Advocates are starting to push for LGBTQ history to be taught in public schools

As many people nationwide celebrate National Coming Out Day and LGBTQ History Month this October, there is a burgeoning movement to cover the contributions of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer individuals in public schools. 

California became the first state in recent years to incorporate LGBTQ history into its curriculum, while earlier this year, the superintendent of Houston Independent School District – one of the nation's largest school systems – expressed his desire for students to learn about LGBTQ history. 

"They don't think this is a radical thing to talk about it, and that's been just beautiful to see," says Alicia Guzman, a history teacher at Santa Cruz High School in California, of her student's response to learning about LGBTQ history. She started teaching her students about the topic last year while working on a committee to shape her district's LGBTQ history curriculum. 

Still, learning about LGBTQ topics in high school is uncommon. About 63 percent of students said they've never learned about LGBT people, history or events at school, according to a 2015 survey from GLSEN, an advocacy group for LGBTQ issues in K-12 education.