Bonfires on the beach? Sorry, Gidget: Newport Beach is waiting for permission from the California Coastal Commission to remove its long-cherished fire pits, which it banned this summer as health hazards. Newport’s fleet of diesel-burning yachts are still O.K., but napping in the city’s libraries? Forbidden, as of July, along with any “use of perfume or fragrance” that interferes with librarians’ “ability to perform duties.”

The Los Angeles Unified School District, bowing to pressure from ecologically-minded sixth graders, two weeks ago banned plastic foam trays in cafeterias. On Tuesday, California’s Legislature passed a ban on psychotherapy aimed at making gay teenagers straight; the ban was proposed by a state senator from Redondo Beach and is believed to be the first of its kind. On Wednesday, the Legislature forbade the carrying of rifles in public…

A ban on circumcision (“male genital mutilation”) was registered for the Santa Monica ballot last year, then dropped in an ensuing uproar — but not before state legislators got to work on a law banning circumcision bans. It was passed and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in October. In June, Santa Monica nixed Christmastime nativity scenes in its parks, after tolerating them for 60 years. (Atheists wanted park space, too.)