Thursday by a 49-25 vote the California Assembly approveda law requiring schools to include the contributions of gay
Americans in their curriculum. The bill heads to Gov. Brown
to be hopefully signed. California will become the first state
to require school districts to include the contributions of gay
Americans in their social studies curriculum. If Gov. Brown
approves the bill, finally the large state’s influence over
textbooks could mean that students in other states would
eventually learn in their lessons about lesbian, gay, bisexual
& transgender figures in US history. This is an amazing step.
Education is key to inform the next generation of Americans
about our LGBT community. Maybe then we’ll be able to
prevent bullying against students because of their sexual
orientation or gender identity. Of course the homophobes
are up in arms claiming that they should be the only ones
teaching kids about sexuality, as well as lawmakers who say
the state is mandating too many details in schools.
Updates to Come…:)
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To the extent that this law would ensure that curricular materials accurately depict the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people to American life, that would be a real sea change in thinking about the fuller picture of our historical reality.
ReplyDeleteI hope the bill will improve teaching and impart an ability to look at the past without ideological blinders on about who was present and who was involved in the shaping of our country.
Eliza Byard, Executive Director of the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network