, it takes animosity toward Christianity to a whole new and worrying extreme and even evokes fears of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, in which the government enacts a proscription against books.

According to the bill, “Contemporary science recognizes that being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender is part of the natural spectrum of human identity and is not a disease, disorder, or illness.” Many scientists would disagree with that — and nature certainly does — but, alas, the text cites the state’s “compelling interest in protecting the physical and psychological well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals” as justification for AB 2493, which “would include, as an unlawful practice prohibited under the Consumer Legal Remedies Act, advertising, offering to engage in, or engaging in sexual orientation change efforts with an individual.”

AB 2493 elucidates, “‘Sexual orientation change efforts’ means any practices that seek to change an individual’s sexual orientation. This includes efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions, or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of the same sex.” David French alarmingly observes that this “would actually — among other things — ban the sale of books expressing orthodox Christian beliefs about sexual morality.” French elaborates on the scheme here, but here’s the bottom line: Biblical spiritual guidance, no matter in what form, will no longer be tolerated if this bill becomes law.

Making matters even worse, “fact-checkers” are flat-out lying about the implications of the legislation. Snopes.com, addressing conservative fears that AB 2492 ensnares even the Bible, definitively asserts that the “bill does not seek to outlaw all religious or moral instruction regarding sexuality and sexual orientation, nor would it ban the sale or possession of generic religious texts such as the Bible. Christian dogma might form the basis of efforts to change a person’s sexual orientation, but the Bible itself is not a ‘gay conversion therapy’ manual.”

Writing in The Federalist, Robert Gagnon offers some perspective on this tripe: “Snopes’ insistence that California Assembly Bill 2943 would not result in the Bible being banned in California is akin to Snopes calling ‘demonstrably and clearly false’ the claim that Joseph Stalin killed everyone around him.” He continues, “Sure, it is virtually impossible that California will immediately attempt to ban the sale of the Bible itself. Not even the hard Left in California has that kind of chutzpah. But citations of Bible verses in the context of declaring homosexual practice and transgenderism to be morally debased could indeed get one into serious trouble with the law if it comes in the context of selling or advertising a product or service.”

More to the point, leftists are never content. Just because Snopes can’t or won’t read between the lines doesn’t mean conscientious Americans can’t. The Left prefers incremental approaches to large policy changes, which explains its “progressive” moniker — only progress in this form means a step-by-step nullification of rights. And while the plan would ultimately be an unwise one, this AB 2493 garbage helps us to understand the real and energetic effort to split California into three.